MOST ARDENTLY

Oliver Bennet is not like the other Jane Austen characters you know; he’s not interested in “having a wife. Or, more importantly, being one.”

As the second-eldest child in the Bennet family, Oliver is expected to marry to maintain the family’s wealth and not be a financial burden. But Oliver’s family knows him as Elizabeth, assigning him an identity that causes him great discomfort, as he knows he’s a boy. Rather than finding a suitable husband, Oliver is much more interested in letting his family (and the rest of the world) know his true identity. If he happens to find love along the way with someone who embraces who he really is, all the better; in the meantime, he’s grateful for the support of older sister Jane, who accepts him as her brother. When Oliver, forced into a gown by Mama, meets the enchanting Fitzwilliam Darcy at a ball, he’s taken aback by how coldly the other boy treats him. However, after a subsequent chance encounter at a fair, where Oliver is dressed in trousers, the boys become friends—and, eventually, something more. Novoa builds on the source text’s narrative, including detailed descriptions of queer life in Regency England as well as the period’s clothing and domestic life. The story is entertaining and fast paced, but a lack of narrative tension serves to keep readers from feeling fully immersed. Cast members are cued white.

An accessible queer retelling with a low-conflict storyline.