The Heart of Bennet Hollow

Bischoff DeWitt (Writer on the Wall) puts an early-20th-century spin on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in this enjoyable if somewhat bloated romance. Twenty-year-old Lizbeth Bennet has spent all her life on her family’s small Appalachian farm, so when she discovers the town’s mine is up for sale—risking, with it, the possible sale of surrounding parcels of land, including her family’s—she’s determined to hang on to her home. Soon a group of coal barons eager to make the acquisition descend on the town, among them handsome bachelor William Drake, to whom Lizbeth’s instantly attracted. As they bond over their faith Lizbeth starts to believe in Drake’s purported plan to preserve the residential areas—until she hears a rumor he intends to seize most of the town’s land and rejects him. By the time Lizbeth realizes there might be more to the wealthy businessman than meets the eye, it may be too late for a romance or to save the farm, which has sunk into deeper financial straits. While the love story’s enlivened with rich historical detail, drawn-out scenes and blunt characterization (“She and he existed at opposite ends of industrialization. He the money. She the humanity”) cause the narrative to sag in places. The result is a fun but flawed tale of opposites attracting. (Oct.)