10 Must-Read Books That Reimagine Characters and Stories From Classic Literature
These modern retellings breathe new life into our all-time favorites by Jane Austen, Emily Brontë, and more.
We’re all for a good classic novel. The literary canon has stood the test of time for a reason, after all. Undoubtedly, their prose and powerful stories have resonated with and influenced readers and writers alike for over a century. But beyond putting their stamp on the craft, some classics have inspired authors so much so that they've given contemporary updates to well-loved books.
The best books that reimagine iconic novels take a story from one of the all-time greats, from Jane Austen to Emily Brontë, and retell it in a modernized setting, from another character's perspective, or update the tale with a unique, inspired spin. Essentially, these recent hits and cult favorites scratch the itch for the traditional while stimulating your mind in a whole new way.
So, whether you wish the books you read in high school could be seen through a feminist lens, or you were able to spend more time with the subsidiary characters, these reimagined classics deserve to be on your bookshelf. Here's which ones to read (after you've devoured the originals, of course).
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The sweetest March sister doesn’t exactly escape her fate in Katie Bernet’s modern retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women—the title alone makes sure of that. In fact, it might be even worse. Because this time around, Beth’s killer isn’t borne of illness, but of actual flesh and blood—and it just might be one of her own beloved sisters.
With no shortage of modern retellings of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice over the years (there’s even another on this list), Uzma Jalaluddin’s stands out from the pack. She not only revisits the story of a strong-willed, witty young woman (in this case, Ayesha) who has met her match in a morally sound yet prideful man (Khalid), but does so through another cultural lens. The would-be Muslim couple’s battle of wills is complicated even further when Khalid’s family arranges a marriage with Ayesha’s cousin Hafsa, prompting the titular character to dig into his past—and the depths of her own soul.
With Nick Carraway as the original narrator of The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, whom Nick was fiercely loyal to, was always bound to get the best edit. But there are two sides to every story (or, in the case of Gatsby, Daisy and Tom Buchanan, at least three). Jillian Cantor examines three other angles via Daisy, her best friend Jordan, and the late Myrtle Wilson’s sister Catherine, each of whom is under suspicion for Gatsby's murder.
Wicked, which retells the story of Frank L. Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz through the eyes of its green villain, has become a modern classic, thanks to the attention it received from its Broadway adaptation and blockbuster films that followed. If you haven’t read the witchy book yet, take this as your sign. Maguire blurs the lines of good and evil by adding context to Elphaba's backstory and ultimately, humanizing her. Yes, her skin is a unique shade and has teeth “like a shark.” But she’s also really smart and witty, with a love of animals. She’s incredibly layered, and so is this book—it's far more adult than Baum’s original, making it unsuitable for the faint of heart.
Sally Beauman takes great care with the mysterious Rebecca, picking up the gothic tale 20 years after Mrs. de Winter's death. In fact, we get to know her better than we ever did in Daphne du Maurier’s original novel, as Colonel Julyan, who knew her in life, digs deeper into her past—and her ultimate demise.
More than simply giving us another Hester Prynne, a woman scorned for having a baby out of wedlock, Hillary Jordan gives us a whole dystopian hellscape in which criminals are subjected to skin coloring that matches the severity of their crimes. In her fictionalized world, Hannah Payne's abortion is considered murder—and her new The Scarlet Letter-esque branding is about to change everything.
Who said adventure should be left to the boys? Not Xiaolu Guo, who puts a Mulan-like twist on Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. The protagonist in this 2026 retelling is Ishmaelle, a woman who goes undercover as a man to work as a cabin boy on the open seas. Now, she’s found herself on a whaling ship with a captain who’s obsessed with hunting one legendary creature in particular (yes, that legendary creature), with whom she has formed an unlikely bond.
In Wuthering Heights, Nelly Dean serves as the narrator, telling Catherine and Heathcliff's ill-fated love story from her position as servant in both the Earnshaw and Linton homes. With Nelly Dean: A Return to Wuthering Heights, Alison Case turns the focus on Nelly herself, beginning with her childhood as a companion to Cathy and Hindley. As the book explores her acceptance of her fate as a maid, it also imagines she silently harbored complex, unrequited feelings for the eldest Earnshaw sibling.
There have been countless attempts to tackle the brilliance that is Lewis Carroll’s Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but few have managed to capture the author’s literary magic. Jeff Noon does his absolute best with Automated Alice, a “trequel” to the seminal children's books. In it, Alice is transported through time to 1998 while chasing after a talking parrot named Whippoorwill. Only the future isn’t exactly bright, with Alice being named the prime suspect in a series of “jigsaw murders.” She must find 12 missing pieces from her own real-world jigsaw puzzle to clear her name—and find her way back home.
Curtis Sittenfeld takes a more modern approach to Austen’s best-loved romance classic—so much so that it’s been hailed as a beach read. Her Elizabeth Bennett is a 30-something magazine writer living in N.Y.C. whose hot new hometown neighbor is fresh off the set of a Bachelor-style reality TV show. It’s his BFF, Fitzwilliam Darcy, that has her all hot and bothered, however...at first in annoyance, and then with something else.
