An Obstinate, Headstrong Girl (by a Lady)
Abigail Bok, 2014
St. Martin's Press
350 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781631320057
Summary
Have you ever looked around at the modern world and asked yourself, "What would Jane Austen say?" about the follies of the day. This is your opportunity to discover the answer.
The peaceful hamlet of Lambtown, in central California’s ranch country, is cast into disarray after the Bennet family appears on the scene. From Mrs. Bennet’s social climbing to her youngest children’s dissolute behavior, the newcomers provoke universal censure. Eldest daughter Lizzy, a landscaper, challenges decorum with a series of social experiments aimed at improving the lot of the Spanish-speaking poor. And her gentle brother John offends many by virtue of his romance with local entrepreneur Charlie Bingley.
Nobody is more outraged by the Bennets than thoroughbred breeder Catherine de Bourgh and her amanuensis, Morris Collins. While Collins at first imagines that Lizzy is a promising prospect, she will have none of him, attracted instead to the elusive Jorge Carrillo. Unbeknownst to Lizzy, she has also been noticed by Fitzwilliam Darcy, scion of the founding family of Lambtown. Darcy, tantalized by her spirit but disapproving of her social crusades, makes an awkward pass that is spurned.
How will hearts be healed and peace return to a divided community? Who will move beyond their pride and prejudices to achieve lasting happiness?