Fixing Emma: A Jane Austen Diversion

By Riana Everly

Priya is enjoying Jane Austen's novel Emma on the fancy new eReader her uncle gave her. But when the story doesn't meet her expectations and she voices her comments, strange things start to happen! Suddenly Austen's classic is all mixed up and Priya is to blame. Can she fix the story in time for Valentine's Day?
A short story of about 7500 words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Riana Everly
• Release date: Mar 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781775128397

Book preview

Fixing Emma

Riana Everly

FIXING EMMA

Copyright © 2019 Riana Everly

All rights reserved.

Published by Bay Crest Press 2019 Toronto, Ontario, Canada

No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale. This is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental

ISBN: 978-1-7751283-9-7 

Acknowledgments

Even short stories don’t happen without help and input from others. Thanks to Appalaa Bhattacharrya, Deborah Pearson, Debra-Ann Kummoung, and Dass Swayze for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Part One

Priya wrinkled her nose and threw the eReader down on the sofa cushion beside her. It bounced off the throw pillow and nearly fell onto the floor before she caught it. The eReader had been a Christmas present from her favourite uncle, part of a set of the latest electronic gadgets designed to improve her life. She most certainly was enjoying the features the device had to offer, from its beautiful selection of fonts to its Internet access to a wealth of images and background information—all accessible through a connection to the voice assistant he had given the family—to its clean and simple design. But most of all, she was enjoying the expansive library of classics her uncle had pre-loaded on the reader. "You will love these, Priya! Start with Jane Austen’s Emma. Her characters are wonderful." Enthralled, Priya had done just that.

Her uncle had been right. She was loving it! She stole every moment she could to read, eagerly absorbing every word, every turn of phrase, growing to care for the characters, to know them as well as her brother and her best friends. Jane Austen’s prose was wonderful too, her observations of humanity profound, her oh-so-polite wit sharp and lethal.