PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES
The Classic Regency Romance— Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Published by Quirk Books (Distributed in NZ by Southern Publishers Group) NZ$29.99

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has become a viral internet sensation - without anyone seeing a copy of the book. Initially, it was to be released on June 1, 2009. Due to pre-publication buzz and high consumer demand, Quirk Books moved up the publication date to April and it was released it in New Zealand on April 27. I have observed piles of stock in bookshops visited in the past few days with booksellers reporting strong interest.

Pride and Prejudice is perhaps the most beloved and frequently adapted novel of all time. It’s been made into Hollywood films, a Broadway musical, and a BBC miniseries.

But never before has Jane Austen’s prim and proper comedy of manners been spun into such horrific, brain-munching delight. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features 85% of the original text and includes all-new scenes of flesh-eating zombie action.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains,” begins Grahame-Smith’s re-imagination of one of history’s most idyllic tales. As the story opens in the quiet English village of Meryton, a mysterious plague is bringing the dead back to life. Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she is soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy.

This delightful comedy becomes all the more absurd and entertaining as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of the undead.
Featuring 11 illustrations in the style of C.E. Brock (the original illustrator of Pride and Prejudice) and including “A Reader’s Discussion Guide” for book clubs and students to use, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is sure to charm Jane Austen buffs as well as legions of blood-hungry new fans.

Rumours have been circulating that a movie adaptation is in the works and that Natalie Portman has signed on to star (the publisher can’t confirm.) And riding Quirk’s publicity coat tails, Sir Elton John has announced that his production company has given the green light to a film where the characters of Pride and Prejudice fight off hungry aliens.

About the authors:

JANE AUSTEN is the author of several masterpieces of literature, including Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Mansfield Park, and the original Pride and Prejudice.

SETH GRAHAME-SMITH is the author of How to Survive a Horror Movie, The Big Book of Porn, and Pardon My President all published by Quirk Books. He lives in Los Angeles.