Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – who would have thought? This graphic novel, written in 2010 by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame – Smith, has already been made into a movie, out this spring. I was not up for the movie, but knew I wanted to read the book, aince I remain in my Jane Austin swoon!
I’ve never been much of a horror movie fan – never even saw The Exorcist back in the day, and don’t particularly get zombies, but was glad to learn some of the rules of zombiedom from this book. Like the fact that rain brings them out of their graves, that their heads have to be chopped off to assure their not returning, that they are not very fast and are not at all smart, though their main diet is human brains. And that it takes time for the plague to turn one into a zombie after being bitten.
The book, not in color except for a zombie Elizabeth-type coming out of her tomb on the cover, is very true to the original story, and has a great scene of Elizabeth and Darcy fighting together – and one scene where she stands back and lets him fight, so as not to have gore on her clothes. She is, by the way, one of the greatest warriors in all of Britain, trained with her sisters at Shaolin Temple in Henan Province, obviously quite a prestigious place. In another switch, Darcy beats Wickham until he is lame (in a wheelchair), as part of the price for providing financial security. Jane and Bingley are, of course, present, but not so front and center. And Charlotte Lucas Collins has already been bitten by a zombie before she weds the Rev. Collins, and takes quite a long time to die from it. (A fate likely better than being married to the Rev.)
Altogether a rollicking and fun book, true to the original while giving Elizabeth and Darcy more time and attention, and taking rather less time to get to the point of being together. All to the good, I say!