Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh (Review)

Information:

• Author: Rachael Lippincott
• Genre: Romance, Historical fiction
• Page count: 338
• Year published: 2023

Read This If You Like:

• Historical fiction
• Queer/lgbtq+/sapphic representation
• Time Travel
• Dual POV
• Friends to Lovers
• Humor (especially the cheesy kind)
• Regency era stories

Spoiler-Free Summary:

Audrey Cameron, from Pittsburgh in 2023, has lost her creative spark after her boyfriend dumped her, and a few weeks later she was waitlisted at her dream art school. Lucy Sinclair, from Radcliffe, England in 1812, is still in grief over her mom’s death that happened years ago, and is about to be married to a man that she barely cares about due to her controlling father. What neither of the girls are expecting is for Audrey to be time-traveled into 1812 after her grumpy neighbor claims he can help her. After finding Audrey outside of her house, Lucy agrees to help her despite the unbelievable claims Audrey is making. Lucy and Audrey work together to help reclaim their “sparks” and try to find love… but the two girls find that they are actually falling for each other. But with Audrey’s time in the 1800s running out, will the two girls romance be able to last the impossible circumstances?

Review/Opinions:

This was such a cute, uplifting romance novel. It isn’t an exact Pride and Prejudice retelling, except for some references to Jane Austen, the story uses no elements from Pride and Prejudice and instead creates its own story. And most of the book doesn’t take place in Pittsburgh, instead it takes place in Radcliffe, England.

Audrey and Lucy are such well-developed characters. Despite the different time periods that they come from, both of them are really similar characters who have to deal with a life that they don’t want and regain their creative spark, with Lucy still experiencing the effects of her mom’s death and having to deal with a controlling father who wants her to go through a standard 1800s unwanted arranged marriage, and with Audrey losing her artistic abilities after losing her first love and being rejected from art school.

The romance between Lucy and Audrey was so cute and wholesome. The queer representation was clear and wholsomly developed, and (minor spoiler)I just can’t get over the fact that Audrey found out she was bisexual by falling in love with a girl from the 1800s. (Spoiler ends here). Since Audrey and Lucy are really similar in their motivations and experiences, it made sense that they had a romance that was supportive and also adorable. During the last 50ish pages you may want to cry due to the uncertainty of if things will work out for the characters (this emotional moment is expected, after all the author’s debut is one of the biggest tearjerkers on TikTok.) But it does end in a happy ending for the characters.

This novel was also unexpectedly humorous. After all, one of the characters is left in the 1800s although she’s from 200 years after and has no knowledge of the 1800s standards, so there’s going to be humor if she’s trying to figure out the lifestyle there. The humor is a bit on the cheesy side, but it adds to the adorable and fun vibe.

Overall, I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a great queer or historical romance read. It is adorable, fun, uplifting, and emotional all at once.