Classics Retold

Classic novels rewritten for modern audiences and introduced to new generations of readers.
Updated September 19, 2022
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Circe.
Miller, Madeline
Paper Book
This #1 New York Times bestseller is a "bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story" that brilliantly reimagines the life of Circe, formidable sorceress of The Odyssey (Alexandra Alter, TheNew York Times). In the house of Helios,...
The fleshed-out story of Circe, a character from the Odyssey.
Ayesha at last.
Jalaluddin, Uzma
Paper Book
Pride and Prejudice with a modern twist    AYESHA SHAMSI has a lot going on.  Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is...
A modern day Muslim Pride & Prejudice
Boy, snow, bird.
Oyeyemi, Helen
Paper Book
In the winter of 1953, Boy Novak arrives by chance in a small town in Massachusetts,  looking, she believes, for beauty--the opposite of the life she's left behind in  New York . She marries a local widower and becomes stepmother to his winsome  daughter, Snow Whitman. A wicked...
The reimagined story of Snow White set in 1950s America.
On beauty.
Smith, Zadie
Paper Book
Set on both sides of the Atlantic, Smith's third novel is a brilliant analysis of family life, the institution of marriage, intersections of the personal and the political, and an honest look at people's deceptions.
Loosely based on E.M. Forster's Howard's End, set in modern day U.K.
The hours.
Cunningham, Michael, 1952-
Paper Book
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel becomes a motion picture starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman, directed by Stephen Daldry from a screenplay by David Hare The Hours tells the story of three women: Virginia Woolf, beginning to write Mrs. Dalloway as...
Three women of different generations whose lives are interconnected by Mrs Dalloway.
Eligible.
Sittenfeld, Curtis
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Wonderfully tender and hilariously funny, Eligible both honors and updates Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Tackling gender, class, courtship, and family, Curtis Sittenfeld reaffirms herself as one of the most dazzling authors writing today....
A modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West.
Maguire, Gregory.
Paper Book
This is the book that started it all! The basis for the smash hit Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Gregory Maguire's breathtakingNew York Times bestseller
An exploration of the characters & setting of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.
The daughter of Doctor Moreau.
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a lavish historical drama reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico. "This is...
A reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set in nineteenth-century Mexico.
Bridget Jones's diary.
Fielding, Helen, 1958-
Paper Book
The #1 bestselling book that defined the 20th century--now updated for the 25th Anniversary! Meet Bridget Jones--a 30-something Singleton who is certain she would have all the answers if she could: a. lose 7 pounds b. stop smoking c. develop Inner Poise...
Roughly based on Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice.
Pride and prejudice and zombies : the classic regency romance - now with ultravi
Austen, Jane, 1775-1817
Paper Book
TheNew York Timesbest selleris now a major motion picture starring Lily James and Sam Riley, with Matt Smith, Charles Dance, and Lena Headey. Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses,Pride and Prejudice and Zombies<...
Inspired, of course, by Pride & Prejudice.
Pride.
Zoboi, Ibi Aanu.
Paper Book
In a timely update of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi skillfully balances cultural identity, class, and gentrification against the heady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of this beloved classic. A smart, funny, gorgeous...
A retelling of Pride & Prejudice set in Brooklyn with a much more diverse cast of characters than the original.
Cinder.
Meyer, Marissa.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series! Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . ....
A futuristic retelling of Cinderella.
The song of Achilles.
Miller, Madeline
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller "At once a scholar's homage to The Iliad and startlingly original work of art....A book I could not put down." --Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House A thrilling, profoundly moving, and utterly unique retelling of the...
Homer's Iliad as told from the perspective of the character Patroclus.
The Eyre Affair.
Fforde, Jasper
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The first novel in the renowned Thursday Next series, which "combines elements of Monty Python, Harry Potter, Stephen Hawking, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (The Wall Street Journal). "A literary wonderland [that] recalls...
Set in an alternative 1985, where the protagonist pursues a master criminal through the world of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.
Meg & Jo.
Kantra, Virginia
Paper Book
A heartwarming modern novel inspired by Little Women, to coincide with the release of the new film in early 2020.
A modern retelling of Little Women.
Jane Steele.
Faye, Lyndsay
Paper Book
Nominated for the 2017 Edgar Award for Best Novel The reimagining of Jane Eyre as a gutsy, heroic serial killer that The New York Times Book Review calls "wonderfully entertaining" and USA Today describes as "sheer mayhem meets Victorian propriety."  <...
A reimagining of Jane Eyre as a serial killer.
Ophelia.
Klein, Lisa, 1958-
Paper Book
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE! If you think you know Ophelia and Hamlet's story, think again... "A spellbinding tale of love, murder, and revenge." -- VOYA As ambitious and witty as she is beautiful, Ophelia is quick to catch the eye of the...
Tiger Lily.
Anderson, Jodi Lynn
Paper Book
In this stunning reimagining of J. M. Barrie's beloved classic Peter Pan, New York Times bestselling author Jodi Lynn Anderson expertly weaves a gripping tale of love, loss, and adventure. When fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan...
The penelopiad.
Atwood, Margaret Eleanor, 1939-
Paper Book
The story of Penelope — as told by herself. InThe Odyssey, Penelope — daughter of King Icarius of Sparta, and the cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy — is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife. Atwood’s dazzling retelling of the old myth is as haunting as it is...
New boy.
Chevalier, Tracy
Paper Book
"O felt her presence behind him like a fire at his back."   Arriving at his fourth school in six years, diplomat's son Osei Kokote--"O" for short--knows he needs an ally if he is to survive his first day, so he is lucky to hit it off with Dee, the most popular girl in school. But...
A play on Shakespeare's Othello set in the 70s on a school playground.
Nutshell.
McEwan, Ian
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER From literary superstar Ian McEwan Ian McEwan comes Nutshell, a gloriously entertaining, wonderfully imagined novel--a mesmerizing thriller to delight all readers. "Oh God, I could be bounded...
The story of Hamlet narrated by a fetus in his mother's womb.
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are dead
Stoppard, Tom
Paper Book
A new, beautiful updated edition of Tom Stoppard's best-loved play and one of Grove Atlantic's bestselling backlist titles, published with a new introduction by Tom Stoppard to coincide with the 50th anniversary of its debut Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are...
Fool.
Moore, Christopher, 1957-
Paper Book
"Hilarious, always inventive, this is a book for all, especially uptight English teachers, bardolaters, and ministerial students." --Dallas Morning News Fool--the bawdy and outrageous New York Times bestseller from the unstoppable Christopher Moore--is a hilarious new take on...
The story of King Lear's Fool
March.
Brooks, Geraldine
Paper Book
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize--a powerful love story set against the backdrop of the Civil War, from the author of The Secret Chord. From Louisa May Alcott's beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has animated the character of the absent father, March, and...
Wide Sargasso sea.
Rhys, Jean
Paper Book
A new edition of a novel in the TWENTIETH-CENTURY CLASSICS series which tells the story of the first Mrs Rochester, who is haunted by the death of her brother and the madness of her mother, and who is trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who wants to take her from Jamaica to England. From the...
A feminist prequel to Jane Eyre
The other Bennet sister. [online electronic book]
Hadlow, Janice
Ebook
A NPR CONCIERGE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR "Jane fans rejoice! . . . Exceptional storytelling and a true delight." --Helen Simonson, author of the New York Times bestselling novels Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and The Summer Before the War<...
Longbourn.
Baker, Jo
Paper Book
A brilliantly imagined, irresistible below-stairs answer to Pride and Prejudice: a story of the romance, intrigue and drama among the servants of the Bennet household, a triumphant tale of defying society's expectations, and an illuminating glimpse of working-class lives in Regency England...
A story of the lives of the servants at Longbourn, the house of the Bennetts in Pride & Prejudice.
Emma.
McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Paper Book
An unstoppable combination: Alexander McCall Smith and Jane Austen, as Sandy modernizes the story of Emma Woodhouse. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Emma Woodhouse's widowed father is an anxious man, obsessed with nutrition and the latest vitamins. He lives the life of a...
Frankissstein.
Winterson, Jeanette, 1959-
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE. From New York Times bestselling author Jeanette Winterson comes her most anticipated book since Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? about the bodies we live in and the bodies we desire. Since her astonishing debut at twenty...
Frankenstein in Baghdad.
Sa'dawi, Ahmad
Paper Book
*International Booker Prize finalist* "Brave and ingenious." --The New York Times "Gripping, darkly humorous . . . profound." --Phil Klay, bestselling author and National Book Award winner for Redeployment "Extraordinary . . . A...
Home fire.
Shamsie, Kamila, 1973-
Paper Book
"Ingenious... Builds to one of the most memorable final scenes I've read in a novel this century." --The New York Times WINNER OF THE 2018 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION FINALIST FOR THE 2019 INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD LONGLISTED FOR...
A retelling of Sophocles's Antigone set among British Muslims.
Lavinia.
Le Guin, Ursula K., 1929-
Paper Book
In a richly imagined, beautiful new novel, an acclaimed writer gives an epic heroine her voice InThe Aeneid, Vergil's hero fights to claim the king's daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to found an empire. Lavinia herself never speaks a word. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin...
An imagining of the life of Lavinia, a minor character in Virgil's Aeneid.
Alice.
Henry, Christina, 1974-
Paper Book
Alice has been in the mental hospital in Old Town for years. She doesn't remember why. All she can remember is a tea party long ago. Long ears and blood. Until one night she escapes, free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago. When Alice escapes, something escapes with...

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