No prejudice here, that’s a collection to take pride in!

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a woman in possession of a warm blanket and cup of hot coffee, must be in want of a good book — at least, so thinks Kayla Blackmore!

An Orange local, Kayla loves nothing more than snuggling up with something to read, but there is one particular book that keeps her coming back time and time again; a book she, literally, can’t get enough of!

“I just love it, it’s one of my favourite stories – it’s like the original enemy to lovers story,” says Kayla of Jane Austen’s timeless classic Pride and Prejudice.

One of the best-loved books in English literature, Pride and Prejudice follows the turbulent courtship between the beautiful, witty but stubborn Elizabeth Bennet and the dashing aristocrat Mr Darcy. It’s a story that’s captured millions of hearts in the 200 years since it was first published and now it’s capturing more and more space on Kayla’s bookshelf!

“I don’t know how I ended up collecting so many, but I just bought one edition and then I just kept finding new, prettier ones and before I knew it, any time I was at a second-hand bookstore or a book fair I was looking out for another copy,” says Kayla, who now owns 21 different copies of the novel. 

Her favourite though, says Kayla, would have to be a graphic novel adaptation given to her as a wedding gift by her maid-of-honour.

Long before she fell for the charms of Mr Darcy, Kayla says it was the bedtime stories read to her by her grandmother that sparked a life-long love for reading and for books. 

“Nan would always read us books before we went to sleep,” recalls Kayla fondly, “but it was also Beatrix Potter — that just made me fall in love with them.”