Everybody knows Lydia, the youngest and the naughtiest Bennett sister in the Jane Austen classic "Pride and Prejudice." Readers will get to know more about her with Natasha Farrant writing a teen novel centered on the character.
Back in June during an interview with Bookham-based award-winning writer Rachel Ward for Author Allsorts, the upcoming book titled "Lydia: the Bad Bennet Girl" was first teased by Barry Cunningham, MD of The Chicken House, which will publish the novel.
"We have a wonderful imagining of the secret diary of young Lydia Bennet from Pride and Prejudice by the amazing Natasha Farrant," Cunningham said after mentioning its plans to make a movie out of "Moonrise" by Gemma Fowler.
On the surface, "Lydia: the Bad Bennet Girl" is a tale of the spoiled and often selfish young lady and her day to day experiences and strains but it is also actually an attempt to have younger readers drawn to the original book by Jane Austen, which inspired film and TV adaptations and book spinoffs.
Simply put, the book is aimed to be the one to introduce "Pride and Prejudice," which was published back in 1813. As per Pemberley, the masterpiece serves as the book Austen is best known for. It follows Elizabeth, her four other unmarried sisters and her constant clash with the conceited Darcy.
But Chicken House touts via The Bookseller that in "Lydia: the Bad Bennet Girl," Farrant "brought a modern yet fiercely authentic voice to the original wild child of romantic fiction," giving a unique spin to the revered classic while making it appeal to younger readers.
Chicken House acquired the world rights from Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan Associates. The teen novel will be published by the company in February 2016. It has partnered with New York-based publisher Scholastic, who will distribute the book in the US.
Farrant's literary field is on children's and teen books. So far in her colorful writing career, she has managed to publish several titles such as "The Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby" series that included "After Iris," "Flora in Love and "All About Pumpkins," which just released in the UK.
According to The Guardian, she was also shortlisted last year for the Queen of Teen award, which was ultimately won by "Hollow Pike" author James Dawson. Other books put out by Farrant as listed on her website include "The Things We Did for Love," "Some Other Eden" and "Diving into Light."