Pride and Prejudice and Jasmin Field by Melissa Nathan, Avon Books (copyright 2000), ISBN 0-06-018495-7

Back Cover: It starts out 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 role of handsome Harry’s love interest, Elizabeth Bennet. But things start to go very wrong very quickly. Ms. Field’s delicious contempt for the arrogant, overbearing Harry Noble goes from being wicked fun to infuriating. 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. And suddenly she can’t remember a single one of her lines. But, worst of all, Harry Noble – who, incidentally looks amazing in tight breeches – has started to stare hard at Jazz with that sort of a glimmer in his eyes…

One of the reasons I was initially attracted to this book was that Jasmin Field is a journalist, of sorts. She writes a social column for Hoorah, a woman’s “trashy” magazine. Having trained in journalism, I liked the idea. Jazz’s slant on life is a modern version of Elizabeth Bennet’s observations. This is a story that speaks to the questions of judgments and beliefs. All the elements of Jane Austen’s original are available, sometimes to the detriment of the story line – for example, the Charlotte Lucas/Mr. Collins story is a bit ridiculous. However, Nathan handles her homage to Austen with a quiet humor reminiscent of the original. There are problems with changes in point of view (sometimes within a paragraph), as well as use of profanity and sexual encounters. Yet, Nathan’s acerbic wit is contagious. (I should mention at this point that Ms. Nathan succumbed to cancer several years past. Personally, I would have liked to see what other Austen story lines that Nathan might have added to the contemporary adaptations. I also own Nathan’s Persuading Annie, which is a modern version of Austen’s Persuasion. I will discuss that one later on.)

One of my favorite scenes in this book occurs when Harry and Jazz are rehearsing a scene for the play. Jazz explains to Harry about Mr. Darcy’s motivations in Pride and Prejudice. I have always thought it was a magnificent analysis of Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Acting with Harry was an amazing experience. Jazz entirely forgot herself. Because he was so utterly convincing as Darcy, her reactions, which had been so tame with Brian, were now highly charged. The rest of the cast stopped talking and started silently watching what was going on. Whenever Harry gave Jazz an idea or suggested trying her delivery a different way, she knew instinctively what he was getting at and what he was trying to get out of her. And they were always both delighted with the result. She was buzzing with excitement. This was thrilling! Jazz loved the way Harry was making Lizzy stronger by the minute. And after a while, he even started accepting her ideas. She managed to convince him to make his Darcy more pained.

“The man’s in love, for goodness sake,” she said at one point.

“Why should that pain him?” asked Harry. “He still thinks he’s superior to her. And is still arrogant enough to assume she would accept his hand.”

Jazz answered as if he was an idiot. “Because he still thinks he can’t marry her – it would go against every one of his principles. And his principles are his whole identity. He’s going through constant inner turmoil every time he sees her. He’s fighting himself whenever she’s there. This is the only woman he has ever felt so powerfully attracted to. Physically as well as emotionally. He’s never even fancied a woman before. Darcy has never been out of control before – it’s terrifying, confusing and amazing all at the same time. Lizzy makes all the other women he can get – and let’s face it, he can get all of them – pale into insignificance. She’s the only woman who has ever answered him back, who has ever made him think twice about what he says, who has ever made him reconsider his lifelong principles. And yet she’s from a repulsive lower-class stock. It’s like a terrible awakening for him. And every time he sees her he is more aware of the increasingly agonizing dilemma he is in. He’s getting more hopelessly devoted and yet more aware of the impossibility of marriage to her at the same time. It’s – it’s living hell.”

Like Debra White Smith’s “First Impressions,” this book is no longer available, but if one can find it on a used book site, it is well worth the read. I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars.