Sense & Sensibility
Books | Fiction / General
3.3
Joanna Trollope
Joanna Trollope's much-anticipated contemporary reworking of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility will launch The Austen Project and be one of the most talked about books of 2013. It is hugely exciting to attempt the reworking of one of the best novels written by one of our greatest novelists. This is a project which requires consummate respect above all else; not an emulation, but a tribute. The Austen Project is a major new series of six novels teaming up authors of global literary significance with Jane Austen's six complete works. When Fanny Dashwood descends on Norland Park with her Romanian nanny and her mood boards, Belle Dashwood′s three daughters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret must face the reality of life without their father, their home, or their money. As they come to terms with life without the status of their country house, or the comfort of an inheritance, Elinor and Marianne are also confronted by the cold hard realities of a world where sometimes people′s attitudes can change as drastically as your circumstances. With her sparkling wit, Joanna Trollope casts her clever satirical eye on the tales of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. By casting Sense And Sensibility in an elegant and fresh new light what might appear to the modern eye to be all romance, bonnets and betrothals becomes a wonderfully witty coming-of-age story about the stuff that really makes the world go around, and how when it comes to money, some things never change.
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Author
Joanna Trollope
Pages
362
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published Date
2013
ISBN
0007461763 9780007461769
Community ReviewsSee all
"One can hardly give it zero stars given the source material, but my, what an unimaginative, scene by scene retelling, rather like a paint-by-numbers version of an old master. Several plot points simply do not work in the 21st century: Edward's obligation to marry Lucy doesn't carry the same weight,and since no two young people could possibly go more than a few hours without texting each other unless one was dead or comatose, Willoughby's failure to communicate with Marianne becomes highly implausible, and everyone's willingness to make excuses for him frankly bizarre. Giving Marianne the same chronic asthma which killed her father is a nice touch, but it makes her indifference to her health appear even more self-indulgent and childish than in the original.<br/><br/>For a truly masterful, creative re-working of S&S, try <i>The Weisssman's of Westport</i> or the films <i>From Prada to Nada</i> (set in contemporary L.A.) or <i> I Have Found It</i> (mid 20th century India)."