It's interesting how you can have one story and twist it a million ways. I guess that's why "they" say that you don't ever have something new, you're just writing something old in a new way. Actually, that's not what "they" say exactly, but I couldn't quite remember the right way to put it.
Anyway, since I'm obviously not the first one to write a modern version of Persuasion, I wanted to read some of the others that are out there already. There aren't many (luckily), and I could only get my hands on two. I found them both VERY different, and my version very different also. Phew. (Although I did have to rethink a couple of character names.)
They were both good books, and I'm left with the hope that I can spin Persuasion my way just as well as both those authors did. I hope I can fill out my world and characters like they did with theirs. If I've done that, then I have nothing to complain about.
Anyway, since I'm obviously not the first one to write a modern version of Persuasion, I wanted to read some of the others that are out there already. There aren't many (luckily), and I could only get my hands on two. I found them both VERY different, and my version very different also. Phew. (Although I did have to rethink a couple of character names.)
They were both good books. The Family Fortune seemed more adult to me, probably because the MC was in her late 30s, whereas the MC in Persuading Annie was 27 (which is the age of Anne Elliot from the original). I found myself a little disappointed with the end in The Family Fortune- I knew what was coming and everything but I found it wasn't enough. I'm a sucker for romance and I needed more of that. I needed something bigger. I liked Persuading Annie better, mostly because I found myself giggling through a lot of the book. Melissa Nathan is a British author and there's just something about British humor that totally gets me. Like this:
"Annie's hand flexed into karate chop position. I could kill him from here and be out before the adverts."
And I love this line:
"When the door opened and Jake stood in front of her, her mind, which Angus had left numb, was now blown."
They were both good books, and I'm left with the hope that I can spin Persuasion my way just as well as both those authors did. I hope I can fill out my world and characters like they did with theirs. If I've done that, then I have nothing to complain about.