February 21, 2026 • 49 mins
It's a truth universally acknowledged. For this month's book club, we dig into issues of class, gentrification, prejudice, sisterhood, coming of age, family, home and love with Ibi Zoboi's 2019 novel Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix. Anney and Samantha share their different takes based on their differing familiarities with Jane Austen's work in this classic episode.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and SMITHA. I'm welcome to stuff
and I Never Told You a productive of iHeartRadio. And
for today's classic, we are bringing back a book club
we did on the book Pride, which so Pride and
(00:27):
Prejudice kind of remix that we really enjoyed. It's really good,
and you know it's February. We didn't do a lot
of Valentine's content. Hell, what did you talk about? No
terrible things, so I thought we would bring this one in.
And also, I've just been seeing it a lot. I
think maybe because the Wuthering Heights movie came out, but
(00:49):
I've been seeing that quote at the beginning that you
were like, this is the quote Annie, everybody, yes, yes, yes, yes,
So I learned a lot and I enjoyed this book,
so please enjoy this classic episode. Hey, this is Sanny
and Samantha and welcome to steffan Never Told You projection
(01:11):
of iHeartRadio, and welcome to another edition of book Club.
This month, we are reading Eb's a Boys twenty nineteen
novel Pride, a Pride and Prejudice remix which he has
(01:32):
us to take on Pride and prejudice in our modern
day with black and Afro LATINX characters. The author also
draws on personal experience. She grew up in Bushwick, which
is a big part for the story takes place and
has Haitian roots, like the main character. So I'm very
very excited about this because I have never read Pride
(01:53):
and Prejudice. I have seen did we not do Frides?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Because it was much shorter. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Well, I'm about to back up and make you read
Pride and Prejudice.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Now I'm annoyed. I love this, and I know you
have strong opinions about like the film and TV adaption.
I do opinions, yes, So I'm very very excited. This
is gonna be fun because I'm gonna I'm going to
break down the plot of the book and then I'm
going to ask Samantha to tell me the comparison. I'm
(02:27):
very very excited. Also, I really want to read Zavoi's
other other works. We had kind of a list of
what we were choosing for this month, and she had
another one on there that I really wanted to do
because she's written a graphic novel on Octavia Butler. She's
also written for Marvel's Black Panther. She did a whole
thing about Acoyer coming to the United States, so hopefully
(02:50):
we can come back in the future.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
So when we were talking about books for this month,
I forgot about this, but I had seen someone I
think post it talking about this book and her doing it,
and I was so excited. So when Annie reminded me, like, hey,
this is an optional, was like, oh, yes, immediately, yes,
we need to do this one because I love good
adaptations anyway, and I do this was a good adaptation.
(03:15):
And before we start, let's do a quote from the
author about the original. Yes, as we all have to
give homage to thank you to the great literary figure
Jane Austen for writing and publishing Pride and Prejudice in
eighteen thirteen. Amidst everything that was happening in her world
at the time, Austin gifted us with a story about
not only love, but class, expectations, and a woman's place
(03:36):
in the world, even as she, a woman in nineteenth
century England, had the audacity to write, observe, and speak
truth to power with such wit, humor and grace. And
that's what I have to keep telling. Like one of
my good guy friends we read this. We had a
small like three person book club, and this was I
think at the beginning of our book book club because
(03:57):
we had to talk about the fact that, yes, people
think of it as women's romance today and knowing that
in eighteen thirteen she was talking about being single and
daring to choose who to love and marry and really
like giving it back to society and having a conversation
about the fact that she could talk back and did
talk back to anyone and everyone, including you know, people
(04:20):
who were of royal heritage.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
So it was really lovely.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
And the fact that she was such an icon in
that level that she dare speak her opinions got to
get a kudos.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
So this book was genius.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yes, and I believe I saw today some I've seen
it before, but like a viral post where someone was like,
just remember Jane Austen was self published and she also,
you know, I gotta say it, she was one of
the first She had fan fiction writers of her work,
so it was a very like consequential work. And this
(04:55):
was a very fun update of it, even though I
haven't read the original, so I got a different experience.
But correct that I love it. I'm ready, but okay,
I'm going to run through the plot of this this
book real quick. So it centers on Afro Latina teenager
and proud Bushwick resident Zuri Benitez. She grew up in
(05:17):
an apartment with her parents and her sisters and a
sort of matchmaker named Madrina. Zuri's extremely proud and fond
of her neighborhood. She's outspoken about any gentrification. She's also
worried excited about the possibility of attending historically black university,
Howard University in Washington, d C. So the novel begins
(05:39):
with the family preparing for the return of the oldest sister, Janney,
who has been away at Syracuse and is the first
in the family to go to college. So at the
same time, a once broken down house across the street
has gotten a massive makeover, further stoking Zuri's concerns about gentrification,
and a rich black family with the last name Darcy
(06:00):
moves in and uh oh, the two black boys about
Zeri's age are hot. There are a lot the girls
go to introduce themselves just as Janay arrives and it's
clear Janey has a connection with Annsley, one of the
Darcy brothers. Zuri is resistant to these connections to the
connection between Annsley and Janey, in particular because she doesn't
(06:22):
want to lose what little time she has with her sister,
and thinking that these boys will never understand where they
as a family comes from. So Zuri is immediately turned
off by the closed off Darius Darcy. She's just like
this guy's no good. I don't like him. A lot
of drama unfolds. Zuri's family throws regular block parties for
(06:44):
the community, and Darius seems to look down his nose
at the whole thing. Zuri pretty much chaperone's a date
with Janey and Annsley, still not approving of this match,
but ends up with Darius after the two go their
own way and they spar about their differences class and experience,
with Zuri informing him you can never understand. And through this,
(07:05):
she meets a guy named Warren, who she views as
more hood and goes with him in a seeming attempt
to prove a point and perhaps make Darius jealous. Zuri
agrees to chill with Warren, refraining from saying that they
are going on dates. Warren tells her that he and
Darius used to be friends and implies that Darius sort
(07:26):
of romanticized hood life. Warren won a scholarship as a
child to a fancy private school where Darius was going,
but eventually he grew bored of it and it got
him suspended somehow. The story's kind of murky, and this
only solidifies Zuri's opinions of Darius, like, okay, I knew it.
(07:46):
Then the Benita's family is invited to the Darcis for
a fancy cocktail party, and at this party, Darius overhears
Zuri's younger sister basically joking about wanting to bag a
Brinch fan. And then Darius goes to speak with his
brother Annsley, who then breaks up with Janey, leaving her heartbroken,
(08:07):
which only further enrages Zuri. She and Warren have another
chill hangout thing, something she is pretty much trying to
hide from her very very nosy family. Very when you're
going to get a man family, and they're texting regularly
by this point her and Warren. Zuri admits to Janey
she's worried about her future about leaving Bushwick for Howard
(08:31):
what if she doesn't like it? So Janey purchases her
around trip ticket on a bus so she can visit
the campus. Zuri immediately loves it there and is unashamed
of how much she wants to get in. When she
learns one of the professors performs at a local place
called Busboy and Poets, she goes and performs one of
her poems. The whole book is kind of interspersed with
(08:52):
her poems. Only, surprise, surprise, Darius is there with his
younger sister and his up type friend, Carrie, who Zuri
believes he is dating. Georgia convinces Zuri to come with
them to get chili dogs, and then Darius offers her
ride back to Bushwick that night. Zuri reluctantly agrees, since
(09:14):
she has now missed her return bus. However, this means
a Losstter dinner with the paternal Darcy grandmother, who interrogates
Zuri and judges her and her neighborhood. Zuri like fights
right back and furiously calls her out and decides to
take the later bus instead of going back with Darius,
(09:35):
but he basically forgets to drive her to the bus stop.
They argue about music. He tells her that he was
glad she stood up to his grandmother and Eventually they
stop to get a bite to eat, or he tells
her he is very impressed with her, and one thing
leads to another and they kiss. Zuri is feeling more
(09:56):
laid back with Darius until they get closer to Bushwick
and Darius judges Warren and feeling like he once again
proved her right, Zuri agrees to meet with Warren the
next day, only to get a frantic string of texts
from Darius telling her that Warren had taken sexy pictures
of his sister when she was underage and ruined her
(10:17):
reputation basically, which is why she was living with her grandmother. So,
once again furious, Zuri ends it with Warren then in
there and agrees to start over with Darius. So she
and Darius go on a kind of a not date
where they talk about everything and anything generally have a
good time, good enough, but she agrees to go on
a real date with him to a party. However, Zuri
(10:39):
feels out of place and abandoned at this party. It's
mostly rich white people and she doesn't like how Darius
acts around them. She has an argument with him and
then they agree to leave, only to turn back after
she sees a picture of her younger sister on social
media at the party with Warren, so they immediately turn
around and find her sister wasted, but okay. Carrie had
(11:04):
made sure that the same thing that had happened to
Dari's sister didn't happen to Zuri's sister. After a confrontation
with Warren, Darius fighting like a real fight, Zuri yelling,
they go back to the Darcy households so Zuri's younger
sister can sober up. Before they return home, Darius shows
(11:24):
her around, They have some heart to hearts about judgment
and being wrong about each other, and then they kiss again.
Sirens across the street break the moment. The woman who
lived on the lower floor, Madrina, who Zuri often went
to for advice, had died, and with her gone, Zuri's
father agrees to sell the apartment, much to Zuri's heartbreak,
(11:46):
so they moved to a place with more space, but
it is more quiet, it's not as neighborly. Janney gets
back with Annsley. Darius revealed he had been the one
to convince him that he should break up with Janney,
and it's implied he's the one that convince him he
was wrong about the whole thing. Zuri keeps dating Darius
and visits him in her old neighborhood, where he the
(12:07):
artist that he is, has put their initials in the concrete,
saying that they'll be forever. She finishes her college essay,
and that's about the end.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Nicely done, thank you, Yes, so Samantha, Yes, tell me
give me some comparison notes.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
She did great. She followed along with it perfectly. Now,
when it's a new rendition, I don't expect it to
be the same. If you're telling me you're taking a
movie from the book, and then there's already an amazing movie,
and then you puck up the movie, I'm gonna be pissed.
AKA the version with Cara Knightley. Hate it, hate it
to this day, hate it always. But it's okay whatever.
But when you have new renditions, now, I've never read that.
(12:51):
I think we had a long conversation when we were
talking about Pride Prejudice in general. I didn't read Pride
and Prejudice and Zombies. I was told that I should
read that. So I think we may have to do
like some features on both. Maybe we should do Pine
prejuice and zombies for like spooky season.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
And then have another comparison because essentially a friend of
mine who we read the books together, he was like, no,
you should read it.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I think you'll enjoy it. This goofy's good.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
I was like, okay, okay, and I think it turned
into a movie, but I'm scared of that anyway. But
for the comparison, yes, she of course had the dar
season there she asked, had the Bennetts, but the switching
of the last name. She did have, of course, several
of the key characters. And there we've got Georgiana, which
is Georgia here she's a lovely sister. We have Colin,
(13:42):
who is the cousin in the book, and he comes
to try to marry one of the sisters to keep
the inheritance essentially in the home and the estate, and
he's an awful person and everybody trus to their void.
We have the best friend who ends up with Colin.
So the flip here is that he is related to
(14:03):
the mentor Madrina figure who you it's not that way,
And she kind of splits two characters because the grandmother
in the book and Madrina, I think represent kind of
one character like several characters rather but have like overlapping,
which is to be expected. I loved her portrayal of
(14:26):
the parents in this one because the parents in the
Pride and Prejudice.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Are really kind of like like.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
The very beginning is how they how Elizabeth talks about
the fact that the marriage is awful, it is pretense,
and not to marry someone you don't like. Uh, that's
kind of the lesson she learns from her parents. So
in this one she flips in and I really adore it.
The relationship with the father is right on with all
the books, and like loving her daughter, loving his daughter,
(14:54):
wanted to protect his daughter, rite on love that the grandmother,
and this character would have been the aunt who's trying
to match make her sickly daughter to Darcy, but you know,
everything flips so she They do a great job with that.
The girlfriend that's not the girlfriend to Darcy is obviously
one of the sisters that are awful in the book,
(15:17):
so great with that. I think I was wondering how
they were going to take that whole bad guy Wickham,
which is Warren here is the bad dude who lies
and tries to slander people. But in the actual book,
in the Jane Austen's book, he actually runs away with
the youngest sister, causing a whole scandal because they have
(15:40):
obviously spent the night together, that's the implication, and if
they don't get married, it's a huge scandal. They will
all be ostracized, which is the fear of that's point
in time. But Darcy makes them get married, essentially about
promising the money and all this stuff. So I was
wondering how they handled that situation because obviously for a
modern day novel, to have thirteen year old girl run
(16:01):
away with like an eighteen year old boy not so great.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
So I like the way she flipped that.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
I like the way they she because I was wondering
as the story began and Warren was introduced him, like
how are they How is she going to do this,
because that's gonna be a real, real sketch. But the
fact that he did the whole photos, which is so
like on point with today in modern technology, I was like, Yes,
good job, great job, great telling of the story, makes
it new, made it interesting. I love the text because
(16:29):
in again the book, Darcy writes a letter to defend
himself and his actions against Wickham so like, and she
Readson all these things, so it's it's obviously a play
on that, which is which was brilliant in itself. The fighting.
Of course, it also made that same sense. So yeah,
I think the book did a great job. I love
(16:51):
the new interpretations. I really was wanting to see the
after word, I guess after I thought of the I
wanted her to be in college. I wanted to know
she made to Howard. I needed to know she was
at Howard because it kind of just left it as is.
But I think it's fantastic. Again, this is taking an
adult idea because obviously all this was the societal idea
(17:12):
that you had to be married before twenty and if
you're not your old spinster, because in the book, the
Elizabeth is twenty five. So having them being teenagers and
flipping out like that was very interesting. Having them sell
the house that was obviously very different and trying to
raise their situation up very different as well. But of
course it's on par with the conversations about gentrification in
(17:37):
general and just having to adjust to society as it
is and what that looks like, especially if something's being
sold as the building was being sold. It is implied
that eventually that the Bennetts and Pride and Prejudice would
have to move when the father dies, So maybe that
was just kind of a step ahead. But yeah, I
(17:57):
think she did an amazing job with this book. She
gave it all of its like flowers and giving us
so much credit to Jade Austen's characters that were developed,
but put on great spin and originality to it that
I'm like ready to see this as a.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Movie in itself.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
I'm like, yeah, show me this as a Netflix special
for teen dramas, let's go.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
I love it. I love that we had such a
different experience because you know, I was just like and
I really enjoyed it, but I didn't have the same
like ooh who is this? How can I compare them
to this? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
It was a beautiful was like, oh look at that,
Look at this, because like the aunt in the book
would have been again the mentor here and like having
that different types of religion and like coming through it
was like, Okay, I like this, come on.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah it was really good. And like you said, I too.
When I got to the end, I was like, oh no, wait,
what happened? Sort of just kind of like implied she's
gonna try to like make this relationship work and hopefully
she'll get into Howard, but it does end before you know,
(19:10):
and she's in this new neighborhood, so it's it's a
lot of like nebulous, like let's try it and see
if this works, right, and it does. Once again, I
kind of hate this, but it's true. A lot of
times we do have to pick shorter books because our
schedules so packed. But it packs a lot in in
those like three hundred pages, right, and it's told really well.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
And by the way, if you listen to the audio version,
which I did, the author gave a lot of kudos
to the voice actor because she felt like she hit
it right on the head. At one point, I will say,
my partner was like, is this Cardi B? And I
was like, well, she does have that bronx New York
Latino accent, so I hear what you're saying, but no,
this is not Cardi B.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Calm down. Whoever the voice actor was, the narrator was,
she did a great gues They like Cardi B.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
It's pretty good.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
So there are a couple of key themes in this
but when I was going back over this outline, a
lot of them intersect, which it was true for most
of our book clubs. But I was just reading this
and I was like, oh, that could fit here, and
that could fit here. So just keep that in mind.
But one of the big ones is gentrification. It starts
out with kind of the author the narrator's thoughts on gentrification.
(20:38):
Here's a quote. It's a truth universally acknowledged that when
rich people move into the hood where it's a little
bit broken and a little bit forgotten, the first thing
they want to do is clean it up. But it's
not just the junkie stuff they'll get rid of. People
can be thrown away too, like last night's trash left
out on sidewalks, or push the edge of wherever all
broken things go. What those rich people do I don't
(21:00):
always know is that broken and forgot neighborhoods were first
built out of love. I just can't stress enough, like
how important this neighborhood is tossuri and how big a
part it is. Right of the book, right it has culture.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
But I just wanted to put a note that first line,
as the truth universally acknowledge is a Jane Austin line.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Oh so sheep that up. Yeah. See, I love this,
I'm learning more. I love it. And here's another quote
that I thought was really pretty. Anybody who's been in
Bushwick long enough is like a musician, and when they leave,
we lose the sound. So it's kind of a lot
of the build up what makes the neighborhood the people,
(21:45):
the like Bodega's and what they sell and all of
that stuff, and so a part of that is also
the community. So they have like these big block parties
that all the neighbors know each other like. It's a
very communal connected area neighborhood. So when the Darcys come in,
they kind of disrupt that way in Zuri's mind, especially
(22:07):
when Darius seems to be like, I don't like this
bt Dubs.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
In the book, they have a lot of balls and dances,
and this is in his comparison. So when they have
the cocktail party scene, that is when Bingley is a
rich family that comes in. So in the original version,
Darcy is a friend of Bingley and Bingley is the
one that's moving in with all the money, which is
the one that loves the older sister. But here we
have those siblings instead, so there's no Bingley, but Bingley
(22:36):
finally hosts the party. It's so over the top fancy that,
but it's that same level of like embarrassment, exact.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Same scene the cocktail party.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Oh yeah, that was very awkward. Indeed. I'll also say
like there was a lot of stuff around food in
this that I really enjoyed a lot of descriptions of
making food, of sharing food. Especially the mother of the
Benita's family would just make a ton of food for
(23:06):
these parties and it was very It's like, oh that
sounds delicious. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
The Haitian plus uh Dominican mm hmm culture. She's like,
I blend both of Like, yes, I want that is
that every Saturday?
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Pretty much?
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Please someone give me this.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
So here's another quote, kind of going off that first one.
My neighborhood is made of love, but it's money and
buildings and food and jobs that keep it alive. And
even I have to admit that the new people moving
in with their extra money and dreams can sometimes make
things better. We'll have to figure out a way to
make both sides of Bushwick work so throughout, like I said,
she's doing Zuri's writing these poems and she's trying to
(23:48):
figure out her essay she's going to submit to get
into Howard, and a lot of it has to do
with her thoughts on the neighborhood, on gentrifrication, and then
like on the dudes in her life also family. But
it's like you get to see her work through her
thoughts through these like maybe I'll she yeah. At one
(24:10):
point she even suggests like I'll just send in a
bunch of poems to Howard, and her sister is like no,
Janey is like I don't know. But it is a
cool like narrative device where we get to kind of
see her raw thoughts. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Of course another thing is family, coming of age and
all the changes. Here's quote. I recognize that look. It's
that same look people used to give us when Mama
would get on a crowded train with a double stroller
holding the twins me, Mansoul and Janet, with our messy hair,
running noses, and each with a bag of chips to
keep us occupied while Mama quieted down the babies. It's
(24:50):
the look that assumes that Mama is a single mother,
that she's on government assistance, that she beats us when
she's tired, that we all have different fathers, that we
live in the projects and that ghetto. Everybody used to
look at us like that, white black, other mothers with
kids who thought they were being responsible by only having
two or three. I'd look back at them with defiance
and a little pride, a look that says that I
(25:12):
love my family, and we may be messy and loud,
but we're all together and we love each other. That's
when I've perfected my Bushwick mean mug.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, her kind of resistance to change I think a
lot of us can relate to. Because she was scared
of it. She was scared like what if I don't
like Howard? What if I don't?
Speaker 4 (25:33):
You know?
Speaker 1 (25:34):
She because of these moments where she had been so
proud and so protective and rightfully so, she had formed
this like, well, we can't mess that up, we can't
break that up, Like what will that mean? And you know,
she does go to Howard and she loves it, but
it's still kind of frightening. It's still like, well then
(25:55):
what will happen if so long I've kind of divined
myself through this, you're like protecting this. So I thought
that was a great through line throughout. Here's another quote.
He lets go with me and shakes his head. I
don't know yet, but we'll find somewhere. This is what
happens in life. You take the good with the bad.
(26:17):
This money is good, us leaving is bad, or taking
it because it's a blessing. So this is what her
father says when they have to move out and she's
so upset. Which that whole I mean that moving is terrible.
Moving is terrible in general, if you're moving from a
neighborhood that is so important to you, and that you
(26:37):
have these strong neighborly connections and thoughts about gentrification. And
now you've got the guy across the street, which, by
the way, that happened to me once when I was young,
not like this. We never worked out, but there was
a hot guy.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
That moved across the street.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
I was like, Wow, maybe this is my whole future.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
You had a fantasy about this, Huh?
Speaker 1 (27:02):
I did? He played? He would be outside playing basketball
and I'd be like, oh my god, that was nothing.
So did you have like it was really far.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
I lived in the woods.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
I still live in the woods technically, like there's suburbs
around me, but you can't see each other. We're not
We're not walking on the street to go get sugar
from each other because it's like a two lane road
in the.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Woods with no lights. Don't go there.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Well, when I first moved to my place, my home
that I mostly grew up in, there was nothing. It
was like gravel road nothing, and I wouldn't say it gentrified,
but it got like much more crowded. The roads got paved,
and so this guy moving across the street was pretty
(27:50):
like late in my time having been there, it was
marked change. Pretty sure he was a jerk, So I'm
glad it didn't work out anyway. End the story. That's
all you needed, I'm pretty sure. But then again, who knows.
Given a story, I could have been being judgmental where
I shouldn't have been.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
You would have a prejudice.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
That's right. Here's another quote. I have always thought of
Bushwick as home, but in that moment, I realized that
home is where the people I love are, wherever that is. Yeah,
which I just loved.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Yeah, it's a good line. And another one.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
This college is a lifeboat and a lifeline, But my
neighborhood is not flooding or splitting in half. It's being
cleaned up and wiped out. It's being polished and a race.
So where do I reach back and pull out memories
as if they've been safely tucked away into a trunk
or an attic like the people on TV who have
enough time and too much space. Where do I call home?
Where can I place a layer of brick to use
(28:51):
as my platform and hold my head up high to
raise my voice and my fist. Sometimes love is not
enough to keep a community together. There needs to be
something more tangible, like fair housing, opportunities and access to resources.
Life Boats and lifelines are not supposed to just be
away for us to get out. They should be ways
to let us state and survive and thrive.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Well that was a great quot too, Yeah, of like
not using it to get out, but using it to stay. Also,
sisterhood is pretty important throughout this. She does have a
lot of sisters. Here's a quote. If Madrina's basement is
where the timboras, loso spiritos and old ancestral memories live,
then the roof is where wind chimes, dreams and possibilities
(29:34):
float with the stars, where Jenna and I share our
secrets and plan to travel all over the world, Haiti
and the Dominican Republic being our first stop. So yeah,
her and Janee have a really close bond. And again,
I really did appreciate kind of the because I totally
get it too. And we've talked about this. When you
have a friend, a really close friend or a sister
(29:57):
who is crushing really hard on someone, you have that
fear of like, oh, okay, well our relationship is going
to change, I'm not gonna see you as much. But
her and have a lot of moments where they are
on this roof and they just are talking about life
and what they want to do, their fears. Then later
(30:17):
you find out the Darcy's they have kind of an
other rooftop situation where they could see what was going
on over there, which I love because at one point
there's a thrown meatball that was funny. Yeah that was
because he broke up with her. How rude. I mean, okay,
that was pretty bad. That was pretty bad, and their
(30:40):
relationship was so sweet.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Yeah, how it goes again in the book as well.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
I feel like I'm loving the name comparisons too, because
I don't know Bingsley and that's pretty.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Yeah, because he's just references Darcy Bingsley is references Bingsley
the entire time.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
You don't know their first name.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
There's a Fitzgerald who is his cousin that has the
sergeant that comes into play. Uh yeah, and then even
mister Bennett who is the father, is just known as
mister Bennett.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
And missus Bennett.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
So that's how we talk to about them.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
We know about William Collins who is the cousin, and
then George Wickham. We do know that it's George Wickham,
but he goes by Wickham the entire time. So it's
kind of like the women we know Miss Elizabeth, uh,
miss Mary, who is Marisol miss Lydia. So yeah, so
we have all of those characters as well. But it's
(31:40):
quite funny.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
But yeah, there she keeps them pretty close in point
mm hmmm.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I'll have to pick your brain about that later. I'm
curious if the is it Lydia has the kind of
same like sloppy yes, night out, Yes, sort of.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
She makes an embarrassment of herself, it is flirting, and
then she mos away with him, so we don't see
that through the comparison is that they actually just run
away as where uh and then you find that later
and they're in compromising situations. To me, they're just in
a hotel together. They don't find them in any real
Oh maybe they do. It's not the implication, but but yeah,
but like essentially is that. And then she comes back
(32:18):
bragging about landing a husband, essentially being the first girl
to land a husband, which is the big feet, and
then being upset a little bit that she didn't have
a big wedding, and everybody's like, because we had to
get your married in secret, or we're all going to
be like cast out of society, which means none of
us could get married. Yeah, okay, it's a little different.
The consequences you're much worse for Jane Austin's book.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Wow, this is I can't wait to check this out.
All right, I'm still devastating though, Oh absolutely absolutely. I'm
glad it worked out how it did in the book, right, yes.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Another scene I wanted to touch on is kind of
the theme of education, Janee being the first in her
family to go to college, Zuri being so into reading
books and writing and poetry. And now I know that
was a theme in the original Jane Austen work, but
(33:16):
that was something that she shared with her father.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, yes, so like the reading, the love of reading.
So he and Jane Austen. Mister Bennett would say that
he had the young girls and they had heads among them,
but like that they were the silliest girls that they
have he had ever known, because they all battled about.
Pratt told ye, I said it about men and boys,
(33:41):
and that was it. And the only ones that he
could stand that had any good sins, as he would say,
was the two oldest. But Jane was too kind and
Elizabeth was at least, you know, sarcastic, and he enjoyed that.
But we don't see that farrotism in the book, which
I do appreciate. But yeah, so here's a piece read
(34:02):
to travel. Papa always said, every book is a different hood,
a different country, a different world. Reading is how I
visit places in people and ideas. And when something rings true,
or if I still have a question, I outline it
with a bright yellow highlighter so that it's lit up
in my mind like a light bulb or a torch
leading the way to somewhere new. It's usually enough to
make me forget I've barely left Bushwick.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
So yeah, yeah, I thought that was really interesting because
there was this piece where Jane and Zuri's father were
kind of like, you know, it is great here, but
there are other things, and Zuri kind of being resistant
to it because again, she's really protective of this neighborhood.
(34:46):
She loves this neighborhood. She's afraid of how it will
change when she leaves. She's afraid of gentrification, rightfully so.
But her family is kind of like, well, go see,
just go see, there's other things, which again is like
that coming of age story of that. I feel like
that's really relatable. Another thing that is a big theme
(35:10):
in the book is class. This is definitely throughout her
interactions series interactions with the Darcy family. I particularly was
shocked with what happened with the grandmother when she met her,
because it kept implying like maybe it would go fine,
and then it really didn't. Okay.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
I was literally to you without the same thing with that,
with no perspective of pride and prejudice, because I was
waiting for it to get better thinking that she was,
especially when there was mentioned of Howard maybe she wasn't
an alumni and was gonna.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
Like really get you know, get in with.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Her for the Nope, nope, but it was no so
she she truly was the AUNTI character who was judgmental
and doesn't and kept bringing up the other girl, Carrie Yes,
which again that's not like I guess. Carrie represented three
characters and one from the original, between the sickly daughter
who she wanted Darcy to end up with, or the
(36:10):
sisters who are mean. Bingley's sisters who are mean to
all of them just kind of stood like Jane a
little bit because Grandmother really preferred Carrie. So like I
was like, Okay, Grandmother, that's not a good guy. I
really thought she was going to be better than this.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
But I was wrong. Okay, cool, cool cool because even in.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
The book, the aunt who is rooting for Darcy to
marry someone else for a while Elizabeth to the point
that she wants her to stick around, but then she
hates Elizabeth when she finds out that Darcy was thinking
about marrying her. So but yeah, so I was not expecting.
I was expecting to turn around too, just because of
the book, not necessarily because of the writing.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
I was kind of expecting because Georgia seemed to be
such a genuine character, which yeah, I, which I get, like,
now that I've read it, I'm like, okay, I don't
I wouldn't call her naive, but I think she was
just like hopeful and it didn't go that way right,
(37:17):
but she they because of her and Darius like less
or so, but they were both like, no, it'll be cool,
it'll be cool, right, and I kind of was trusting,
like they wouldn't eat her astray, which maybe is just
another example of class where they just in their heads
it's not as big of a deal. Yes, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Yeah, I will say Carrie's character, even though she was
a snob, didn't end as bad as I thought it would,
so I was like, yeah, so bad. Yeah, she's not
so bad. She's jealous and I can see why she's jealous,
but huh.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
I was. I was kind of confused while she was around,
but I did like because she goes from being like
a very jealous not nice at all too. I wouldn't
say like nice, but she did watch out for Zuri's sister.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
She did kind of except for why was she then?
Why she letting warn alone with him?
Speaker 1 (38:14):
But her?
Speaker 2 (38:15):
But like okay, but like she wasn't trying to mess
anything up or purposely trying to do anything bad.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
No, she was just not happy with She made it clear.
So here's a quote I wanted to read. So this
(38:42):
is kind of a a back and forth that happens
between Zuri and Darius. You know, Zuri, sometimes I'm baffled
by how judgmental you are. Darius is taking one hand
off the steering wheel. I side eyed him, baffled. I
should be the one who's baffled, and you, Darius Darcy,
are the walking definition of judgmental. I'm not judgmental. I'm
(39:06):
just an excellent judge of character. You fall short in
that department character. So you judge my sister's character, Yes,
I did, and she's cool. He says. If you need
some tips on how to accurately judge a person's character,
just let me know who back and forth.
Speaker 3 (39:25):
Oh my, this is a similar conversation in Prejudice.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Yeah, that's a good because, like halfway through, it's interesting
when you're reading something from one person's point of view
and you're like yeah, yeah, and then halfway through I
was like, wait a minute, she's kind of being judge
you too, all right, And then I get it. Totally
makes sense. Why she is. But it's just funny because
(39:53):
I think it was like halfway in and I was like, wait, which, yes,
kind of related. Another big theme is reputation in this book.
Here's a quote I want to say the same thing
that I don't care about my reputation, but I do
because they already have one, all my sisters do. We
have to be careful about who we fall for, especially
(40:14):
me and Jenay, just because guys from around the way
like us. Even if we don't give them no play,
it's still easy for them to talk about us. Poppy
is watching us, but so is the rest of the neighborhood.
And then later, don't let your pride get in the way.
I thought this was interesting because I think it did
a really good job of examining reputation on a lot
of levels, like reputation in your neighborhood, like representing your
(40:37):
neighborhood and what you think that is, and then reputation
and like your family. There's just a lot of layers
of reputation that was looked at. I thought that was
really good. And then finally, this is kind of we've
been talking about all this stuff all along, but love
and money, Love and money again, I did think the
(41:00):
like hot neighbor moving in that was really funny in
the beginning, where all of the girls were like, let's
go meet them. Here is a quote, and there are
two ways to examine the institution of marriage. Marisol begins
in the whole room size because she's about to spill
out a series of facts, numbers, and statistics that all
(41:21):
have to do with the things she loves most in
the world. Money. It can either mean that marriage is
the false notion that love is forever and a woman
is left to depend on her husband for financial support,
or that two incomes are better than one loves. Abstract
money is not. And I thought like, even when I
was reading this, I was like, this is such an
interesting take on what I bet happened in Jane Alston version.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
So in Jane Austen it is about religion. Oh, and
she is very scholarly and does not care for frivolous
things Mary because she is also all about quotes and books,
and but she does a lot of biblical And when
I say biblical, I'm gonna go like very Protestant, very
uh learned book, you know, biblical level of that. So
(42:10):
she's very into religion. In that term. She actually has
a crush on Colin, the cousin, and she was the
only one of all of them who wanted to get married.
Speaker 3 (42:18):
But she's was seen as dowdy. I guess it's somewhat boring.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
I feel like there was a character like that in Persuasions,
wasn't there? Yes?
Speaker 2 (42:27):
But she also like plays the piano in uh Brian
prejud and she doesn't play it well, but she thinks
she's amazing at it, and so she'll try to perform
and everybody's.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
Like, you're really wishing she would stop.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Essentially, so she's a scholarly one, I guess, like but
just really boring, but always speaks up to tell facts
or like to correct a situation or something.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
She's kind of the sad sack of the bunch.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
Ah, I see, I see. I just thought it was
interesting kind of this like the breaking down of the
love and the money.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
Like she's not wrong, but she kind of does that
in every way, Like when she's talking about the fact
that Lydia is ruined and then she brings into back
how we're all ruined and she's done this and of
course we're gonna be like they're like, can you stop.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
Hold on, now, we get we get it. We're screwed.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Stop this.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Oh how interesting. Yes, there's also a lot of themes
of jealousy throughout, which I thought I really appreciated it
in terms of, you know, in our modern times with
like the texting and he hasn't texted back, or we're like, wait,
what what does this mean? And kind of like making
Darius jealous with Warren like that kind of being in
(43:44):
the back of Surrey's mind anyway, So that was definitely
present in their messy courtship, I guess I'll call it,
but definitely throughout. Also, yeah, the pressure to find a
man her family, I would say, like they wouldn't they
would They kind of would be like, get a move on.
(44:07):
But it was more that they were like, she wouldn't
bring Warren to her like stoop, Yeah, because she didn't
want her whole family to know. It'll be real nosy. Yes,
And then when she was coming back with Darius in
the car from Washington.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
D C.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
She had to tell them and they were very nosy
and all the question right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
So in the book, obviously the mother is all about
getting all the children off married and getting she's she's
also ridiculous of a character, very very made to be
that way. But the way that the mother in this one,
obviously she's much loved, more loving, and like a little
more fierce and independent, and not so much about that,
(44:52):
but the whole like little smiling and trying to get
them together or trying to get them alone and allow
them to be alone was definitely like a ploy. Also
the book, so like, she does a great job in
representing I think she did a great job in representing
these characters but not making them look caricaturish, Unlike, like,
even though Prime Prejudice was an old, like ridiculously big classic,
(45:13):
it still made the characters look caricaturish in a way
that you were like, yeah, the mom's if there was
a villain, mom would not be a villain, but she's
the foil.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
You're right, that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
But I'm glad that that wasn't the case for this
one because it's so over the top of you just.
Speaker 1 (45:32):
Like, how much do you dislike your mother? Yeah? Well yeah,
And I feel like most of the characters were very likable,
like yeah, and the ones you weren't supposed to like,
I didn't really hate. I just was right, So I
liked that, and I did. We didn't really go into
it much, but I did like at the kind of
(45:53):
the clash of cultures at the cocktail party when the
mother shows up with all of those foods. Yeah, the
darcies are clearly like catering essentially.
Speaker 4 (46:08):
If it was a.
Speaker 1 (46:08):
Really it was a really enjoyable read. I think, you know,
even for me who hasn't read it, I enjoyed it.
I've loved hearing the comparisons. I can't wait to read
the original. Yeah, I'm gonna make you read the Regiournal soon.
But yeah, it's a great stand alone You don't need
it is though it is kind of a homage to
(46:29):
the Pride and Prejudice, and it is a retailing it's
it is a great standalone book.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
It has a lot of great quotes. The poetry is
quite lovely as well. I really did enjoy all of that.
I was like, this is good. Sometimes I wonder when
people write things like this, I'm like, did you do
the poetry first, And you're like, I'm gonna do a
book with this because I've thought about that. I'm like,
you know, sometimes because they are great stand alone poems
as is as well, so yes, book ten out of
(46:55):
ten everybody should read.
Speaker 1 (46:57):
I love that. I thought it was great, highly recommends,
and I'm looking forward to maybe an.
Speaker 2 (47:07):
I'm gonna do a whole thing. You're gonna have to
watch the new book. I don't want to, but the
new one, and I'm gonna make you watch the BBC series.
Speaker 3 (47:13):
For doing it.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
I am into it. You don't have.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
To again, like come back to Bridget Jones Diary as well,
because that is also a rendition of that.
Speaker 3 (47:25):
Oh no, did you not know that?
Speaker 1 (47:27):
You didn't know that girl?
Speaker 3 (47:29):
Okay, yes, that's why Darcy is in there.
Speaker 1 (47:34):
And his name is.
Speaker 2 (47:35):
Publishing, which is Wickham.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
Oh dear, I have a lot to learn. Oh no.
Speaker 2 (47:43):
The guy who plays Bingsley is a very like has
a minor character, like he has one line and he's
in there.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
I was like, Baisley, what are you doing here?
Speaker 4 (47:54):
I probably was just like, yeah, I'd had to have
given you all the like tidbits to that because there's
no way I want to let you go.
Speaker 1 (48:06):
I feel like you definitely told me about calling first,
and yeah, there's no way I would to let you go.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
On would like throw out be like this is this,
this is this, this is this, and it also starts
with the line is the truth universally acknowledged?
Speaker 1 (48:21):
It starts with that line as well. Hmmm, well, now
I know you know you're opening my world.
Speaker 3 (48:28):
We can try this.
Speaker 1 (48:29):
I'm coming back, We're coming back the classics. Excited too,
I think it'd be great. Well, this was super fun.
This was a great pick. Definitely checking out listeners and
I would love I really do want to check out
some of this author's other works. I think that they
sound fascinating. We have to, yeah, But in the meantime,
if you have any thoughts about this or any suggestions,
(48:51):
you can email Ustephania mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com.
You can find us on Twitter at Mom's teff podcast,
or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've Never told You.
We have Teapublic store, and we have a book wherever
you get your books. Thanks as always to our super
juicy Christina are Excited producer Maya and our contruder Joey.
Thank you and thanks to you for listening. Steffan Never
Told You his production of by Heart Radio. For more
(49:11):
podcast from my Heart Radio, you can check out the
Heart Radio Apple podcast or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows
Hey, this is Annie and SMITHA. I'm welcome to stuff
and I Never Told You a productive of iHeartRadio. And
for today's classic, we are bringing back a book club
we did on the book Pride, which so Pride and
(00:27):
Prejudice kind of remix that we really enjoyed. It's really good,
and you know it's February. We didn't do a lot
of Valentine's content. Hell, what did you talk about? No
terrible things, so I thought we would bring this one in.
And also, I've just been seeing it a lot. I
think maybe because the Wuthering Heights movie came out, but
(00:49):
I've been seeing that quote at the beginning that you
were like, this is the quote Annie, everybody, yes, yes, yes, yes,
So I learned a lot and I enjoyed this book,
so please enjoy this classic episode. Hey, this is Sanny
and Samantha and welcome to steffan Never Told You projection
(01:11):
of iHeartRadio, and welcome to another edition of book Club.
This month, we are reading Eb's a Boys twenty nineteen
novel Pride, a Pride and Prejudice remix which he has
(01:32):
us to take on Pride and prejudice in our modern
day with black and Afro LATINX characters. The author also
draws on personal experience. She grew up in Bushwick, which
is a big part for the story takes place and
has Haitian roots, like the main character. So I'm very
very excited about this because I have never read Pride
(01:53):
and Prejudice. I have seen did we not do Frides?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Because it was much shorter. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Well, I'm about to back up and make you read
Pride and Prejudice.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Now I'm annoyed. I love this, and I know you
have strong opinions about like the film and TV adaption.
I do opinions, yes, So I'm very very excited. This
is gonna be fun because I'm gonna I'm going to
break down the plot of the book and then I'm
going to ask Samantha to tell me the comparison. I'm
(02:27):
very very excited. Also, I really want to read Zavoi's
other other works. We had kind of a list of
what we were choosing for this month, and she had
another one on there that I really wanted to do
because she's written a graphic novel on Octavia Butler. She's
also written for Marvel's Black Panther. She did a whole
thing about Acoyer coming to the United States, so hopefully
(02:50):
we can come back in the future.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
So when we were talking about books for this month,
I forgot about this, but I had seen someone I
think post it talking about this book and her doing it,
and I was so excited. So when Annie reminded me, like, hey,
this is an optional, was like, oh, yes, immediately, yes,
we need to do this one because I love good
adaptations anyway, and I do this was a good adaptation.
(03:15):
And before we start, let's do a quote from the
author about the original. Yes, as we all have to
give homage to thank you to the great literary figure
Jane Austen for writing and publishing Pride and Prejudice in
eighteen thirteen. Amidst everything that was happening in her world
at the time, Austin gifted us with a story about
not only love, but class, expectations, and a woman's place
(03:36):
in the world, even as she, a woman in nineteenth
century England, had the audacity to write, observe, and speak
truth to power with such wit, humor and grace. And
that's what I have to keep telling. Like one of
my good guy friends we read this. We had a
small like three person book club, and this was I
think at the beginning of our book book club because
(03:57):
we had to talk about the fact that, yes, people
think of it as women's romance today and knowing that
in eighteen thirteen she was talking about being single and
daring to choose who to love and marry and really
like giving it back to society and having a conversation
about the fact that she could talk back and did
talk back to anyone and everyone, including you know, people
(04:20):
who were of royal heritage.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
So it was really lovely.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
And the fact that she was such an icon in
that level that she dare speak her opinions got to
get a kudos.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
So this book was genius.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yes, and I believe I saw today some I've seen
it before, but like a viral post where someone was like,
just remember Jane Austen was self published and she also,
you know, I gotta say it, she was one of
the first She had fan fiction writers of her work,
so it was a very like consequential work. And this
(04:55):
was a very fun update of it, even though I
haven't read the original, so I got a different experience.
But correct that I love it. I'm ready, but okay,
I'm going to run through the plot of this this
book real quick. So it centers on Afro Latina teenager
and proud Bushwick resident Zuri Benitez. She grew up in
(05:17):
an apartment with her parents and her sisters and a
sort of matchmaker named Madrina. Zuri's extremely proud and fond
of her neighborhood. She's outspoken about any gentrification. She's also
worried excited about the possibility of attending historically black university,
Howard University in Washington, d C. So the novel begins
(05:39):
with the family preparing for the return of the oldest sister, Janney,
who has been away at Syracuse and is the first
in the family to go to college. So at the
same time, a once broken down house across the street
has gotten a massive makeover, further stoking Zuri's concerns about gentrification,
and a rich black family with the last name Darcy
(06:00):
moves in and uh oh, the two black boys about
Zeri's age are hot. There are a lot the girls
go to introduce themselves just as Janay arrives and it's
clear Janey has a connection with Annsley, one of the
Darcy brothers. Zuri is resistant to these connections to the
connection between Annsley and Janey, in particular because she doesn't
(06:22):
want to lose what little time she has with her sister,
and thinking that these boys will never understand where they
as a family comes from. So Zuri is immediately turned
off by the closed off Darius Darcy. She's just like
this guy's no good. I don't like him. A lot
of drama unfolds. Zuri's family throws regular block parties for
(06:44):
the community, and Darius seems to look down his nose
at the whole thing. Zuri pretty much chaperone's a date
with Janey and Annsley, still not approving of this match,
but ends up with Darius after the two go their
own way and they spar about their differences class and experience,
with Zuri informing him you can never understand. And through this,
(07:05):
she meets a guy named Warren, who she views as
more hood and goes with him in a seeming attempt
to prove a point and perhaps make Darius jealous. Zuri
agrees to chill with Warren, refraining from saying that they
are going on dates. Warren tells her that he and
Darius used to be friends and implies that Darius sort
(07:26):
of romanticized hood life. Warren won a scholarship as a
child to a fancy private school where Darius was going,
but eventually he grew bored of it and it got
him suspended somehow. The story's kind of murky, and this
only solidifies Zuri's opinions of Darius, like, okay, I knew it.
(07:46):
Then the Benita's family is invited to the Darcis for
a fancy cocktail party, and at this party, Darius overhears
Zuri's younger sister basically joking about wanting to bag a
Brinch fan. And then Darius goes to speak with his
brother Annsley, who then breaks up with Janey, leaving her heartbroken,
(08:07):
which only further enrages Zuri. She and Warren have another
chill hangout thing, something she is pretty much trying to
hide from her very very nosy family. Very when you're
going to get a man family, and they're texting regularly
by this point her and Warren. Zuri admits to Janey
she's worried about her future about leaving Bushwick for Howard
(08:31):
what if she doesn't like it? So Janey purchases her
around trip ticket on a bus so she can visit
the campus. Zuri immediately loves it there and is unashamed
of how much she wants to get in. When she
learns one of the professors performs at a local place
called Busboy and Poets, she goes and performs one of
her poems. The whole book is kind of interspersed with
(08:52):
her poems. Only, surprise, surprise, Darius is there with his
younger sister and his up type friend, Carrie, who Zuri
believes he is dating. Georgia convinces Zuri to come with
them to get chili dogs, and then Darius offers her
ride back to Bushwick that night. Zuri reluctantly agrees, since
(09:14):
she has now missed her return bus. However, this means
a Losstter dinner with the paternal Darcy grandmother, who interrogates
Zuri and judges her and her neighborhood. Zuri like fights
right back and furiously calls her out and decides to
take the later bus instead of going back with Darius,
(09:35):
but he basically forgets to drive her to the bus stop.
They argue about music. He tells her that he was
glad she stood up to his grandmother and Eventually they
stop to get a bite to eat, or he tells
her he is very impressed with her, and one thing
leads to another and they kiss. Zuri is feeling more
(09:56):
laid back with Darius until they get closer to Bushwick
and Darius judges Warren and feeling like he once again
proved her right, Zuri agrees to meet with Warren the
next day, only to get a frantic string of texts
from Darius telling her that Warren had taken sexy pictures
of his sister when she was underage and ruined her
(10:17):
reputation basically, which is why she was living with her grandmother. So,
once again furious, Zuri ends it with Warren then in
there and agrees to start over with Darius. So she
and Darius go on a kind of a not date
where they talk about everything and anything generally have a
good time, good enough, but she agrees to go on
a real date with him to a party. However, Zuri
(10:39):
feels out of place and abandoned at this party. It's
mostly rich white people and she doesn't like how Darius
acts around them. She has an argument with him and
then they agree to leave, only to turn back after
she sees a picture of her younger sister on social
media at the party with Warren, so they immediately turn
around and find her sister wasted, but okay. Carrie had
(11:04):
made sure that the same thing that had happened to
Dari's sister didn't happen to Zuri's sister. After a confrontation
with Warren, Darius fighting like a real fight, Zuri yelling,
they go back to the Darcy households so Zuri's younger
sister can sober up. Before they return home, Darius shows
(11:24):
her around, They have some heart to hearts about judgment
and being wrong about each other, and then they kiss again.
Sirens across the street break the moment. The woman who
lived on the lower floor, Madrina, who Zuri often went
to for advice, had died, and with her gone, Zuri's
father agrees to sell the apartment, much to Zuri's heartbreak,
(11:46):
so they moved to a place with more space, but
it is more quiet, it's not as neighborly. Janney gets
back with Annsley. Darius revealed he had been the one
to convince him that he should break up with Janney,
and it's implied he's the one that convince him he
was wrong about the whole thing. Zuri keeps dating Darius
and visits him in her old neighborhood, where he the
(12:07):
artist that he is, has put their initials in the concrete,
saying that they'll be forever. She finishes her college essay,
and that's about the end.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Nicely done, thank you, Yes, so Samantha, Yes, tell me
give me some comparison notes.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
She did great. She followed along with it perfectly. Now,
when it's a new rendition, I don't expect it to
be the same. If you're telling me you're taking a
movie from the book, and then there's already an amazing movie,
and then you puck up the movie, I'm gonna be pissed.
AKA the version with Cara Knightley. Hate it, hate it
to this day, hate it always. But it's okay whatever.
But when you have new renditions, now, I've never read that.
(12:51):
I think we had a long conversation when we were
talking about Pride Prejudice in general. I didn't read Pride
and Prejudice and Zombies. I was told that I should
read that. So I think we may have to do
like some features on both. Maybe we should do Pine
prejuice and zombies for like spooky season.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
And then have another comparison because essentially a friend of
mine who we read the books together, he was like, no,
you should read it.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I think you'll enjoy it. This goofy's good.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
I was like, okay, okay, and I think it turned
into a movie, but I'm scared of that anyway. But
for the comparison, yes, she of course had the dar
season there she asked, had the Bennetts, but the switching
of the last name. She did have, of course, several
of the key characters. And there we've got Georgiana, which
is Georgia here she's a lovely sister. We have Colin,
(13:42):
who is the cousin in the book, and he comes
to try to marry one of the sisters to keep
the inheritance essentially in the home and the estate, and
he's an awful person and everybody trus to their void.
We have the best friend who ends up with Colin.
So the flip here is that he is related to
(14:03):
the mentor Madrina figure who you it's not that way,
And she kind of splits two characters because the grandmother
in the book and Madrina, I think represent kind of
one character like several characters rather but have like overlapping,
which is to be expected. I loved her portrayal of
(14:26):
the parents in this one because the parents in the
Pride and Prejudice.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Are really kind of like like.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
The very beginning is how they how Elizabeth talks about
the fact that the marriage is awful, it is pretense,
and not to marry someone you don't like. Uh, that's
kind of the lesson she learns from her parents. So
in this one she flips in and I really adore it.
The relationship with the father is right on with all
the books, and like loving her daughter, loving his daughter,
(14:54):
wanted to protect his daughter, rite on love that the grandmother,
and this character would have been the aunt who's trying
to match make her sickly daughter to Darcy, but you know,
everything flips so she They do a great job with that.
The girlfriend that's not the girlfriend to Darcy is obviously
one of the sisters that are awful in the book,
(15:17):
so great with that. I think I was wondering how
they were going to take that whole bad guy Wickham,
which is Warren here is the bad dude who lies
and tries to slander people. But in the actual book,
in the Jane Austen's book, he actually runs away with
the youngest sister, causing a whole scandal because they have
(15:40):
obviously spent the night together, that's the implication, and if
they don't get married, it's a huge scandal. They will
all be ostracized, which is the fear of that's point
in time. But Darcy makes them get married, essentially about
promising the money and all this stuff. So I was
wondering how they handled that situation because obviously for a
modern day novel, to have thirteen year old girl run
(16:01):
away with like an eighteen year old boy not so great.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
So I like the way she flipped that.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
I like the way they she because I was wondering
as the story began and Warren was introduced him, like
how are they How is she going to do this,
because that's gonna be a real, real sketch. But the
fact that he did the whole photos, which is so
like on point with today in modern technology, I was like, Yes,
good job, great job, great telling of the story, makes
it new, made it interesting. I love the text because
(16:29):
in again the book, Darcy writes a letter to defend
himself and his actions against Wickham so like, and she
Readson all these things, so it's it's obviously a play
on that, which is which was brilliant in itself. The fighting.
Of course, it also made that same sense. So yeah,
I think the book did a great job. I love
(16:51):
the new interpretations. I really was wanting to see the
after word, I guess after I thought of the I
wanted her to be in college. I wanted to know
she made to Howard. I needed to know she was
at Howard because it kind of just left it as is.
But I think it's fantastic. Again, this is taking an
adult idea because obviously all this was the societal idea
(17:12):
that you had to be married before twenty and if
you're not your old spinster, because in the book, the
Elizabeth is twenty five. So having them being teenagers and
flipping out like that was very interesting. Having them sell
the house that was obviously very different and trying to
raise their situation up very different as well. But of
course it's on par with the conversations about gentrification in
(17:37):
general and just having to adjust to society as it
is and what that looks like, especially if something's being
sold as the building was being sold. It is implied
that eventually that the Bennetts and Pride and Prejudice would
have to move when the father dies, So maybe that
was just kind of a step ahead. But yeah, I
(17:57):
think she did an amazing job with this book. She
gave it all of its like flowers and giving us
so much credit to Jade Austen's characters that were developed,
but put on great spin and originality to it that
I'm like ready to see this as a.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Movie in itself.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
I'm like, yeah, show me this as a Netflix special
for teen dramas, let's go.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
I love it. I love that we had such a
different experience because you know, I was just like and
I really enjoyed it, but I didn't have the same
like ooh who is this? How can I compare them
to this? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
It was a beautiful was like, oh look at that,
Look at this, because like the aunt in the book
would have been again the mentor here and like having
that different types of religion and like coming through it
was like, Okay, I like this, come on.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah it was really good. And like you said, I too.
When I got to the end, I was like, oh no, wait,
what happened? Sort of just kind of like implied she's
gonna try to like make this relationship work and hopefully
she'll get into Howard, but it does end before you know,
(19:10):
and she's in this new neighborhood, so it's it's a
lot of like nebulous, like let's try it and see
if this works, right, and it does. Once again, I
kind of hate this, but it's true. A lot of
times we do have to pick shorter books because our
schedules so packed. But it packs a lot in in
those like three hundred pages, right, and it's told really well.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
And by the way, if you listen to the audio version,
which I did, the author gave a lot of kudos
to the voice actor because she felt like she hit
it right on the head. At one point, I will say,
my partner was like, is this Cardi B? And I
was like, well, she does have that bronx New York
Latino accent, so I hear what you're saying, but no,
this is not Cardi B.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Calm down. Whoever the voice actor was, the narrator was,
she did a great gues They like Cardi B.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
It's pretty good.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
So there are a couple of key themes in this
but when I was going back over this outline, a
lot of them intersect, which it was true for most
of our book clubs. But I was just reading this
and I was like, oh, that could fit here, and
that could fit here. So just keep that in mind.
But one of the big ones is gentrification. It starts
out with kind of the author the narrator's thoughts on gentrification.
(20:38):
Here's a quote. It's a truth universally acknowledged that when
rich people move into the hood where it's a little
bit broken and a little bit forgotten, the first thing
they want to do is clean it up. But it's
not just the junkie stuff they'll get rid of. People
can be thrown away too, like last night's trash left
out on sidewalks, or push the edge of wherever all
broken things go. What those rich people do I don't
(21:00):
always know is that broken and forgot neighborhoods were first
built out of love. I just can't stress enough, like
how important this neighborhood is tossuri and how big a
part it is. Right of the book, right it has culture.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
But I just wanted to put a note that first line,
as the truth universally acknowledge is a Jane Austin line.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Oh so sheep that up. Yeah. See, I love this,
I'm learning more. I love it. And here's another quote
that I thought was really pretty. Anybody who's been in
Bushwick long enough is like a musician, and when they leave,
we lose the sound. So it's kind of a lot
of the build up what makes the neighborhood the people,
(21:45):
the like Bodega's and what they sell and all of
that stuff, and so a part of that is also
the community. So they have like these big block parties
that all the neighbors know each other like. It's a
very communal connected area neighborhood. So when the Darcys come in,
they kind of disrupt that way in Zuri's mind, especially
(22:07):
when Darius seems to be like, I don't like this
bt Dubs.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
In the book, they have a lot of balls and dances,
and this is in his comparison. So when they have
the cocktail party scene, that is when Bingley is a
rich family that comes in. So in the original version,
Darcy is a friend of Bingley and Bingley is the
one that's moving in with all the money, which is
the one that loves the older sister. But here we
have those siblings instead, so there's no Bingley, but Bingley
(22:36):
finally hosts the party. It's so over the top fancy that,
but it's that same level of like embarrassment, exact.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Same scene the cocktail party.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Oh yeah, that was very awkward. Indeed. I'll also say
like there was a lot of stuff around food in
this that I really enjoyed a lot of descriptions of
making food, of sharing food. Especially the mother of the
Benita's family would just make a ton of food for
(23:06):
these parties and it was very It's like, oh that
sounds delicious. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
The Haitian plus uh Dominican mm hmm culture. She's like,
I blend both of Like, yes, I want that is
that every Saturday?
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Pretty much?
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Please someone give me this.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
So here's another quote, kind of going off that first one.
My neighborhood is made of love, but it's money and
buildings and food and jobs that keep it alive. And
even I have to admit that the new people moving
in with their extra money and dreams can sometimes make
things better. We'll have to figure out a way to
make both sides of Bushwick work so throughout, like I said,
she's doing Zuri's writing these poems and she's trying to
(23:48):
figure out her essay she's going to submit to get
into Howard, and a lot of it has to do
with her thoughts on the neighborhood, on gentrifrication, and then
like on the dudes in her life also family. But
it's like you get to see her work through her
thoughts through these like maybe I'll she yeah. At one
(24:10):
point she even suggests like I'll just send in a
bunch of poems to Howard, and her sister is like no,
Janey is like I don't know. But it is a
cool like narrative device where we get to kind of
see her raw thoughts. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Of course another thing is family, coming of age and
all the changes. Here's quote. I recognize that look. It's
that same look people used to give us when Mama
would get on a crowded train with a double stroller
holding the twins me, Mansoul and Janet, with our messy hair,
running noses, and each with a bag of chips to
keep us occupied while Mama quieted down the babies. It's
(24:50):
the look that assumes that Mama is a single mother,
that she's on government assistance, that she beats us when
she's tired, that we all have different fathers, that we
live in the projects and that ghetto. Everybody used to
look at us like that, white black, other mothers with
kids who thought they were being responsible by only having
two or three. I'd look back at them with defiance
and a little pride, a look that says that I
(25:12):
love my family, and we may be messy and loud,
but we're all together and we love each other. That's
when I've perfected my Bushwick mean mug.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, her kind of resistance to change I think a
lot of us can relate to. Because she was scared
of it. She was scared like what if I don't
like Howard? What if I don't?
Speaker 4 (25:33):
You know?
Speaker 1 (25:34):
She because of these moments where she had been so
proud and so protective and rightfully so, she had formed
this like, well, we can't mess that up, we can't
break that up, Like what will that mean? And you know,
she does go to Howard and she loves it, but
it's still kind of frightening. It's still like, well then
(25:55):
what will happen if so long I've kind of divined
myself through this, you're like protecting this. So I thought
that was a great through line throughout. Here's another quote.
He lets go with me and shakes his head. I
don't know yet, but we'll find somewhere. This is what
happens in life. You take the good with the bad.
(26:17):
This money is good, us leaving is bad, or taking
it because it's a blessing. So this is what her
father says when they have to move out and she's
so upset. Which that whole I mean that moving is terrible.
Moving is terrible in general, if you're moving from a
neighborhood that is so important to you, and that you
(26:37):
have these strong neighborly connections and thoughts about gentrification. And
now you've got the guy across the street, which, by
the way, that happened to me once when I was young,
not like this. We never worked out, but there was
a hot guy.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
That moved across the street.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
I was like, Wow, maybe this is my whole future.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
You had a fantasy about this, Huh?
Speaker 1 (27:02):
I did? He played? He would be outside playing basketball
and I'd be like, oh my god, that was nothing.
So did you have like it was really far.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
I lived in the woods.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
I still live in the woods technically, like there's suburbs
around me, but you can't see each other. We're not
We're not walking on the street to go get sugar
from each other because it's like a two lane road
in the.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Woods with no lights. Don't go there.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Well, when I first moved to my place, my home
that I mostly grew up in, there was nothing. It
was like gravel road nothing, and I wouldn't say it gentrified,
but it got like much more crowded. The roads got paved,
and so this guy moving across the street was pretty
(27:50):
like late in my time having been there, it was
marked change. Pretty sure he was a jerk, So I'm
glad it didn't work out anyway. End the story. That's
all you needed, I'm pretty sure. But then again, who knows.
Given a story, I could have been being judgmental where
I shouldn't have been.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
You would have a prejudice.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
That's right. Here's another quote. I have always thought of
Bushwick as home, but in that moment, I realized that
home is where the people I love are, wherever that is. Yeah,
which I just loved.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Yeah, it's a good line. And another one.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
This college is a lifeboat and a lifeline, But my
neighborhood is not flooding or splitting in half. It's being
cleaned up and wiped out. It's being polished and a race.
So where do I reach back and pull out memories
as if they've been safely tucked away into a trunk
or an attic like the people on TV who have
enough time and too much space. Where do I call home?
Where can I place a layer of brick to use
(28:51):
as my platform and hold my head up high to
raise my voice and my fist. Sometimes love is not
enough to keep a community together. There needs to be
something more tangible, like fair housing, opportunities and access to resources.
Life Boats and lifelines are not supposed to just be
away for us to get out. They should be ways
to let us state and survive and thrive.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Well that was a great quot too, Yeah, of like
not using it to get out, but using it to stay. Also,
sisterhood is pretty important throughout this. She does have a
lot of sisters. Here's a quote. If Madrina's basement is
where the timboras, loso spiritos and old ancestral memories live,
then the roof is where wind chimes, dreams and possibilities
(29:34):
float with the stars, where Jenna and I share our
secrets and plan to travel all over the world, Haiti
and the Dominican Republic being our first stop. So yeah,
her and Janee have a really close bond. And again,
I really did appreciate kind of the because I totally
get it too. And we've talked about this. When you
have a friend, a really close friend or a sister
(29:57):
who is crushing really hard on someone, you have that
fear of like, oh, okay, well our relationship is going
to change, I'm not gonna see you as much. But
her and have a lot of moments where they are
on this roof and they just are talking about life
and what they want to do, their fears. Then later
(30:17):
you find out the Darcy's they have kind of an
other rooftop situation where they could see what was going
on over there, which I love because at one point
there's a thrown meatball that was funny. Yeah that was
because he broke up with her. How rude. I mean, okay,
that was pretty bad. That was pretty bad, and their
(30:40):
relationship was so sweet.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Yeah, how it goes again in the book as well.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
I feel like I'm loving the name comparisons too, because
I don't know Bingsley and that's pretty.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Yeah, because he's just references Darcy Bingsley is references Bingsley
the entire time.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
You don't know their first name.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
There's a Fitzgerald who is his cousin that has the
sergeant that comes into play. Uh yeah, and then even
mister Bennett who is the father, is just known as
mister Bennett.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
And missus Bennett.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
So that's how we talk to about them.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
We know about William Collins who is the cousin, and
then George Wickham. We do know that it's George Wickham,
but he goes by Wickham the entire time. So it's
kind of like the women we know Miss Elizabeth, uh,
miss Mary, who is Marisol miss Lydia. So yeah, so
we have all of those characters as well. But it's
(31:40):
quite funny.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
But yeah, there she keeps them pretty close in point
mm hmmm.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I'll have to pick your brain about that later. I'm
curious if the is it Lydia has the kind of
same like sloppy yes, night out, Yes, sort of.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
She makes an embarrassment of herself, it is flirting, and
then she mos away with him, so we don't see
that through the comparison is that they actually just run
away as where uh and then you find that later
and they're in compromising situations. To me, they're just in
a hotel together. They don't find them in any real
Oh maybe they do. It's not the implication, but but yeah,
but like essentially is that. And then she comes back
(32:18):
bragging about landing a husband, essentially being the first girl
to land a husband, which is the big feet, and
then being upset a little bit that she didn't have
a big wedding, and everybody's like, because we had to
get your married in secret, or we're all going to
be like cast out of society, which means none of
us could get married. Yeah, okay, it's a little different.
The consequences you're much worse for Jane Austin's book.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Wow, this is I can't wait to check this out.
All right, I'm still devastating though, Oh absolutely absolutely. I'm
glad it worked out how it did in the book, right, yes.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Another scene I wanted to touch on is kind of
the theme of education, Janee being the first in her
family to go to college, Zuri being so into reading
books and writing and poetry. And now I know that
was a theme in the original Jane Austen work, but
(33:16):
that was something that she shared with her father.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, yes, so like the reading, the love of reading.
So he and Jane Austen. Mister Bennett would say that
he had the young girls and they had heads among them,
but like that they were the silliest girls that they
have he had ever known, because they all battled about.
Pratt told ye, I said it about men and boys,
(33:41):
and that was it. And the only ones that he
could stand that had any good sins, as he would say,
was the two oldest. But Jane was too kind and
Elizabeth was at least, you know, sarcastic, and he enjoyed that.
But we don't see that farrotism in the book, which
I do appreciate. But yeah, so here's a piece read
(34:02):
to travel. Papa always said, every book is a different hood,
a different country, a different world. Reading is how I
visit places in people and ideas. And when something rings true,
or if I still have a question, I outline it
with a bright yellow highlighter so that it's lit up
in my mind like a light bulb or a torch
leading the way to somewhere new. It's usually enough to
make me forget I've barely left Bushwick.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
So yeah, yeah, I thought that was really interesting because
there was this piece where Jane and Zuri's father were
kind of like, you know, it is great here, but
there are other things, and Zuri kind of being resistant
to it because again, she's really protective of this neighborhood.
(34:46):
She loves this neighborhood. She's afraid of how it will
change when she leaves. She's afraid of gentrification, rightfully so.
But her family is kind of like, well, go see,
just go see, there's other things, which again is like
that coming of age story of that. I feel like
that's really relatable. Another thing that is a big theme
(35:10):
in the book is class. This is definitely throughout her
interactions series interactions with the Darcy family. I particularly was
shocked with what happened with the grandmother when she met her,
because it kept implying like maybe it would go fine,
and then it really didn't. Okay.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
I was literally to you without the same thing with that,
with no perspective of pride and prejudice, because I was
waiting for it to get better thinking that she was,
especially when there was mentioned of Howard maybe she wasn't
an alumni and was gonna.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
Like really get you know, get in with.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Her for the Nope, nope, but it was no so
she she truly was the AUNTI character who was judgmental
and doesn't and kept bringing up the other girl, Carrie Yes,
which again that's not like I guess. Carrie represented three
characters and one from the original, between the sickly daughter
who she wanted Darcy to end up with, or the
(36:10):
sisters who are mean. Bingley's sisters who are mean to
all of them just kind of stood like Jane a
little bit because Grandmother really preferred Carrie. So like I
was like, Okay, Grandmother, that's not a good guy. I
really thought she was going to be better than this.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
But I was wrong. Okay, cool, cool cool because even in.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
The book, the aunt who is rooting for Darcy to
marry someone else for a while Elizabeth to the point
that she wants her to stick around, but then she
hates Elizabeth when she finds out that Darcy was thinking
about marrying her. So but yeah, so I was not expecting.
I was expecting to turn around too, just because of
the book, not necessarily because of the writing.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
I was kind of expecting because Georgia seemed to be
such a genuine character, which yeah, I, which I get, like,
now that I've read it, I'm like, okay, I don't
I wouldn't call her naive, but I think she was
just like hopeful and it didn't go that way right,
(37:17):
but she they because of her and Darius like less
or so, but they were both like, no, it'll be cool,
it'll be cool, right, and I kind of was trusting,
like they wouldn't eat her astray, which maybe is just
another example of class where they just in their heads
it's not as big of a deal. Yes, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Yeah, I will say Carrie's character, even though she was
a snob, didn't end as bad as I thought it would,
so I was like, yeah, so bad. Yeah, she's not
so bad. She's jealous and I can see why she's jealous,
but huh.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
I was. I was kind of confused while she was around,
but I did like because she goes from being like
a very jealous not nice at all too. I wouldn't
say like nice, but she did watch out for Zuri's sister.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
She did kind of except for why was she then?
Why she letting warn alone with him?
Speaker 1 (38:14):
But her?
Speaker 2 (38:15):
But like okay, but like she wasn't trying to mess
anything up or purposely trying to do anything bad.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
No, she was just not happy with She made it clear.
So here's a quote I wanted to read. So this
(38:42):
is kind of a a back and forth that happens
between Zuri and Darius. You know, Zuri, sometimes I'm baffled
by how judgmental you are. Darius is taking one hand
off the steering wheel. I side eyed him, baffled. I
should be the one who's baffled, and you, Darius Darcy,
are the walking definition of judgmental. I'm not judgmental. I'm
(39:06):
just an excellent judge of character. You fall short in
that department character. So you judge my sister's character, Yes,
I did, and she's cool. He says. If you need
some tips on how to accurately judge a person's character,
just let me know who back and forth.
Speaker 3 (39:25):
Oh my, this is a similar conversation in Prejudice.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Yeah, that's a good because, like halfway through, it's interesting
when you're reading something from one person's point of view
and you're like yeah, yeah, and then halfway through I
was like, wait a minute, she's kind of being judge
you too, all right, And then I get it. Totally
makes sense. Why she is. But it's just funny because
(39:53):
I think it was like halfway in and I was like, wait, which, yes,
kind of related. Another big theme is reputation in this book.
Here's a quote I want to say the same thing
that I don't care about my reputation, but I do
because they already have one, all my sisters do. We
have to be careful about who we fall for, especially
(40:14):
me and Jenay, just because guys from around the way
like us. Even if we don't give them no play,
it's still easy for them to talk about us. Poppy
is watching us, but so is the rest of the neighborhood.
And then later, don't let your pride get in the way.
I thought this was interesting because I think it did
a really good job of examining reputation on a lot
of levels, like reputation in your neighborhood, like representing your
(40:37):
neighborhood and what you think that is, and then reputation
and like your family. There's just a lot of layers
of reputation that was looked at. I thought that was
really good. And then finally, this is kind of we've
been talking about all this stuff all along, but love
and money, Love and money again, I did think the
(41:00):
like hot neighbor moving in that was really funny in
the beginning, where all of the girls were like, let's
go meet them. Here is a quote, and there are
two ways to examine the institution of marriage. Marisol begins
in the whole room size because she's about to spill
out a series of facts, numbers, and statistics that all
(41:21):
have to do with the things she loves most in
the world. Money. It can either mean that marriage is
the false notion that love is forever and a woman
is left to depend on her husband for financial support,
or that two incomes are better than one loves. Abstract
money is not. And I thought like, even when I
was reading this, I was like, this is such an
interesting take on what I bet happened in Jane Alston version.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
So in Jane Austen it is about religion. Oh, and
she is very scholarly and does not care for frivolous
things Mary because she is also all about quotes and books,
and but she does a lot of biblical And when
I say biblical, I'm gonna go like very Protestant, very
uh learned book, you know, biblical level of that. So
(42:10):
she's very into religion. In that term. She actually has
a crush on Colin, the cousin, and she was the
only one of all of them who wanted to get married.
Speaker 3 (42:18):
But she's was seen as dowdy. I guess it's somewhat boring.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
I feel like there was a character like that in Persuasions,
wasn't there? Yes?
Speaker 2 (42:27):
But she also like plays the piano in uh Brian
prejud and she doesn't play it well, but she thinks
she's amazing at it, and so she'll try to perform
and everybody's.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
Like, you're really wishing she would stop.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Essentially, so she's a scholarly one, I guess, like but
just really boring, but always speaks up to tell facts
or like to correct a situation or something.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
She's kind of the sad sack of the bunch.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
Ah, I see, I see. I just thought it was
interesting kind of this like the breaking down of the
love and the money.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
Like she's not wrong, but she kind of does that
in every way, Like when she's talking about the fact
that Lydia is ruined and then she brings into back
how we're all ruined and she's done this and of
course we're gonna be like they're like, can you stop.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
Hold on, now, we get we get it. We're screwed.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Stop this.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Oh how interesting. Yes, there's also a lot of themes
of jealousy throughout, which I thought I really appreciated it
in terms of, you know, in our modern times with
like the texting and he hasn't texted back, or we're like, wait,
what what does this mean? And kind of like making
Darius jealous with Warren like that kind of being in
(43:44):
the back of Surrey's mind anyway, So that was definitely
present in their messy courtship, I guess I'll call it,
but definitely throughout. Also, yeah, the pressure to find a
man her family, I would say, like they wouldn't they
would They kind of would be like, get a move on.
(44:07):
But it was more that they were like, she wouldn't
bring Warren to her like stoop, Yeah, because she didn't
want her whole family to know. It'll be real nosy. Yes,
And then when she was coming back with Darius in
the car from Washington.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
D C.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
She had to tell them and they were very nosy
and all the question right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
So in the book, obviously the mother is all about
getting all the children off married and getting she's she's
also ridiculous of a character, very very made to be
that way. But the way that the mother in this one,
obviously she's much loved, more loving, and like a little
more fierce and independent, and not so much about that,
(44:52):
but the whole like little smiling and trying to get
them together or trying to get them alone and allow
them to be alone was definitely like a ploy. Also
the book, so like, she does a great job in
representing I think she did a great job in representing
these characters but not making them look caricaturish, Unlike, like,
even though Prime Prejudice was an old, like ridiculously big classic,
(45:13):
it still made the characters look caricaturish in a way
that you were like, yeah, the mom's if there was
a villain, mom would not be a villain, but she's
the foil.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
You're right, that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
But I'm glad that that wasn't the case for this
one because it's so over the top of you just.
Speaker 1 (45:32):
Like, how much do you dislike your mother? Yeah? Well yeah,
And I feel like most of the characters were very likable,
like yeah, and the ones you weren't supposed to like,
I didn't really hate. I just was right, So I
liked that, and I did. We didn't really go into
it much, but I did like at the kind of
(45:53):
the clash of cultures at the cocktail party when the
mother shows up with all of those foods. Yeah, the
darcies are clearly like catering essentially.
Speaker 4 (46:08):
If it was a.
Speaker 1 (46:08):
Really it was a really enjoyable read. I think, you know,
even for me who hasn't read it, I enjoyed it.
I've loved hearing the comparisons. I can't wait to read
the original. Yeah, I'm gonna make you read the Regiournal soon.
But yeah, it's a great stand alone You don't need
it is though it is kind of a homage to
(46:29):
the Pride and Prejudice, and it is a retailing it's
it is a great standalone book.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
It has a lot of great quotes. The poetry is
quite lovely as well. I really did enjoy all of that.
I was like, this is good. Sometimes I wonder when
people write things like this, I'm like, did you do
the poetry first, And you're like, I'm gonna do a
book with this because I've thought about that. I'm like,
you know, sometimes because they are great stand alone poems
as is as well, so yes, book ten out of
(46:55):
ten everybody should read.
Speaker 1 (46:57):
I love that. I thought it was great, highly recommends,
and I'm looking forward to maybe an.
Speaker 2 (47:07):
I'm gonna do a whole thing. You're gonna have to
watch the new book. I don't want to, but the
new one, and I'm gonna make you watch the BBC series.
Speaker 3 (47:13):
For doing it.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
I am into it. You don't have.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
To again, like come back to Bridget Jones Diary as well,
because that is also a rendition of that.
Speaker 3 (47:25):
Oh no, did you not know that?
Speaker 1 (47:27):
You didn't know that girl?
Speaker 3 (47:29):
Okay, yes, that's why Darcy is in there.
Speaker 1 (47:34):
And his name is.
Speaker 2 (47:35):
Publishing, which is Wickham.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
Oh dear, I have a lot to learn. Oh no.
Speaker 2 (47:43):
The guy who plays Bingsley is a very like has
a minor character, like he has one line and he's
in there.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
I was like, Baisley, what are you doing here?
Speaker 4 (47:54):
I probably was just like, yeah, I'd had to have
given you all the like tidbits to that because there's
no way I want to let you go.
Speaker 1 (48:06):
I feel like you definitely told me about calling first,
and yeah, there's no way I would to let you go.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
On would like throw out be like this is this,
this is this, this is this, and it also starts
with the line is the truth universally acknowledged?
Speaker 1 (48:21):
It starts with that line as well. Hmmm, well, now
I know you know you're opening my world.
Speaker 3 (48:28):
We can try this.
Speaker 1 (48:29):
I'm coming back, We're coming back the classics. Excited too,
I think it'd be great. Well, this was super fun.
This was a great pick. Definitely checking out listeners and
I would love I really do want to check out
some of this author's other works. I think that they
sound fascinating. We have to, yeah, But in the meantime,
if you have any thoughts about this or any suggestions,
(48:51):
you can email Ustephania mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com.
You can find us on Twitter at Mom's teff podcast,
or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've Never told You.
We have Teapublic store, and we have a book wherever
you get your books. Thanks as always to our super
juicy Christina are Excited producer Maya and our contruder Joey.
Thank you and thanks to you for listening. Steffan Never
Told You his production of by Heart Radio. For more
(49:11):
podcast from my Heart Radio, you can check out the
Heart Radio Apple podcast or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows
Stuff Mom Never Told You News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Samantha McVey
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Betrayal Season 5
Saskia Inwood woke up one morning, knowing her life would never be the same. The night before, she learned the unimaginable – that the husband she knew in the light of day was a different person after dark. This season unpacks Saskia’s discovery of her husband’s secret life and her fight to bring him to justice. Along the way, we expose a crime that is just coming to light. This is also a story about the myth of the “perfect victim:” who gets believed, who gets doubted, and why. We follow Saskia as she works to reclaim her body, her voice, and her life. If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team, email us at betrayalpod@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.