I've been as eager as a brain-starved zombie to get my hands on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the Jane Austen mash-up concocted by Seth Grahame-Smith for Quirk Books. It sounded a like Regency Buffy: zombie-slaying Lizzy Bennet indulges in arch quips while skewering zombies and ninjas with her Katana, all in time for the Netherfield ball. The obvious question was, could this conceit actually work for the length of a novel?
The answer: yes - sort of. P&P&Z is no Buffy. But it will be entertaining for a particular type of reader: those who are familiar with the original novel, yet…
Bennet
Mrs. Bennett
circa 1818-1821Wellcome Library
While browsing Morbid Anatomy recently I did a double take: is that the hypochondriac matriarch of Pride and Prejudice, only zombified? No, Lizzy's mother has not succumbed to the unmentionable scourge - yet. This Mrs. Bennett is a coincidentally named Georgian lady who suffered from an unnamed skin ailment, from which she fortunately makes a full recovery. You'll have to wait until my April 1 review of P&P&Z to discover if the Bennets of Longbourne are so lucky!