Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors blends themes from Jane Austen, with delicious Indian food and family loyalty. When brain surgeon Trisha Raje is hangry after a stressful day, she’s, uh, less than polite to the chef catering a party at her parents’ house. Chef DJ Caine tries to ignore this spoiled, rich client, but they keep crossing paths. DJ is catering Trisha’s brother’s campaign fundraisers, and his sister is Trisha’s newest patient.

The best Jane Austen retellings can stand alone, and this would definitely work as a novel where the male lead just happens to be named Darcy. The story follows the same basic highs and lows of the original, with similar themes of sisterly loyalty, but it’s not a scene-by-scene retelling. Some of the characters map nicely (Trisha’s brother-in-law Neel is definitely a good-natured, Bingley type), without being a one-to-one.

Julia Wickham’s main goal is to manipulate into money, just like how in the original P&P, Wickham’s main goal is to manipulate into money.  But Julia does something that is so over-the-top, so far beyond the poor student taking her rich roommate for all she can get, that it almost seemed like it belonged in another novel. It definitely makes her seem like a ruthless, dangerous villain, even though for most of the novel, Trisha’s too embarrassed to tell DJ what Julia has done. 

A warm retelling of the classic personalities clashing, with modern Indian elements.