Austen in August - The Three Weissmanns of Westport

This review contains spoilers!

The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'll admit, I cheated. Since I was listening to this, I sought out reviews with spoilers so I could see where the story was heading because the first disc interested me, but I didn't know if I wanted to keep listening. After reading the review with spoilers, I kept listening and I'm happy I did, this was a refreshing adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.

I'll also admit that Sense and Sensibility is my least favorite Jane Austen work, I've read it once and will probably never force myself to read it again. So when I saw in the spoiler reviews that the plot doesn't perfectly follow Jane's tale, I knew it would be worth my time to finish listening to this story.

The ages of the characters bothered me at the beginning of the story, but as the story went on I found that it worked with the direction of the plot. I liked Annie and Miranda more than I ever really liked Elinor and Marianne. I liked that Annie didn't take Fredrick back and that Marianne didn't end up with Roberts but that Annie does (or does she I really couldn't tell).

That wasn't the only change I enjoyed! Instead of suffering in silence like Elinor did, Annie lays into Miranda after she finds out that Fredrick has to do the honorable thing. While Miranda does get sick like Marianne does after her heart break, it's Betty our Mrs. Dashwood who really gets sick over her heartbreak.

There were so many things that reflected Jane's original work, yet changed them so they fit in with her (Schine) story. She changes up characters but has the fit perfectly into the rolls they are supposed to play that you can't help but just go along for the delightful ride this story turns out to be!

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