The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Patillo

"The Dashwood Sisters Tell All" is the 1 st Beth Pattillo book I have read, and in it,
she very cleverly follows on the heels of such novels as "The Jane Austen Book
Club" by paralleling modern circumstances with a popular Jane Austen novel.
This book is a parallel for "Sense and Sensibility," and therefore the two main
characters are two sisters, just as in the Austen book. These sisters are named
Ellen and Mimi Dodge, after the eponymous Dashwood sisters, Elinor and
Marianne. The premise is that their mother, now deceased, was a huge Austen
fan, and her dying wish is for the 2 girts to head to England to take a walking tour
of famous Austen fan sites, like her childhood home, and the home in which she
died.

In this book, Ellen is the sensible sister, with Mimi being the one given over to
glamour and romance. They did not get along well in the States, and the trip over
the pond does nothing, at first, to draw them closer together. However, they
receive a mysterious book from their mother's estate, and together work to find
out whether it's really the diary of Cassandra Austen, Jane's less famous older
sister. When the book gets stolen, there are a number of suspects on the tour,
including one of Ellen's old boyfriends, one of the tour guides, and a sexy British
chap whom Mimi is trying to romance. Half Austen novel, half Nancy Drew
mystery, the book is always compelling, as we the audience try along with the
Dodge sisters to find out who the real villain is.

Like the novel on which it is loosely based, "Sense and Sensibility", both sisters
end up with significant others, although for Mimi it isn't the one she originally
expected. They also find a long lost aunt, and the lost diary of Jane Austen
herself. The discussion in the book of a secret Austen society that has many of
the authors keepsakes is an intriguing one, but I have to research whether or not
it is based on fact. That detail aside, the book is a charming modem take on an
old Austen favorite, and will appeal to many fans of the great 18^th century writer.
It has prompted me to request other Pattillo novels from the library, so I'm
keeping my fingers crossed that "Mr. Darcy broke My Heart" and U Jane Austen
Ruined My Life" will be similarly entertaining. Bravo!

Submitted by Gerti