Literature repeats itself: classic tales and old myths are constantly referred to or retold in new stories. Have you ever noticed, for example, that Disney’s 1994 film The Lion King borrows much of its plot from Shakespeare’s Hamlet (written between 1599 and 1601)? Hamlet, in turn, was inspired by an ancient Scandinavian saga. Because so much literature borrows from earlier works, it can be difficult to define what counts as a literary retelling. There are many wonderful novels, though, that are openly dependent on another work’s existence for their own. Many – like PD James’s 2011 mystery Death Comes to Pemberley, which follows on from Jane Austen’s 1813 classic Pride and Prejudice – are written as sequels, continuing the journey of the protagonist after the events described in the original work.
Others reimagine classic tales in updated settings, as in Curtis Sittenfeld’s 2016 Eligible, a retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in 21st-century Ohio. What’s being celebrated here, though, is yet another kind of literary reimagining. It’s one that retells a classic story (or part of it) through different eyes – often those of a minor character who was misunderstood or villainised in the original. In doing so, these novels give voice to experiences and perspectives that might otherwise be ignored, often throwing their source material into a whole new light.
Familiar comforts
In the UK, most literary works are protected by copyright law until 70 years after the death of their creator, at which point they enter the public domain. For this reason, literary reimaginings tend to draw on older, classic literature – which might be part of their appeal.
‘Since the pandemic, there’s been a general desire for familiarity,’ says Paul Hurman, expert bookseller at Blackwell’s bookshop in Oxford in the UK. ‘Certainly, classic fiction titles had a boom during the initial lockdowns and the period of us all trying to find our way back into normal life again.’
Novels that reimagine classic fiction draw on this. ‘They satisfy both the desire for something fresh and new, while still carrying that comforting sense of familiarity with them,’ says Paul. They offer the best of both worlds, allowing readers to return to a familiar place but to view it from a different angle. At their best, says Paul, they ‘reframe something existing in a way that you could never have imagined it could be… I think that’s why [Jean Rhys’s] Wide Sargasso Sea is such a revered novel – it does precisely this in a masterful way’.
The other woman
Published in 1966, Wide Sargasso Sea is a prequel to Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre. Set in Jamaica, it tells the story of Antoinette Cosway (Jane Eyre’s ‘Bertha Mason’), the secret first wife of Edward Rochester, master of Thornfield Hall. In the original text, Bertha is presented as deranged and monstrous, and functions primarily as a plot device. It’s not long after learning of Bertha’s existence – kept under lock and key in the attic of her own home – during her own wedding to Rochester (which is then called off) that Jane flees, and it’s Bertha’s act of burning down Thornfield Hall that influences the novel’s finale.
By detailing Bertha’s courtship by Rochester in the West Indies, their early marriage and relocation to England, and the disintegration of their relationship, Wide Sargasso Sea grants Rochester’s first wife an agency and voice that is absent in the original. Rhys presents a portrait of a woman who is driven to madness and despair as a direct result of her husband’s cruel treatment. And, in doing so, the author casts a new light on Jane Eyre, posing questions about Rochester’s morality, and his suitability as a romantic hero.
A similar feat is performed in British author Natasha Solomons’ 2023 novel Fair Rosaline, a reimagining of Romeo and Juliet told from the perspective of Romeo’s first love, Rosaline. In Shakespeare’s play, written in the late 1500s, it’s Rosaline whom an infatuated Romeo is hoping to encounter when he gatecrashes the Capulets’ ball in the opening scenes, but he soon forgets about her after meeting her cousin, Juliet.
Solomons’ novel depicts Romeo’s courtship and seduction of the 16-year-old Rosaline before he casts her aside to pursue 13-year-old Juliet, revealing him to be a serial predator of young girls. When Rosaline realises Romeo’s nefarious intent, she bravely attempts to dissuade Juliet from falling for his advances. Fair Rosaline implies a radical rereading of Shakespeare’s play but it remains firmly anchored in its original text. As Solomons told The Guardian newspaper in 2023, the novel is ‘like a ship, where above the surface you’ve got Romeo and Juliet and underneath is what I’m writing, but it has to match perfectly’. By switching to Rosaline’s perspective, Solomons uncovers an alternative reading of the original text that encourages readers to reconsider previous analyses.
Speaking back
Reimagining a classic work of literature from a new perspective can be a powerful way to critique the original. Booker Prize- shortlisted US author Percival Everett’s 2024 novel James, for example, retells Mark Twain’s 1884 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the words of Jim, the enslaved African-American man with whom the titular Huck, a southern white boy escaping his abusive father, rafts along the Mississippi river.
Twain’s novel is considered a great work of American literature, yet it’s also controversial. Many critics have highlighted its racist language and noted how its portrayal of Jim relies heavily on damaging stereotypes. In addition, much like Bertha in Jane Eyre, Jim’s function in the novel is largely in the service of plot progression and other characters’ moral development. He has no significant story arc of his own.
By giving voice to Jim, James works to redress this imbalance. Moreover, the novel also functions as a satirical critique of the original work’s stereotypes. In the retelling, Jim reveals that the dialect in which he speaks to Huck, as well as his general air of childish simplicity, is an act designed to reinforce white people’s sense of his inferiority and ensure his own safety (indeed, this is a performance in which all of the novel’s Black characters are engaged). In this way, Everett’s novel speaks back to Twain’s, simultaneously highlighting its inherent racial bias and correcting it.
Sharing stories
For readers who love the originals, it might be hard to imagine enjoying a retelling that so subverts a favourite, but there’s often added value in the tension between the two interpretations, as well as an awakening to the validity of other perspectives.
‘The way we treat books is often as something a little sacred,’ says Paul. ‘People often think that, as a bookseller, I might look down on this sort of book.’ Surely he’ll take the stance that authors should be coming up with original characters and plots. That isn’t the case. ‘I’m just happy to see people interested in reading,’ he says. ‘If this works for and engages people, then isn’t that great?’ Perhaps this is what literature is all about: by responding to older works in this way, writers and readers become engaged in a great, ongoing conversation that exists outside of any specific time or place, expanding a shared imaginary landscape and sparking new ideas out of old stories. Looked at from that perspective, it’s quite magical.
Different views
Literary reimaginings that see well-loved stories with fresh eyes
Grendel, John Gardner (1971)
A retelling of Beowulf, the Old English epic poem of unknown authorship, written from the perspective of its antagonist, Grendel – a murderous monster who is slain by the poem’s titular hero and is revealed here to be a thoughtful and lonely creature, frequently preoccupied by deep philosophical concerns.
Wicked, Gregory Maguire (1995)
The cult novel, later adapted into the Broadway musical of the same name, reimagines the world of US author L Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900, from the perspective of its villain, the Wicked Witch of the West. In this fresh take the reader discovers how and why she became so cruel.
March, Geraldine Brooks (2005)
This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel follows the story of Mr March, the largely absent father of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy in Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 classic Little Women, as he serves as a chaplain to the Union Army during the American Civil War. Through his experiences, the novel sheds light on its source material’s wider political and historical context.
The Other Bennet Sister, Janice Hadlow (2020)
Pride and Prejudice has had many retellings. This time it’s from the perspective of the bookish, introspective Mary Bennet who, in Jane Austen’s original, is frequently the butt of the joke. By placing Mary’s experience centre stage, Hadlow highlights the unfairness of this and forces readers of the original to contemplate their own complicity in her treatment.
Julia, Sandra Newman (2023)
A retelling of George Orwell’s dystopian 1949 classic Nineteen Eighty-Four, as seen through the eyes of Julia, love interest of Orwell’s protagonist, Winston Smith. By switching the focus, Newman’s novel reflects on how sex and gender influence the experience of living under a totalitarian regime.