Pies & Prejudice (The Mother-Daughter Book Club #4) by Heather Vogel Frederick

Title: Pies & Prejudice (The Mother-Daughter Book Club #4)

Author: Heather Vogel Frederick
Read by: Cris Dukehart, Amy Rubinate, Kate Rudd, and Emily Woo Zellner
Publisher: Dreamscape Audio

Length: 9 hours and 32 minutes (8 discs)
Source: Review Copy from Audiobook Jukebox – Thanks!

What if there was a book club where mothers and daughters could read the classics of literature together and spend time bonding?  This series of books is about just such a book club where the club picks one book a year to read and learn about.  The Mother-Daughter book club has chosen Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen as their book to read during the girls’ freshman year in high school. 

Budding writer Emma and her family are immersing themselves even more in the experience by going to England for the year.  Emma was not keen on the idea at first, but is more at one with the experience when the group promises to skype with her and her Mom to keep them in the book club experience.  Emma’s family swaps a house with another family that lives in their house in Concord, Massachusetts.  Emma loves England, but finds herself homesick after being harassed by bully Annabelle.

Cassidy is a star hockey player that learns to appreciate something different when she begrudgingly becomes an ice dance practice partner with Tristian.  Tristian and his brother Simon are from England and part of the house swap with Emma.  Tristian is standoffish and Cassidy finds herself often at odds with him.  Are first impressions always what they seem?

Jess finds her singing dreams disappointed, but finds a new passion in life when she helps to rehabilitate an injured fox.  Megan starts a “Fashionista Jane” blog that snarkily dishes on the fashions found in her school.  But being sometimes cruel about others’ clothing does not help her find romance with nice guy Simon.

There are a lot of plot lines going on in this book, but I highly enjoyed it.  The point of view switches between Emma, Cassidy, Jess, and Megan.  I admit I was confused at first at who was who, but the audiobook helpfully has four different narrators, one for each girl.  As I got more into the novel, I could tell instantly who was narrating.  I have not read the other books in this series and that would have helped too.  I enjoyed this book so much, I need to go back and read the other books.

I loved how the story was not a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, but was instead a new story of these four girls and how they and their mothers learned to love the story of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen. It had a lot of great facts about Jane and Pride and Prejudice intertwined throughout the story as well.

Overall, Pies and Prejudice was a fun and very entertaining audiobook.