Book Review: Jane Austen’s Guide to Modern Life’s Dilemmas by Rebecca Smith

Quick Review (read on for full review)

Perfect for fans of Jane Austen, this book is both beautifully presented and a wonderfully engaging and entertaining read. Highly recommended. 4 / 5

Summary (from Goodreads)

Is the man I’m dating Mr. Darcy in disguise. . . or simply a jerk? 
It’s been two centuries since Jane Austen penned Pride & Prejudice and her many other classic novels, yet her adroit observations on the social landscape and profound insights into human nature are as relevant now as they were in her time. If only those of us in need of some good advice today had the opportunity to sit down and tap even a few drops from Austen’s great reservoirs of wisdom. Well, now we do. . . .
 
In Miss Jane Austen’s Guide to Modern Life’s Dilemmas, Rebecca Smith channels her great-great-great-great-great aunt’s sense—and, of course, her sensibility—to help readers navigate their most pressing problems. Drawing on Austen’s novels, letters, and unpublished writings, Smith supplies readers with wise and wonderful counsel for living well in the 21st century. From instruction on how to gracefully “unfriend” someone on Facebook to answers for such timeless questions as “Can a man ever really change?” this book enables readers to nimbly navigate life’s most tricky terrain with the good sense, good manners, and abundant humor that are the mark of any great Austen heroine.
 
Sensible, savvy, and funny, Miss Jane Austen’s Guide to Modern Life’s Dilemmas cleverly answers every Austen fan’s most earnest question: What would Jane do?  Replete with lovely Austen-inspired color illustrations, as well as quotes from Austen’s various novels to support the advice given, this book is the ideal gift for the Jane Austen fanatic in your life.

Favourite Quote

The following quote is included in answer to the question, “What should my book club read?”

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

(From Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen)

Review

This is such a beautiful book. I read the hardcover edition and the way the book is presented is simply gorgeous. The illustrations are very fitting for a book that blends modern problems and historical solutions to them – just take a look at that tablet-holding regency lady on the front cover! And it’s also a fantastic read.

Clever, witty and well-written, this book is an easy, engaging read. Taking snippets from Austen’s novels and what survives of her personal letters to answer agony-aunt style questions, this light-hearted book is fun and even often sensible!

Broken down into six chapters: Love & Relationships, Friends & Family, Work & Career, Fashion & Style, Home & Garden, Leisure & Travel, it covers almost every aspect of life. And what’s more, I think there is a good chance the reader comes away from it knowing and understanding Jane Austen herself a little better. Her own charm, humour and intelligence certainly comes through.

An entertaining read, that can be read from cover to cover, or flicked through as the mood takes you. I read it from cover to cover myself, and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Highly recommended to those who need regency-era advice to tackle problems of the present day (such as, “How can I delete a contact on Facebook without causing offence?), or to those who simply enjoy the works of Jane Austen.

Rating

Book Review: Elinor & Marianne by Emma Tennant

Elinor & Marianne is Emma Tennant’s sequel to Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.

Quick Review (read on for full review)

Charming and witty, yet also terribly sad. Emma Tennant’s voice is convincingly that of Jane Austen. A beautiful read. 5 / 5

Summary (from Goodreads)

A sequel to Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility”, this is the correspondence between the married Dashwood sisters – Mrs Brandon and Mrs Edward Ferrars. Passion, in the shape of the charming seducer Willoughby, makes an appearance, together with perennial themes of money and social embarrassment.

Favourite Quote

This work, which is so necessary, is combined with the erection of the Grecian Temple on the hill where the old walnut trees once stood. I do not ask you to consider the expense of such an enterprise, dear Sister – it would not be in your competence to do so.

(from Elinor & Marianne by Emma Tennant, page 36)

Review

I often steer clear of modern sequels to classics, especially classics which I love. Sense and Sensibility has always been a favourite of mine, and is probably my favourite Jane Austen novel. Yet this one had been languishing on my shelf for years and suddenly I felt compelled to read it. And I’m so glad I did!

Although the summary says this book is the correspondence between the Dashwood sisters, it is in fact, the correspondence between many of the characters introduced to us in Sense and Sensibility, not just Elinor and Marianne. In it, we get to read the thoughts of Colonel Brandon, Willoughby, Margaret Dashwood and her mother, Mrs Jennings and her daughter Charlotte, as well as John Dashwood, Edward Ferrers and the former Lucy Steele. This serves to give us a rounded, multi-dimensional view of the society the two young women move in and the events which befall them.

I liked the fact that the author chose to use the form of letters to write her sequel, especially after learning Jane Austen originally started writing Sense and Sensibility as a series of letters between Elinor and Marianne. This gave an added authenticity to the book.

I found the book charming, addictive reading, and had finished it easily within 24 hours as I couldn’t put it down. The author nailed the characters, managing to transfer their personalities as shown in Sense and Sensibility into letter form. Mrs Jennings I especially thought good as the great-hearted woman with a terrible need to gossip.

There is no getting away from the social hardships of the time, especially for women, and some of the themes encountered, like the loss of one’s home and fortune (in fact, the loss of any means to support yourself at all) make for sad and difficult reading. Yet there is levity enough to ensure the reader is not left miserable.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was a beautiful read, one which has inspired me to search out more of the author’s books.

Rating

Quoting the Classics…Pride and Prejudice