Pride and Prejudice: The Jewess and the Gentile

by Lev Raphael

Get Ready for Pride and Prejudice with Brisket! In this subtle mash-up, Lizzy Bennet's been transformed into an Anglo-Jew with a Jewish mother, some Jewish attitude, and lots to say about Mr. Darcy. And he's got some some serious attitude problems of his own when it comes to “Hebrews.” When these two proud people meet, is it still love at first...slight? Will prejudice keep them from bridging the gap between Jew and Gentile? Raphael lovingly and meticulously retouches Austen's portrait of Regency England and gives us a whole new way to see her inimitable work. No vampires, giant squids, zombies, or ghouls of any kind here--but a rewoven tapestry that can leave you in stitches if you read Austen Through the Looking Glass. Lev Raphael is an original voice in American-Jewish Literature whose books are assigned reading at colleges and universities around the country, something he shares with Jane Austen (who was not Jewish). "With a sly wit and deft hand, Raphael infiltrates the world of Austen's most popular novel and plays a game of What If? that simultaneously creates something fresh and reveals anew the genius of the original prose. Never have the human foibles of pride and prejudice been exposed in such a delightful way." —Michael Thomas Ford, author of Jane Bites Back "What's not to like? Lev Raphael has created a witty, surprisingly effective mash-up of Pride and Prejudice envisioning the Bennet family as Jews struggling against their society’s anti-Semitism. Raphael adds amusing touches to Austen’s novel, and though fun on the surface, this mash-up hints at the devastating effects of intolerance and religious prejudice." —Emily Auerbach, author of Searching for Jane Austen "Lev Raphael’s version of Pride and Prejudice develops a whole new dimension and Austen's plot neatly accommodates the Jewish elements in this mash-up hand-made by a maven." --Rachel Brownstein, author of Why Jane Austen? "Hilarious and charming, genuinely delightful. An audacious reinterpretation of the divine Miss A which has one laughing out loud from the first page." --Lauren Henderson, author of The Jane Austen Dating Book

363 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2011

About the author

I've wanted to be an author since I was in second grade and fell in love with "The Three Musketeers", which I read to pieces. It hasn't been a swashbuckling life exactly, but one full of surprises, including recently selling my literary papers to Michigan State University's Libraries.

Since second grade, I've loved all sorts of books and have ended up writing nineteen books in many genres: memoir, mystery, short story collections, a children's book, and more. I've been an academic, a radio DJ, had my own talk show, and currently have three terrific giugs.

I write a monthly column for Bibliobuffet.com called Book Brunch. I blog at Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lev-rap...). And I do a monthly "Under the Radar" book review for WKAR 90.5 FM in East Lansing, MI. I'm always on the lookout for beautifully written books in any genre, but I more and more favor books from smaller presses, because they need more exposure.

I love reading my work and have done hundreds of readings on three different continents. Readings are performances, and I practice, practice, practice.

Reviews

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of Pride and Prejudice: The Jewess and the Gentile by Lev Raphael for the purpose of publishing a 750 word critical review on-line.

I read 12 chapters and had to put it down because it was not working for me whatsoever. Let me try and explain:
1. it is what I would describe as a "plagiarized paraphrase" of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
2. Most of the references to Judaism would not be understandable for most Gentile readers.
3. After 12 chapters the Bennet's "Jewishness" seemingly had not made a single impact or deviation in Austen's original plot line.

This renders the text so narrowly focused that only Jewish readers or Gentiles intimately connected to Jewish communities would even remotely comprehend the Jewish references throughout. It is all but unapproachable for me. A reader must be able to "enter" into the experience and I predict many will not be able to. I have read Pride and Prejudice several times so why would I want to read an imitation when I can read the genuine article?

I have investigated Lev Raphael's other works and he is obviously a wonderful author. However, in this work I must ask "What's the point?"

[IndieJane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pride and Prejudice is my favorite Jane Austen book. I also love reading P&P what-ifs, variations, and sequels. So, when the Indie Jane ladies asked me to review Pride and Prejudice: The Jewess and The Gentile I jumped at the chance.


In P&P: The Jewess and the Gentile, Elizabeth Bennet and her family are Jewish while Mr. Darcy is Christian. This does put an interesting spin on things. Wickham is Jewish and he maligns Mr. Darcy’s character by saying that he is very prejudiced against Jews. Wickham paints a very ugly picture of Mr. Darcy.

It was interesting to learn some of the reasons why Jewish people were looked down upon. Elizabeth certainly didn’t like it when any bad behavior by her family or other Jews added to the prejudice of her race.

The biggest problem I have with this book is that it is practically word for word straight Jane Austen, with some Yiddish and a sprinkling of sentences added throughout the story.

I read in an interview Lev Raphael gave where he said it would be a subtle difference in this version from the original and I would say that is very correct. I could feel the prejudice against Jews through out the story especially in the beginning, but I wish he would have expanded on it a little more. To me, religious conflict is harder to resolve than class conflict. Maybe that’s because I live in this century and not 200 years ago when class prejudices were huge. I also don’t know enough about religious prejudices of the 1800s. How big of a deal would it have been? That is a question that might have been answered with maybe a conversation between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, or Jane and Elizabeth.

I would read this story if I wanted to know a little bit of what it would be like to be an Anglo-Jew in the early 1800s England. Other than that I would read the original. I would give this 3 out of 5 stars.


(review by guest reviewer Candy Morton)

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

For fans of Pride and Prejudice, you will find naught to complain of regarding this adaptation, as it uses 99% of Jane Austen's words, with the remainder percent being a sprinkling of Jewish words and phrases. Essentially, it is the story of P&P, with very minor changes.

[Kate Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pride and Prejudice with a spice of Jewish flare. We know the story so famously written by Jane Austen that I won’t go into the particulars again. Lev Raphael offers us a nice dose of Austen, which remains virtually unchanged. Purists will delight in this offering, but those looking for something more may be disappointed.



I enjoyed this novel. What I did know to be Mr. Raphael’s contributions where witty, funny and well composed. Mrs. Bennet as a yenta was actually quite appropriate and I laughed quite a few times at her carefully placed Yiddish sayings. The conflict of Elizabeth being a Jewess and Darcy being a gentile was staged delicately, providing just enough tension to make their romance rocky.




I was disappointed in this Jane Austen retelling. I had high expectations for what I presumed to be a fresh take on the Austenesque novel. I was disappointed because I saw so much potential. For anyone familiar with Jewish history there is the basic knowledge that they have not had it easy. While I would not look for Mr. Raphael to make any political statements, my point is there is so much more Mr. Raphael could have done with the Jewess and Gentile aspect of the novel.




Mr. Raphael could have really placed his mark, but he fell short by playing it safe. When I read an Austenesque novel I want to know the author has placed their mark on it. I know who Jane Austen is, but who are you and what makes your Austen novel so different? There was too much Austen and not enough Lev Raphael. As I mentioned earlier Raphael could have really played with the Jewess and Gentile aspect, but didn’t.


Despite my gripes, I would recommend this novel if you are looking for a light Austen diversion.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings about these "mash-ups" and this is actually the first one I've read. I really enjoy the articles by the (secondary) author on the Huffington Post, which is where I first heard about this. The idea of making the Bennets an Anglo-Jewish family is certainly a clever one and those bits are mostly woven into the original story pretty seamlessly (Darcy disparages the "Levantine cast" of Elizabeth's features in his original put-down, for example), but I still feel that these books are very much taking advantage of great works of literature, the vast majority (probably over 90%) of which was written by someone else. Since I did feel that this was well done, I'm only giving it one star fewer than the original.