Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope

Review by Gerti

Let me start by saying that it takes enormous cheek for a writer of any reputation and ability to name her book after one which is already considered a classic. I think Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” qualifies as such, and Austen is a popular enough author that many people know of the novel, even if they haven’t read it. So for Joanna Trollope (who?) to name her novel the same thing, and to use many of the same characters, is an outrage to me.

I’m sure Trollope, a popular author of many other books and an Austen fan, would say that she has just modernized Austen’s story, and therefore has the right to use the characters and just loosen things up a bit, morally speaking, and throw in some modern tech, like computers and Facebook. Since I’ve read many other Austen-homage books, I should be comfortable with that sort of thing, done successfully in “The Jane Austen Book Club” and “Austenland”, among other texts. But none of those authors were bold enough to just call their books “Pride and Prejudice” or any of Austen’s other well-known titles, and I don’t think Trollope should have taken that liberty, either. Her work pales by comparison.

As for the story Trollope writes, it follows the direction of Austen’s work, even if Trollope has added embellishments, like giving first names to characters like Mrs. Dashwood, the mother of Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, and to Colonel Brandon. While Brandon retains most of his dignified character from the original, “Belle” Dashwood comes off as an unlikeable, selfish hippy. Her imprudence (at not marrying Mr. Dashwood in the first place) sets up the fall from grace for the family of four women, as they are sent from their house at Norland when Henry Dashwood’s son (by his real wife) inherits the estate. Elinor is still the sensible daughter, and she recognizes the need to get work when they are sent packing, but neither Belle nor Marianne, the younger daughter, are grounded enough in reality to feel the need to contribute financially to the family’s survival. Marianne is young, which makes her sin of selfishness more forgivable, but it is intolerable to have middle-aged Belle simply live off the charity of a relative (Sir John Middleton) or her daughter’s paycheck. Belle also tries to mooch off of Mrs. Jennings when country living gets too boring for her, but fortunately the old lady is wise to her manipulative ways and does not ask her to join her in London.

But is the story worth reading? Yes, I suppose it is, for desperate Austen fans, but mainly for the ending, where Trollope goes beyond Austen’s story and has Edward’s mother forgive him for his youthful indiscretion with Lucy Steele, and give him a little money. The end also finds Fanny Dashwood getting a comeuppance by her mother, whom she is trying to manipulate so she’ll cut her brother Robert out of her will, as she did with her brother Edward. The mother doesn’t fall for it, which makes this reader for one cheer to see Fanny thwarted in at least one of her greedy escapades. As for “Trollope’s voice” which is vaunted by a cover blurb praising the author, I find it sadly unequal to Austen’s original.