“Sense and Sensibility” has always been my favorite of the Jane Austen books (although I always like the movies of “Persuasion” best, the S&S heroines don’t translate as well to screen, especially Elinor). What I really loved about Joanna Trollope’s updated, modern take on the original material was how she managed to not change a single aspect of the plot or characters, and yet still make it all seem surprising and new. Too many “modernized” versions of Austen books fall over themselves to mention cell phones, designer labels, and stigmas of the modern era, and always feel like they’re trying too hard. But this version highlights everything that I loved so much about the original story: how hard it is to be the “sensible” one in the family, the rewards and vulnerabilities of first love, the necessity of money, the irresponsibility of NOT caring about money. The characters come alive, and even the deeply flawed ones are written with empathy and depth. Two Austenite thumbs way up.
Note that this is part of a series of professionally-commissioned Jane Austen retellings all written by best-selling, critically-acclaimed authors. It’s called “The Austen Project” and I can’t wait to read them all. https://www.goodreads.com/series/113943-the-austen-project
AJ Tipton 