by Mitzi Szereto
Cleis Press, $15.95, 265 pages
Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts by Mitzi Szereto is a glorious, breathless gallop through the word-smithing antics based on Jane Austen’s most popular classic novel. This erotic parody captures the true flavor of Austen in voice, adding in the spicy bits that previous readers could only glimpse. Darcy, Mr. Bennett, Miss Bingley, Elizabeth, Lydia, and the entire cast raise their petticoats and drop their breeches as the reader follows them on this sexed up, stirred up, striking homage to one of the most enduringly popular writers in the English language.
Written with Szereto’s deft humor, combined with Austen’s style, the result is a great deal of fun with literature, with scandal and laughter on every page. Laugh out loud funny and arousing by turns, the pace doesn’t flag from beginning to end, every point spot on. Readers will appreciate the blend of sexy humor and rambunctious style, including how the author remains true to Austen’s voice and vision even as we meet Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine, as well as many others, in such compromising and salacious positions as never expected.
Axie Barclay