AUSTEN POWER
The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet - Katie Rorick (2014)
Twenty-four-year-old Lizzie Bennet is in need of a thesis project and still living at home with her two sisters, Jane and Lydia, and their mum who is completely preoccupied with trying to get her three daughters wed to handsome and rich gentlemen. When Lizzie comes up with the idea to record videos about her life and family and post them on the Internet for her thesis, the Bennet sisters turn into internet celebrities' overnight. Then Bing Lee, who is the perfect candidate to wed one of Mrs Bennet daughters, and his friend William Darcy, who is not, come to town. The new arrivals cause the Bennet sisters' lives to suddenly become a lot more complicated and Lizzie's viewers are with them every step of the way. The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet is based on the Emmy Award-winning YouTube series, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which puts a modern spin on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, including all the favourite parts of the classic tale but in a way that was new and refreshing. This novel expands on the story already created through the web series, taking readers behind the confines of the camera. This book can be read by itself but by reading it in conjuction with watching the web series it allows you to become fully immersed in the story and leads to having greater understanding of both the story and the characters. The Secret of Lizzie Bennet was a fun and entertaining retelling of the popular classic and can be enjoyed just as much by both readers new to the story and for fans of the original. (AMBER)
The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet is a novel based on the online show The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Written by the series' executive producer and director Bernie Su and TV writer Kate Rorick, it is a modern adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The summary says: "There is a great deal that goes into making a video blog. Lizzie Bennet should know, having become a YouTube sensation over the course of her year-long video diary project. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries chronicled Lizzie's life as a twenty-four-year-old grad student, struggling under a mountain of student loans and living at home with her two sisters - beautiful Jane and reckless Lydia. What may have started as her grad student thesis grew into so much more, as the videos came to inform and reflect her life and that of her sisters. When rich, handsome Bing Lee comes to town, along with his stuck-up friend William Darcy, things really start to get interesting for the Bennets - and for Lizzie's viewers. Suddenly Lizzie - who always considered herself a fairly normal young woman - was a public figure. But not everything happened on-screen. Luckily for us, Lizzie kept a secret diary." The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet is out in June 2014. For more details about the web series, head to www.lizziebennet.com.