Christina Hwang Dudley is a gifted author who has written many period romance novels, but this is her first contemporary novel. Following the mantra “go big or go home,” Hwang begins this phase of her writing career with a modern re-telling of Pride and Prejudice set in the San Francisco Bay area Asian-American community. Lissie is the middle of three orphaned sisters who are being raised by their aunt and uncle. She and her older sister, Jenny, work in their aunt and uncle’s Chinese restaurant while attending college. Jenny is the beautiful one and her aunt always has her wait the tables with handsome and/or rich young men while Lissie is assigned to another section of the restaurant. Disaster strikes when Lissie has to wait on the wealthy Lin family and accidentally serves a dish with shell fish to them after they had informed her of a shell fish allergy. The Lins don’t forgive or forget easily with dire ramifications for the restaurant. Things get worse when Lissie seems to constantly cross paths with Preston Lin, the self-righteous son who Lissie can’t stand.
As with Pride and Prejudice, things are not always as they seem and errors in judgement cause many complications. Christina Dudley went big with this story and it is a fun take on the classic story with some hilarious moments. The characters are engaging and Lissie is a heroine Elizabeth Bennett would be proud of.
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