Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

Review by Kate Shaw

I am an Austenite. Plain and simple. There is nothing that Ms. Austen wrote that I actively dislike (though admittedly Emma is not my favorite). Her first novel, Sense and Sensibility is nothing short of magical. This charming tale explores the lives of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood as they navigate the world of early 1800s England. The sisters are recently impoverished by the death of their wealthy father, his money and estate being inherited by a son from a previous marriage.

Along with their mother and youngest sister, Elinor and Marianne are forced to relocate to a small home provided mostly through the charity of a distant cousin, their elder half-brother being a man easily manipulated by a snobbish wife. Sense & Sensibility explores the sisters’ relationship with each other, their circumstances, and a few suitors along the way. Marianne is a slave to her emotions, unable to hide her feelings, often bringing undue attention to herself by behaving in a manner that was considered unladylike for a single lady. Elinor, by contrast, is a slave to the dictates of her time, leaving her guarded and unwilling to share her deepest feelings even with her sister. Continue reading →