Classic Retellings / Reimaginings
The Original
The Reimagining
Reimagining and Revisionist Retelling
James: Everett tells essentially the same historical world and period as Twain's novel, but centers Jim—now James—and gives him an interior life, intelligence, language, agency, and perspective that Twain's original narrative does not provide.
What makes James particularly compelling is that it doesn't simply retell Huckleberry Finn from another character's point of view. It challenges the assumptions and limitations of the original novel while engaging directly with its characters, events, language, and legacy.
Modern Reimagining
The Original
The Reimagining
Like James, Demon Copperhead is more than a simple retelling. Kingsolver takes the basic framework, coming-of-age structure, and many of the themes and character parallels from David Copperfield and relocates them to modern-day Appalachia.
The parallels are fascinating. Dickens's David is an orphaned boy who struggles through poverty, neglect, exploitation, and an indifferent society; Kingsolver's Demon faces many of those same forces in a contemporary Appalachian setting. Characters and relationships are deliberately echoed from Dickens, while issues such as poverty, addiction, the foster-care system, child exploitation, and social inequality become central to the modern story.
Great by Sara Benincasa (2014)
A Contemporary YA Retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
In Great, Sara Benincasa reimagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic The Great Gatsby in the glamorous, privilege-filled world of modern-day East Hampton. The story follows Naomi Rye, a seventeen-year-old spending the summer among wealthy socialites, where she becomes fascinated by her mysterious neighbor, Jacinta Trimalchio. Much like Jay Gatsby, Jacinta throws extravagant parties while secretly longing for someone seemingly out of reach—the beautiful and privileged Delilah Fairweather.
Benincasa gives Fitzgerald's classic a fresh, contemporary twist by reimagining its central romantic relationships through LGBTQ+ characters while preserving its exploration of wealth, obsession, social status, deception, and the dangerous pursuit of an idealized love.
Why This Retelling Matters: Great introduces a new generation of readers to the timeless themes of The Great Gatsby, demonstrating how Fitzgerald's examination of privilege, longing, and illusion remains relevant nearly a century later.