Stop us if you’ve heard this one. A headstrong young woman bucks the expectations of society and her family by stubbornly insisting on doing things her own way. She meets a young man who seems immune to her many charms, spars with him, and ultimately falls in love with him. Along the way, she learns that things are not always what they seem and sometimes, being vulnerable is the only way to move forward.
Of course you’ve heard this before. It’s the plot of Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice. But it’s also the plot to a whole host of other books, including Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding, The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim, Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta, Pride and Papercuts by Staci Hart, and Pride, Prejudice and Other by Sonali Dev, just to name a few. Each book offers a slightly different take on the classic tale. In one, the Elizabeth Bennet-styled protagonist is a successful neurosurgeon; in another, she’s a high school debate champ. Every work shares the same basic structure, but the details differ enough that each functions as its own unique story.
