Ladies of the House: A Modern Retelling of Sense and Sensibility by Laura Edmondson (2021)

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

 


It’s unfortunate that a modern retelling of Sense and Sensibility felt the need to forgo, or actually decry, any sense of moral restraint and instead delved deeply into American politics with a liberal agenda being the end all/be all of feminism and liberated women. I’m so sick of American politics that I could puke, and Ladies of the House did not improve my mood one iota.

Turning Mr. Dashwood into a sleazy politician with a propensity for young things in their twenties made me sick. Any chance I had for liking Daisy and Wallis, and there were moments because I like the sister theme, was immediately undermined by the next political undercutting maneuver. I liked Wallis a tick more than Daisy, just a tick. She is the most accurate of the women and has a very Marianne feel. And Atlas? Well, to be fair, he’s just as spineless as Edward Ferrars, but at least Edward had a controlling family keeping him under their thumb, unlike Atlas who’s just lily-livered. And heaven forbid that Blake should turn against Wallis to run for his mother’s senate seat under a political banner different from Wallis’ own! Horrors!

I did get the inspired by Sense and Sensibility vibes, which was more than I was expecting, but at the same time, it didn’t impress me. The author would have done much better if she had just steered clear of a Jane Austen retelling and just written her political novel. If she had, I would have never read it and we would have both been happy.

As it stands, I read it. I will never read it again. I would rather re-read Sense and Sensibility for the umpteenth time than this half-baked reboot chock full of political posturing. The only other Austen retelling I hated this much is Unleashing Mr. Darcy, a novel I loathe to the core of my being.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC. I wasn’t required to give a positive review.

Ladies of the House

Author: Laura Edmondson

Year: 2021

My Rating:  ★

4 comments

  1. Well, I hadn't heard of this one, and now if I see it at the bookstore or library, I'll know to just pass over it!

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    1. I really, really wish I had liked it. There was so much potential. But I just can't get behind American politics and Jane Austen retellings Yech. At least sexual content was kept to the barest minimum, so that was something. But still, it is not a good book.

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  2. I hadn't heard of this one either, but I find that Austen re-writes are best avoided anyway. This one sounds truly awful.

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    1. So far I haven't had very good luck with Austen retellings. The only one I thoroughly enjoyed was Pudge and Prejudice and that was because of the 1980s vibe.

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Thank you for your kind comments, which I adore!