For Gen Z and millennials, these novels are both a mirror and a map

As the world celebrates the legendary writer's 250th birth anniversary, Lounge looks at her legacy among contemporary readers in India

- Somak Ghoshal

Growing up as the youngest of four girls, writer Anuja Chauhan always found the fictional world of Jane Austen relatable. But you'd be mistaken to assume that Pride and Prejudice is her favorite among Austen's novels.

"I love her humor, her honest, pragmatic, realistic take on romance. There is nothing breathless about it," Chauhan says. "But I find the sister dynamics in Pride and Prejudice problematic."

It's a sentiment Chauhan has aired before, when her novel Those Pricey Thakur Girls came out in 2013. Perhaps the most autobiographical among her books, it tells the story of four sisters growing up in a bustling Delhi family. Understandably, readers drew parallels with Pride and Prejudice, which revolves around the lives of the five Bennet sisters. But Chauhan was quick to correct them.

"Even if I am an Austen fan, I'm not such a Pride and Prejudice fan because frankly, I think Lydia (the youngest Bennet sister) got such a raw deal. Everyone was so mean about her. I really think of Elizabeth and Jane as self-righteous, goody-two-shoes who think, 'Arrey, we are so classy, and our sisters are like...'," she said in an interview. "They don't like their own mother, they don't like their own sister, they are just sitting around thinking, 'We are so cool and rich people want to marry us'."