Jane of Austin by
Hillary Manton Lodge is a retelling of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility set in Austin, Texas. And though this novel a
romantic retelling and I don’t usually read romance, I’m a huge fan of Austen
and couldn’t resist this book.
As a retelling, the book was fun. It updated the tropes and
effortlessly set the novel in a modern world without any awkwardness or injury
to the story and characters. I loved the inclusion of the tea shop as part of
the setting. And as someone who also reviews cookbooks, I’m eager to make some
of the recipes that the author has included in the novel—the cranberry-vanilla
scones sound wonderful.
It’s important to note, that this novel is not a literary
exploration of Austen’s novel, nor does it explore and expose social conventions
in the way that Austen’s novels do. But this novel doesn’t set out to do those
things. This book is a summer, beach-read version of Sense and Sensibility and on that level, it fulfills its
expectations and is addictively readable.
Definitely four stars!
One more note, this novel is a “sweet romance,” i.e., no
cursing, no sex, etc.
I received this book from Blogging for Books in
exchange for a review.
