{"product_id":"book-14pr","title":"Miss Bates","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA daring re-imagining of an Austen classic from the unflinching viewpoint of the misunderstood Miss Bates.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHenrietta Bates, the iconic bore of Austen's \u003cem\u003eEmma\u003c\/em\u003e, is the opposite of handsome, clever, and rich Emma: she is plain, ill-educated, and impoverished. An unmarried woman of quite a different order from that novel's proudly single heroine, she is an object of scorn and pity, whose survival depends upon the generosity of her neighbors which she barters for with an unrelenting shower of banal and grateful chatter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut what if the woman we see in \u003cem\u003eEmma\u003c\/em\u003e were actually deliberately assuming a role, donning a mask, as a means of managing an untenable situation? What if there was a world of difference between her inward and outward voice? What would the Woodhouses's Highbury look like from \u003cem\u003eher\u003c\/em\u003e perspective?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMiss Bates\u003c\/em\u003e by Catherine Cliff imagines answers to these questions as it chronicles Henrietta Bates's unexpected and, at times, violent life, navigating a world with no ready-made opportunities, where the stakes are of the highest order. In a debut that is by turns comedic, tragic, startling, and altogether brilliant, \u003cem\u003eMiss Bates\u003c\/em\u003e turns Austen's poignant and ridiculous side character into a feminist force who understands innately the life she has been dealt and how to slyly play it to her advantage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is no marriage plot; it is a spinster plot. Or maybe, the spinster's plot.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blackstone Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":51193319620912,"sku":"BD14pr","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD","offer_id":51193319653680,"sku":"ZE14pr","price":45.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio MP3-CD","offer_id":51193319686448,"sku":"ZM14pr","price":35.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/14pr-Square-cover.jpg?v=1777160744","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-14pr","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}