From classic to pop hit: Jane Austen ‘mean girl’ Caroline stars in her own murder-mystery spin-off

There’s more to pop culture/classic crossover Pride and Prejudice than Colin Firth’s wet shirt, with a new spin-off hurling another favourite character into London’s grimy underworld.

Eyes open for the new Pride and Prejudice spin-off, with ‘mean girl’ Caroline Bingley in the title role. She was played by Anna Chancellor in the hit BBC adaptation, alongside Colin Firth as Mr Darcy (gratuitous wet shirt photo further down the page).

For a woman who died 200 years ago, Jane Austen’s hold on popular culture is extraordinary – just look at the countless screen and stage adaptations. Spin-offs, too.

I first fell in love with her classic Pride and Prejudice when I bought a second-hand copy at a school fete – I recognised the title from a brief mention in a Baby-Sitters Club book.

I loved the playfulness of the language, the richness of the characters. In the years since, I’ve worked on performance adaptations and help run an annual Austen convention.

Now I’ve had the thrilling opportunity to collaborate with the wonderful novelist Kelly Gardiner on a Pride and Prejudice spin-off: a murder-mystery, set two years after the events of the original, in which Caroline Bingley, the ‘mean girl’ who did NOT marry Mr Darcy despite wanting to, finds herself tangled up in a disappearance and death that leads her to the shadier side of London and encounters with the famous British East India Company.

Greg Wise as ‘punchable’ Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility.

Indira Varma at the Bride and Prejudice London premiere.

I’m an Australian immigrant, born to Asian parents, and it was particularly moving to be able to include people who look a little like me in the world of this story and these characters that I’ve loved for so long.

Speaking of characters, allow me to introduce some Austen standouts – do you agree?

Caroline Bingley from Pride and Prejudice, of course. She’s flawed, but she’s

also a person of intelligence and insight (which we like to think she has

developed further since the events of the novel to the point where she might

be able to solve crimes). She was played brilliantly by the wonderful Anna Chancellor

in the 1995 BBC miniseries, with an honourable mention to Indira Varma in Gurinda Chadha’s 2004 adaptation Bride and Prejudice.

Warrior woman … Lena Headey in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Sticking with Pride and Prejudice, Lady Catherine de Burgh is someone I both love to hate and aspire to be. She bends reality to suit her will (except when she can’t break up Elizabeth and Mr Darcy). She would be an expert at everything if only she had the chance. Lena Headey plays her as an eye-patch-bearing, sword-wielding warrior in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. She almost has me taking her side against Elizabeth Bennet.

Austen’s most punchable character might be Willoughby from Sense and Sensibility. He takes advantage of young, vulnerable women, and even if he is sincere in his love for Marianne, he hurts her unforgivably. And yet! He was played by Greg Wise in the 1995 film directed by Ang Lee and was so charming that the writer and star of the film, Emma Thompson, married him. They’re still married.

Frances O’Connor as Fanny Price.

Author and Austen fan Sharmini Kumar.

Sophia Croft in Persuasion has a naval captain for a brother and an admiral for a husband, and sees no reason why she should be confined to shore while they have all the adventures. Friendly, generous and insightful, she is one of the few people who values the quiet Anne Elliot. She was played by the magnificent Fiona Shaw in 1995 (a very good year for Austen adaptations).

I appreciate Fanny Price of Mansfield Park more as I get older. Separated from her family of origin at a young age and sent to live with her cousins, she was always looked down on as the poor relation. Her anxiety and trauma show through in a timidity and rigid moral code that can be hard for modern women to relate to, but it is worth taking the time to understand her. Her mother ran away from a wealthy family to marry a poor sailor and there were many sailors of Chinese or Indian descent living in Portsmouth at the time, so I have started to wonder if she might also have been biracial. Patricia Rozema made a gorgeous film of this novel, starring the wonderful Australian actress Frances O’Connor, which looks seriously at the role of slavery in the plot, but I’m not sure I’m satisfied with any of the screen portrayals of Fanny … so far.

No competition … for some reason, Colin Firth’s wet shirt scene in the 1995 production of Pride and Prejudice was hugely popular. As were his riding breeches. You’re welcome.

Murder-mystery spin-off … Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective.

Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar is out now, published by HarperCollins. Check it out and share your view at THE SUNDAY BOOK CLUB on Facebook.

Originally published as From classic to pop hit: Jane Austen ‘mean girl’ Caroline stars in her own murder-mystery spin-off