This reading group guide for Elizabeth of East Hampton includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.

Introduction

This fresh and whip-smart modern retelling of Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice—from the authors of the “great beach read” (Bookreporter) Emma of 83rd Street—transports you to summer in the Hamptons, where classes clash, rumors run wild, and love has a frustrating habit of popping up where you least expect it.

It’s a truth universally acknowledged—well, by Elizabeth Bennet anyway—that there’s nothing worse than summer in the Hamptons. She should know; she’s lived out there her whole life. Every June, her hometown on the edge of Long Island is inundated with rich Manhattanites who party until dawn and then disappear come September. And after twenty-five years, Lizzy wants to leave, too.

But after putting her own dreams on hold to help save her family’s struggling bakery, she’s still surfing the same beach every morning and waiting for something, anything, to change. She’s not holding her breath, though, not even when her sister starts flirting with the hot new bachelor in town, Charlie Pierce, and he introduces Lizzy to his even hotter friend.

Will Darcy is everything Lizzy Bennet is not. Aloof, arrogant . . . and rich. Of course, he’s never cared about money. In fact, it’s number one on his long list of things that only seem to complicate his life. Number two? His friend Charlie’s insistence on setting him up with his new girlfriend’s sharp-tongued sister. Lizzy Bennet is all wrong for him, from her money-hungry family to her uncanny ability to speak to him as bluntly as he does to everyone else. But then maybe that’s why he can’t stop thinking about her.

Lizzy is sure Will hates everybody. He thinks she enjoys being difficult. Yet just as they strike an uneasy truce, mistakes threaten Charlie and Jane’s romance, with Will and Lizzy caught in the undertow. Between a hurricane and a hypocritical aunt, a drunken voicemail and a deceptive event promoter, the two must sift through the gossip and lies to protect the happiness of everyone they love—even if it means sacrificing their own. But when the truth also forces them to see each other in an entirely new light, they must swallow their pride to learn that love is a lot like surfing: sometimes the only way to survive is to let yourself fall.

Topics & Questions for Discussion

1. How did the authors modernize the characters from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice? Specifically, what traits, quirks, and details did they ascribe to each of the main characters (Lizzy, Jane, Kitty, Lydia, Mary, Darcy, Charlie)?

2. What did Will think of Lizzy when they first met at the bakery and vice versa?

3. How did the authors utilize the themes of Pride and Prejudice (e.g., class, family, integrity) to tell this modernized story?

4. How does the setting of Elizabeth of East Hampton lend itself to this retelling of the original work?

5. When do you think Lizzy started falling for Will and Will for Lizzy? Was there a particular moment or event? Do you think their personalities and lifestyles are compatible?

6. When Will and Charlie meet Jane and encounter Lizzy for the second time at Donato Lodge, why do you think Will sees Lizzy as “a mess”? Did you think she was a mess?

7. Discuss Mrs. Bennet’s alleged involvement in multilevel marketing schemes, her leggings business, and her business strategies. How does it add to the picture of her overall character?

8. In Chapter 21, Jane tells Lizzy, “Being nice is easy. Anyone can pretend to be nice. But there’s a difference between being nice and being kind.” What do you think about this statement? Are there any characters who fit squarely in one bucket rather than the other? Are there any morally gray characters?

9. In chapter 18, Lizzy tells Will, “My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.” This line also appears in the original Pride and Prejudice novel. How do you think it translates to modern times? Where might Lizzy have previously experienced intimidation in both novels?

10. What did you think about Tristan when he was first introduced? How did your opinion of him change over the course of the book? Can you see his side of the story in his feud with Will?

11. Lizzy is an unwavering source of support for her family. Did you feel that this support was returned to her in any way by any particular character? How so?

12. Do you feel that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet fully appreciate the commitment of their daughters to the family business? Why do you think Mr. Bennet never spoke to Lizzy about pursuing journalism until she reveals her acceptance into Columbia’s School of Journalism?

13. Discuss Piper and Mary. Did you feel these characters had any influence over Lizzy and her decisions and feelings? How so or how not?

Enhance Your Book Club

1. Discuss Lizzy and Will’s story arc and then make a playlist for it, in chronological order.

2. Read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and discuss how the authors adjusted that story for the modern day in Elizabeth of East Hampton. What are the events in both this novel and Pride and Prejudice that set Lizzy and Will’s story in motion, forcing them to interact with each other? Do a scene-for-scene comparison of these events.

3. Create a signature cocktail or mocktail for Charlie’s Fourth of July party. Each ingredient should have some significance to the story and setting (e.g., sour cherries for the famous Bennet Bakery muffins).

4. If you were the casting director of a film version of Elizabeth of East Hampton, who would you cast in each role?

5. On any given Friday night at Donato Lodge, you could find a mash-up cover band playing a set, such as Here Comes the Sandman (The Beatles x Metallica) and Korndogg (Korn x Snoop Dogg). Create a list of mash-up bands you’d like to hear if you were a regular at Donato’s.