Persuasion, Jane Austen's last completed masterpiece before her untimely death, is one of my favourite novels of all-time besides Pride and Prejudice. I can totally relate to the tale of first love between Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth and their second chance at happiness. When I heard that Claire LaZebnik, who wrote two other modernisation of Jane Austen's oeuvre (Epic Fail and The Trouble with Flirting), is taking on the task of updating the story for the young adult genre, I'm excited to read The Last Best Kiss.
Written in first person narrative, readers are privy to Anna Eliot's heart, mind and soul and view her world through her eyes. She is the youngest daughter in her family and her parents are divorced. Living with her father in Los Angeles, she has two older sisters, Molly and Lizzie, who are both in college. Lizzie takes after their father in many ways where they prefer gourmet food, exercise and gossiping while she is close to Molly. Her mother is absent from her life except on occasions when she is in town for business and visits her daughters. Just before the start of her senior year at Sterling Woods high school, a boy from her past comes back into her life and she is hoping for the chance to apologise for her mistakes and start afresh.
Three years ago back in ninth grade (or freshman year), she befriended her carpool buddy, Finn Westbrook. He is an awkward-looking and brilliant nerd who loves to share fascinating pictures of nature on his phone and knowledgeable facts on their rides to school. They hang out together after school and instantly became a couple. Instead of telling the world about how she feels for Finn, she hides their relationship from her group of best friends for fear that they would not approve of him. She cares about how they think and wants to be accepted and go along with the crowd, thus breaking his heart. The last straw came on the night of a semi-formal when she turned him down for a dance. After the incident, they split up and he no longer carpools with Anna. He then moved to another state when his parents are offered a new job. Ever since that night, she regrets her treatment and longs for his forgiveness. Other guys that she met just couldn't compare to Finn Westbrook.
Now that Finn has appeared on the scene again looking handsome, smart and cool, everyone wants to be his friend. He is readily accepted into Anna's gang which comprises of Lucy, Phoebe, Oscar and fraternal twins, Hilary and Lily. He wants nothing to do with Anna but she still have feelings for him. As she watches helplessly, he begins to flirt with Lily who likes to have her own way and doesn't care what others think of her, qualities which Anna lacks. When Anna was nearly attacked by a dog belonging to Phoebe's mother, who should come to the rescue but Finn. Although he is still angry and bitter about the past, it did not stop him from keeping her out of harm's way. Later she is introduced to a new friend, Wade Porter. He is actually her distant cousin and goes to a different school. They become friends and start texting each other but nothing romantic happens.
In between studying for SATs and worrying about college applications, the gang head off to an out-of-town music festival for the weekend at the invitation of the twin's father. Trouble ensures when Lily decides to dive into a shallow pool although Finn warned her not to. As a result, she is unconscious and the quick thinking Anna directs her friends to get help. An ambulance was dispatched and ferries Lily to the hospital to be examined. Fortunately, she suffers from concussion and has no internal injuries. Feeling guilty for not stopping her, Finn blames himself. After this near-miss experience, Lily's personality undergoes changes from the boisterous nature who craves to be the centre of attraction to one who reflects and listens more. She met James, a fellow music festival attendee who ended up in hospital at the same time as her. How does it affect her relationship with Finn? Who will she choose to be with: Finn or James? Will it pave the way for Anna and Finn to be together again?
In my opinion, Ms LaZebnik has certainly crafted a believable and engaging story with the right balance of humour and seriousness. She does not shy away from tackling some prevalent teenage issues such as underage drinking, smoking weed, making out and homosexuality. The important plotline from the original story is translated into page with the inclusion of Ginny Clay, who is Lizzie's good friend. Ginny is dating Anna's father without Lizzie knowing about it and when she found out, he broke it off. Then there is douchebag Wade who is using Anna to get to her father. Luckily we have Wade's friend, Connor (Mrs Smith) to thank for opening her eyes about his motives. Absent from The Last Best Kiss is the selfish and hypochondriac Mary Musgrave. Instead we have a caring and understanding Molly.
If you enjoy young romance set around high school students, you would certainly want to pick up The Last Best Kiss. I feel that lovers of Persuasion might enjoy this pleasurable read and compare the similarities and differences between the original and Ms LaZebnik's version. It was fun and diverting and makes me relive my school-going days through the book. I am looking forward to her next novel which will be published next spring. The title is Wrong About the Guy and is loosely based on Emma.
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