15 Pride and Prejudice Retellings Jane Austen’s Biggest Fans Will Love

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that anyone who loves the iconic Jane Austen book, is going to read any and all Pride and Prejudice retellings they can get their hands on.

If you’re looking for modern Pride and Prejudice retellings, then I have the list for you of the best worth reading.

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I’ll admit that I honestly don’t know if it’s Colin Firth’s fault that I fell in love with this story or just the story itself 😊.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is a classic, iconic romance novel that has truly stood the test of time.

There’s just something about the slow burn love story between Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett that I adore and I am not the only one.

This story has inspired an iconic BBC television series, a beautiful movie, and countless retellings because we cannot get enough.

I think Jane Austen herself would approve of each of these modern Pride and Prejudice retellings in this book list and Austen fans will adore them.

These are the Pride and Prejudice retellings that stick to the same story and characters but give it a more contemporary setting with modern issues impacting the characters and Bennet family.

This list includes diverse Pride and Prejudice retellings, young adult Pride and Prejudice retellings, and more.

Do you have a favorite retelling? Be sure to share it in the comments below!

The Best Pride and Prejudice Retellings

Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors
by Sonali Dev

Dr. Trisha Raje is San Francisco’s most acclaimed neurosurgeon. But that’s not enough for the Rajes, her influential immigrant family.

Up-and-coming chef DJ Caine has known people like Trisha before, people who judge him by his rough beginnings and place pedigree above character.

He needs the lucrative job the Rajes offer, but he values his pride too much to indulge Trisha’s arrogance. And then he discovers that she’s the only surgeon who can save his sister’s life.

As the two clash, their assumptions crumble like the spun sugar on one of DJ’s stunning desserts. But before a future can be savored there’s a past to be reckoned with.

I love how Sonali Dev tackles all of Jane Austen’s classics in her Raje family series, starting off with this Pride and Prejudice retelling.

While the characters are not the same, you do get the same push-pull between DJ and Trisha who struggle with preconceived assumptions and clashing wills of pride in this romance.

Pride and Papercuts
by Staci Hart

Liam Darcy opposes me at every turn but I can light him up with my words since he can’t fire me because I work for his client.

I loathe Liam Darcy, but I just might stumble over the line between love and hate.

Laney is devoted to her job and she’s not about to let someone talk down to her even if he technically works for her boss – even if his name is Darcy.

Laney Bennett and Liam Darcy are like oil and water and don’t hold back when it comes to expressing how they really feel about each other.

Loathe may be a strong word but then again there really is a thin line between love and hate.

Staci Hart is another author who tackles all of Jane Austen’s classic works in her Austen series.

I adored this Pride and Prejudice retelling that gets an office romance makeover.

Hart gives the reader the same iconic moments that we love in Pride and Prejudice between Darcy and Laney where the wrong words are expressed and the wrong sentiments conveyed to set off their prickly start.

This is a must-read retelling! My Review.

Pride and Protest
by Nikki Payne

Liza B.—the only DJ who gives a jam—wants to take her neighborhood back from the soulless property developer dropping unaffordable condos on every street corner in DC.

But her planned protest at a corporate event takes a turn after she mistakes the smoldering-hot CEO for the waitstaff.

When they go toe-to-toe, the sparks fly—but her impossible-to-ignore family thwarts her every move.

Liza wants Dorsey Fitzgerald out of her hood, but she’ll settle for getting him out of her head.
 
As the adopted Filipino son of a wealthy white family, Dorsey’s always felt a bit out of place and knows a fraud when he sees one.

But when Liza’s protest results in a viral meme, their lives are turned upside down, and Dorsey comes to realize this irresistible revolutionary is the most real woman he’s ever met.

I am so excited to read this Pride and Prejudice retelling that gives a modern twist with a great, diverse cast of characters.

You can already tell that the sparks are really going to fly between Liza and Dorsey given what is at stake for both and their unfortunate meet-cute.

Be sure to add this retelling to your TBR list!

Ayesha at Last
by Uzma Jalaluddin

Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle.

She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to rejecting her one hundredth marriage proposal.

Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn’t want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid, who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental.

She is irritatingly attracted to someone who looks down on her choices and who dresses like he belongs in the seventh century.

When a surprise engagement is announced between Khalid and Hafsa, Ayesha is torn between how she feels about the straightforward Khalid and the unsettling new gossip she hears about his family.

Looking into the rumors, she finds she has to deal with not only what she discovers about Khalid, but also the truth she realizes about herself.

This is another diverse Pride and Prejudice retelling and one with a Muslim twist.

I love that there is a surprise engagement added to the mix, but I’m most excited to meet Ayesha and learn more about her customs and family traditions.

Be sure to check out this 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards nominee!

Pride
by Ibi Zoboi

Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable.

When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley.

She especially can’t stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding.

But with four wild sisters pulling her in different directions, cute boy Warren vying for her attention, and college applications hovering on the horizon, Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick’s changing landscape, or lose it all.

This Pride and Prejudice retelling was a National Book Award finalist for the way Zoboi weaves cultural identity, class, and gentrification with a story about first love in this modern reimaging of Austen’s classic.

With all characters of color, this is a young adult romance retelling not to miss.

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Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe
by Melissa de la Cruz

Darcy Fitzwilliam is both beautiful and successful. She’s never fallen in love and never goes home for Christmas – that is until her mother falls ill, forcing her to go home to Pemberley, Ohio for the holidays.

While home, she meets Luke Bennet, the carpenter who’s never left home, during the family’s holiday bash.

He’s not her type, but when Darcy and Luke have a one night stand, why can’t she stop thinking about him?

Are they destined for more or will her pride and his prejudice against big-city girls stand in their way? 

I adore how Melissa de la Cruz pens a gender-flipping, Pride and Prejudice retelling that’s the perfect Christmas romance book to read every year.

While this retelling gives the iconic story a unique twist, I love how it’s his prejudice against city girls and her pride that kicks off their initial animosity.

Eligible
by Curtis Sittenfeld

This version of the Bennet family—and Mr. Darcy—is one that you have and haven’t met before: Liz is a magazine writer in her late thirties who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City.

When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help—and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray.

Youngest sisters Kitty and Lydia are too busy with their CrossFit workouts and Paleo diets to get jobs.

Mary, the middle sister, is earning her third online master’s degree and barely leaves her room, except for those mysterious Tuesday-night outings she won’t discuss.

And Mrs. Bennet has one thing on her mind: how to marry off her daughters, especially as Jane’s fortieth birthday fast approaches.

Enter Chip Bingley, a handsome new-in-town doctor who recently appeared on the juggernaut reality TV dating show Eligible.

At a Fourth of July barbecue, Chip takes an immediate interest in Jane, but Chip’s friend neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy reveals himself to Liz to be much less charming.

And yet, first impressions can be deceiving.

Sittenfeld pens another modern Pride and Prejudice retelling that brings the whole cast of characters to life.

With a magazine writer and neurosurgeon at odds, there are sure to be sparks when these two are forced together.

Check it out and then read the rest of the Austen retellings in the Austen Project series.

The Bennet Women
by Eden Appiah-Kubi

Welcome to Bennet House, the only all-women’s dorm at prestigious Longbourn University, home to three close friends who are about to have an eventful year.

EJ is an ambitious Black engineering student. Her best friend, Jamie, is a newly out trans woman studying French and theatre. Tessa is a Filipina astronomy major with guy trouble.

For them, Bennet House is more than a residence—it’s an oasis of feminism, femininity, and enlightenment, but Longbourn is a wretched place to find love.

Yet the fall season is young and brimming with surprising possibilities. Jamie’s prospect is Lee Gregory, son of a Hollywood producer. That leaves EJ with Lee’s arrogant best friend, Will.

For Jamie’s sake, EJ must put up with the disagreeable, distressingly handsome, not quite famous TV actor for as long as she can.

EJ has her eyes on a bigger prize, anyway: launching a spectacular engineering career in the “real world” she’s been hearing so much about.

But what happens when all their lives become entwined in ways no one could have predicted—and EJ finds herself drawn to a man who’s not exactly a perfect fit for the future she has planned?

I love this young adult Pride and Prejudice retelling where feminism and self-discovery reign supreme.

If Jane Austen could only see her famous story come to life with an openly trans character.

I have a feeling I’m going to love every one of these characters and cannot wait to check it out.

Bridget Jones’s Diary
by Helen Fielding

This is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud account of a year in the life of a thirty-something Singleton on a permanent doomed quest for self-improvement.

Bridget is caught between the joys of Singleton fun, and the fear of dying alone and being found three weeks later half eaten by an Alsatian.

Tired of being asked “How’s your love life?”, Bridget resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult and learn to program the VCR. 

This book feels like it started it all when it comes to Pride and Prejudice retellings. Of course, I love that Colin Firth is in this movie as well.

I think everyone can identify with a part of Bridget at some point or another. I absolutely love her authenticity which makes her one of my favorite heroines!

Unmarriageable
by Soniah Kamal

A scandal and vicious rumor concerning the Binat family have destroyed their fortune and prospects for desirable marriages, but Alys, the second and most practical of the five Binat daughters, has found happiness teaching English literature to schoolgirls.

Knowing that many of her students won’t make it to graduation before dropping out to marry and have children, Alys teaches them about Jane Austen and her other literary heroes and hopes to inspire the girls to dream of more.

When an invitation arrives to the biggest wedding their small town has seen in years, Mrs. Binat excitedly sets to work preparing her daughters to fish for rich, eligible bachelors.

On the first night of the festivities, Alys’s lovely older sister, Jena, catches the eye of Fahad “Bungles” Bingla, the wildly successful—and single—entrepreneur.

But Bungles’s friend Valentine Darsee is clearly unimpressed by the Binat family.

As the days of lavish wedding parties unfold, the Binats wait breathlessly to see if Jena will land a proposal—and Alys begins to realize that Darsee’s brusque manner may be hiding a very different man from the one she saw at first glance.

I love this modern Pride and Prejudice retelling which takes place in Pakistan but sticks true to the plot and story of the original with a few twists.

If you want to explore Pakistani culture, while enjoying a modern take on the iconic love story, pick this one up.

Engaging Darcy
by Rachel John

After a stand-off over pizza, Elsie Bennet has decided Fitzwilliam “I-Throw-Fitz” Darcy is the worst customer she’s ever encountered.

He’s also the best-looking, and now her neighbor. Her new, grumpy, infuriating neighbor.

Will Darcy has all the money and time he could ask for, and yet life never seems to meet his expectations.

When his best friend starts dating Jane Bennet, Will becomes their unhappy third wheel.

The solution? Bring along Jane’s sister, Elsie, a girl who challenges him, makes him laugh, plagues his thoughts, and unfortunately, hates his guts.

John gives us another young adult Pride and Prejudice retelling in this modern-day romance set in California.

I love how the iconic meet-cute gone bad occurs in a pizza shop and how Elsie and Will come to better understand each other after that fateful first meeting.

Check it out and then read the rest of the book in her Austen series.

Debating Darcy
by Sayantani DasGupta

A life-long speech competitor, Leela Bose loves nothing more than crushing the competition, all while wearing a smile.

But when she meets the incorrigible Firoze Darcy, a debater from an elitist private school, Leela can’t stand him.

But why attempt to tolerate Firoze when Leela can one-up him in the state league?

Yet she might have tragically misjudged the debaters — including Firoze Darcy — and more than just her own winning streak is at stake…her heart is, too.

This young adult Pride and Prejudice retelling is for the younger reader.

It brings the iconic story to life in American high school culture and we all know how dicey that can be with first impressions.

Prom and Prejudice
by Elizabeth Eulberg

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single girl of high standing at Longbourn Academy must be in want of a prom date.

After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious Longbourn Academy become obsessed with the prom.

Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn on a scholarship, isn’t interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be – especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London.

Lizzie is happy about her friend’s burgeoning romance but less than impressed by Charles’s friend, Will Darcy, who’s snobby and pretentious.

Darcy doesn’t seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it’s because her family doesn’t have money.

Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk – so why does Lizzie find herself drawn to him anyway?

A modern Pride and Prejudice retelling set in a boarding school with prom as the focus? I love it!

This young adult romance follows a similar storyline to the original with a few twists to bring it to life in the contemporary world.

Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field
by Melissa Nathan

It starts as a lark for Jasmin Field, the charming, acerbically witty columnist for a national women’s magazine. 

She joins a host of celebrities gathering in London to audition for the season’s most dazzling charity event:  a one-night only stage production of Jane Austen’s immortal Pride and Prejudice, directed by and starring the Academy Award — winning Hollywood heartthrob Harry Noble. 

And nobody is more surprised than Jasmin herself when she lands the lead of handsome Harry’s love interest, Elizabeth Bennet. 

But things start to go very wrong very quickly.  Her brief moment of theatrical glory looks as if it’s going to be overshadowed by the betrayal of her best friend, the disintegration of her family and the implosion of her career.

But, worst of all, Harry Noble has started to stare hard at Jazz with that sort of a glimmer in his eyes.

This was the first Pride and Prejudice retelling that I read and I adored it. I still remember it all these years later.

I remember being in such awe that a writer could bring about the same feelings and situations in a modern-day romance as Pride and Prejudice and I’m still floored by each and every author who attempts it.

Epic Fail
by Claire LaZebnik

At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you.

Case in point: As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.

As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus.

Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant.

But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

Sometimes you just want to sit back with a cute Pride and Prejudice retelling and that’s what you get with this young adult romance that brings the story to light at a prep school.

It’s not hard to imagine how pride and prejudice can cloud judgments among teenagers within a prep school.

Check it out for yourself to see what happens.

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