Jane Austen gets erotic makeover

Fans of Jane Austen novels frustrated with the controlled sexual tension between characters may now be able to indulge in racier versions aiming to spice up those relationships. Photo / Thinkstock

First it was zombies popping up in Jane Austen, now it's erotica.

A publisher of adult fiction is giving literary classics such as Jane Eyre and Pride And Prejudice an erotic makeover.

The company said that it was "100 per cent convinced" that there was a market for the racy versions of the 19th century novels by authors Austen and Charlotte Bronte and that the spicing up of the much-loved books will introduce the classics to "a new generation of readers".

Other titles to be published under the Clandestine Classics collection include Austen's Northanger Abbey and Arthur Conan Doyle's stories featuring Sherlock Holmes.

The announcement comes following the phenomenal success of EL James's "mummy porn" title Fifty Shades Of Grey, which is said to be the fastest-selling book of the year.

Some original fans of Jane Eyre might be unhappy to discover that the female protagonist has "explosive sex with Mr Rochester" in the publisher's erotic edition.

In Wuthering Heights, heroine Catherine Earnshaw "enjoys bondage sessions" with Heathcliff while sleuth Sherlock Holmes has a sexual relationship with his sidekick Dr Watson in the new e-book.

Claire Siemaszkiewicz, founder of Total-E-Bound Publishing, which is releasing the titles from July 30 in digital format, said: "We're not rewriting the classics. We're keeping the original prose and the author's voice. We're not changing any of that.

"But we want to enhance the novels by adding the 'missing' scenes for readers to enjoy.

"People are going to either love it or hate it. But we're 100 per cent convinced that there's a market there.

"We'll be bringing the classics to a new generation of readers as well as to people who love the classics but would like to see what we have done with them."

She added: "I've often wondered whether the Bronte sisters, if they were alive today, would have gone down the erotic romance route. There's a lot of underlying sexual tension in their stories.

"Charlotte Bronte was a bold, forward-thinking lady for her time. There's so much sexual tension and eroticism there."

The adult scenes will be penned by some of the 250 authors on the publisher's books who write erotic romance.

-PAA