Book 1,081: James Fairfax – Jane Austen & Adam Campan

This book has languished on my shelf for over a decade. And in all honesty it should’ve stayed there and been culled at some point in the future, but it didn’t. I wouldn’t have gotten rid of it because it’s an Austen adaptation and it’s a queer adaptation, so I finally prioritized reading it as part of my re-reading and retellings of Jane Austen’s works for her 250th Birthday. And—oof—I wish I hadn’t, it was rough. The good news is, this is the fifth of the new-to-me retellings I’m reading this year and I’ve already started the final one.

I can’t say it was all Campan’s fault, because Emma is my least favorite Austen, but Campan somehow made it worse. The changes to the story were minor, a Mr. to a Mrs. a Jane to a James, but I think there were bigger issues with it in that the additions just weren’t well written. They matched Austen’s style well enough, but the scenes stood out and I couldn’t get through them fast enough.

I won’t belabor the point because Alison over at Austen Blog (link broken 03.2026) said it best:

In his introduction, Campan writes: “Of all Jane Austen’s heroines, we experience the inward working of Jane Fairfax’s mind the least.” My dear sir, the reason for that is that Jane is not the heroine of Emma. But if you thought that she—or he—was, then why didn’t you write about his adventures from his point of view? Your idea was not a bad one, but you didn’t actually do any work to make it happen.
– Alison, Jane Austen Blog

From the beginning, Campan was off base. I read that in the intro and actually was a little excited because I thought we were going to get the story from James’s point of view—as a newly written hero a la the actual heroines of Austen’s novels—but nope, it was 100% just Emma with a few minor tweaks and a few new scenes wedged in and it just wasn’t good. I’ve only ever read one other queer Emma adaptation, Anyta Sunday’s Emerett Has Never Been in Love and even with all its issues it was miles ahead of this one. It was set in a different country and was removed far enough from the original to stand on its own, which this one in no way was.

Recommendation: Hard pass. Seriously, just go read Emma. Allison over at Austen Blog said it best, seems like Campan just “Ctrl+f” and replaced a few things here and there and wedged some other meh things into it. I won’t dump on it more than that, seriously if you’re only going to read one read the original or seek out another, because this one was a slog and a waste of time and barely qualified as a queer adaptation.

Opening Line: “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence, and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.”

Closing Line: “But, in spite of these deficiencies, the wishes, the hopes, the confidence, the predictions of the small band of true friends who witnessed the ceremony, were fully answered in the perfect happiness of the union.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)