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I wasted no time after Into the Bright Open in getting into the next remix. Here, Pride and Prejudice retains its setting in time and place and the essentials of characters, with one great exception: the individual we know in the original as Elizabeth Bennet is here a trans boy named Oliver. Only a few people know his truth: his older sister Jane, his aunt and uncle, and two dear friends, Charlotte and Lu, who are, secretly, a same-sex couple and not the close friends their community believes them to be. He has arranged a workable system for going out as himself, sometimes climbing out the bedroom he shares with Jane at night in clothes stored under his bed, and sometimes going to Charlotte’s to change into clothes she keeps there for him. When he meets Darcy for the first time, he finds him handsome, but is repelled by his poor social graces and Darcy’s obvious disdain for the young person presented as Elizabeth.

Gabe Cole Novoa opens this novel with a note acknowledging that Oliver is frequently misgendered, and his deadname used, by his community and his own family, “though never by the narrative.” Novoa observes that this will be painful for some readers, and gives them fair warning: the author has done his best to handle the issues with sensitivity, but the book centers in some ways around Oliver’s dysphoria. As a reader who does not share this experience, I can only say that I thought Oliver’s dysphoria, misgendering, and seeking against convention for his authentic self were represented with nuance and grace, and accurately as far as I can see from here. Indeed, I thought the portrayal was of a sort to help other cis people like myself empathize with something we haven’t experienced for ourselves, in the best ways, which is some of the best work fiction can do for us.

Beyond that good work, Most Ardently is as sweet and transporting a love story (and a mess of misunderstandings) as the original it’s based on. Oliver presenting as ‘Elizabeth’ versus himself, to the same groups of people – and most importantly Darcy – offers some Shakespearean scenes of confusion, although these are less comedic because the Elizabeth character is a painful lie Oliver is forced to tell. There is one scene when Darcy laughs and laughs at an ironic turn that I do find nicely funny. And there is a parallel to the expected happy ending that is so oh satisfying – perhaps more so for its unlikeliness. (Novoa includes a historical note speculating on trans people who have ‘passed’ undetected in history. By definition, these are unknown to us. Novoa takes a hopeful stance.) I found the whole result sweet, entertaining, sympathetic, and wholly rewarding in the end. This was an easy and fulfilling read, and I’m ready for more in the series. I’m so glad this book is in the world.

Filed under: book reviews | Tagged: classics retold, coming of age, LGBTQ, remix |