Canon or non-canon JAFF, what is your preference?

I have to admit that I was never really interested in reading JAFF before I was hired to edit my first JAFF novel. The idea of a writer trying to take one of Austen’s stories and take it in a different direction really didn’t appeal to me. However, after reading my first JAFF novel, I was intrigued. Not only were there plot twists I had never considered, but the characters were wholly new versions of themselves. I thought to myself that maybe I’d been too hasty in my initial dismissal of the genre.

And then I read the reviews of the novel. The comments that were critical spoke of “canon” and were very quick to point out that the author had deviated from it. Was it that she had strayed too far from the original storyline or that she’s chosen to highlight different aspects of the characters (or ascribe completely new character traits to them)?

And so I bought my first JAFF novel. And then another. Afterall, how could I determine what canon was and its relevance to the genre if I had no point of comparison? After reading a few JAFF novels (admittedly all based on Pride and Prejudice) I have come to the conclusion that canon isn’t all that important to me. The novels that produce interesting twists and deviate from the original were more engaging and the authors had the liberty to make the characters more original. Don’t get me wrong, the story must retain elements of the original, otherwise it wouldn’t be JAFF. But if I wanted to read something that followed to closely to the original that the characters were mirror images of themselves, I’d probably just read Austen’s version again (which I have, many times).

How important is canon to you? Do you think there are rules to which an author must adhere when writing JAFF, or does creative license allow for these rules to be bent?

Stacey