Mitzi’s Lusty Austen Remake
Bruce Von Stiers
A lot of the classic literary tales have seen a resurgence of readers. The books of Jane Austen have been very popular. But what about the untold stories behind the scenes in the books? What if those men and women in the novels weren’t so innocent and were involved with steamy and illicit sex?
One author took this premise and built an entire novel around it. I should say, she took a classic tale and put a tawdry, lusty and graphic sexual spin on it. The classic novel that the author messed with is the Jane Austen tale, Pride And Prejudice. The title for this new novel is Pride & Prejudice: Hidden Lusts.
The book was published by Cleis Press. It is soft covered and has 272 pages.
The author of the novel is Mitzi Szereto. Although she is an American, Mitzi spends most of her time in the U.K., so she can relate to the locations and scenery depicted in the novel. Mitzi has written other erotic novels and has been the editor of several collections of erotic stories.
First of all, this novel is being called a parody. Authors such as Mitzi use this writing label to avoid copyright infringement and other legal trouble. And as graphic as this novel is, Mitzi very well could have conflict with both the heirs of Austen’s estate and some of the fans of the original novel.
As Hidden Lust opens, the reader meets a few members of the Bennet family. Mrs. Bennet is a bit loopy and Mr. Bennet is an old horn dog who loves to look at drawings of young women involved in sexual acts. That he pleasures himself while viewing these drawings is but one lurid aspect of Mr. Bennett’s being. He also has sex with a robust housekeeper. And the reader is treated to graphic details of all of this.
The youngest Bennett daughter Lydia is described early on. She apparently is somewhat of a nymphomaniac and rubs herself against inanimate objects as well as the legs and other body parts of men.
The main plot of the novel is that Mr. Bennet has no male heirs and five daughters. His family lives on an estate that is owned by a relative. Should he die, his family could well be removed from the estate with no place to live. So he really wants to get his daughters married off, hopefully to men both rich and powerful. This core element doesn’t stray from the original novel. But with the rest of it, Mitzi took a lot of liberties, both with the characterizations and sexual discourse.
As with the original novel, the second oldest Bennet daughter, Elizabeth is the main character. She languishes between two men, Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy. Wickham deems to drive a wedge between Darcy and Elizabeth.
As characters are introduced into the novel, so are their sexual proclivities. There is Miss Bingley, who likes to take birch switches to the backsides of men then have them perform oral sex on her. Her brother, Mr. Bingley has a crush on Mr. Darcy and performs lewd acts on him as Darcy sleeps. Other characters have certain sexual preferences and desires. Mr. Collins, a Bennet relative who will ultimately own the estate they live on, has his own preferences. A recently ordained clergy, Collins tastes run more towards young men. Other sexual acts by characters include the offerings of both backsides and front sides of their bodies by both men and women.
The sexual acts portrayed in the novel are fairly graphic. But in keeping with the style of writing of the original novel, modern terms and slang aren’t present. Therefore, the depictions are somewhat sedate, not what you’d find in most modern erotic tales. The reader does not get second by second details of sexual acts but more of an overview. This makes the novel more of a true erotic tale and not just smut by nature.
The novel wraps ups things pretty much the way the original book by Jane Austen did.
Between the first and last pages of Pride & Prejudice: Hidden Lusts the reader is treated to all sorts of titillating and explicit sexual conduct of the characters. This novel was probably not meant for the stodgy, died in the wool Jane Austen fans. In fact, I’m sure most of them would be appalled at this take on their favorite Austen novel. But for the reader who likes erotic novels and has a taste for classic literature, this is a must read. As for me, I’m not much into the Jane Austen style of classic literature. I’m more into macho classics like those served up by Dumas. But I actually enjoyed this novel. Mitzi Szereto took an all time Jane Austen fan favorite and turned it into an interesting and entertaining erotic novel.
Pride & Prejudice: Hidden Lusts is available through amazon.com and other online and traditional book retailers.
To learn more about this novel visit http://mitziszereto.com/prideandprejudicehiddenlusts/
© 2011 Bruce E Von Stiers