As alluded to in an earlier post, the Viscount is reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The book is an updating of Miss Austen's book to include a relatively significant plot twist wherein zombies are present all over the place. The change is exceedingly amusing and the Viscount found himself actually laughing out loud over several passages, thereby breaking his normally staid and sedate countenance for which he is known. The story line is exactly the same as the original, except the five daughters have all been trained in the killing arts in China. This was all the poor family could afford as most of the leading families send their children to Japan. It is clear that this choice is marked with social stigma, although it is evident that Elizabeth and her sisters came back to England with much more talent in these areas than many of their friends. Instead of the girls showing off their prowess in social settings by playing the piano or singing, they do martial arts exercises. Some of these are quite deadly as their opponents can be killed. In one scene, Elizabeth ties her dress to her legs with a "modesty string" so her skirts to not fly in the air while she walks on her hands.
All of Austen is in this book and one is delighted by the subtleties of her text and prose. Yet, there are zombies. The zombies wreck havoc in everyone's lives including Mrs. Collins who has a bad go of it I am afraid in this retelling. The girls seem to be nearly always at battle even while trying to find husbands, and the husbands seem to be avoiding battle at all cost. This is a landscape of women warriors and modesty strings. Great fun!
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