Berwyn Peet
Jane Austen.

Magda North
‘Sense and Sensibility’ the aga saga! As I read, I found myself thinking of the movie with Kate Winslet rather than Jane Austen's book, which is fair in terms of comparing adaptations. I loved the film and I liked this. Joanna Trollope has been faithful to the plot with a newly impoverished Dashwood mum and girls having to re-group once Fanny kicks them out. The writing is accomplished and it's enjoyable to see how she's woven in tweeting, YouTube, drug addiction and a hilarious gay twist. However, the fixation about whether two girls can bag their rich guy doesn't update quite so well. The poignancy of
Jane Austen's time is that women, who couldn't even vote, really were trapped by the need to find a husband.
In 2013 it doesn't ring true that Belle Dashwood and the supporting cast would be so fixated on marrying off two young women, nor is it very exciting. Love or hate it, we have X-Factor and Britain's Got Talent now to feed our fantasies about how to make a fortune. Marrying someone posh with a pile doesn't cut it in the same way. I felt a bit frustrated that Joanna Trollope chooses to stick with a conventional take rather than move the debate on. There again she has fun on the way and has written something frivolous and rather addictive.
Worth a read.
Linda Hill
An enjoyable and entertaining reworking of the lives of the
Dashwood sisters.
There is absolutely no need to have read Jane Austen's original text to enjoy
Joanna Trollope's modern version set in a world of social media and mobile phones. The narrative stands up in its own right as an entertaining read.
Trollope is very successful in modernising the story and for Austen lovers, there are enough echoes of the original text to make this a satisfying version.
It took me a while to cue in to the modern Dashwood sisters and initially I didn't think I was going to enjoy the book. At times I found there was too much direct speech which I found irritating and a bit clunky. Some of the description felt too contrived and clichéd also, such as the postman's red van being described as 'a little bright toy'. However, it is testament to Joanna Trollope's writing that, even though I knew the plot, I found myself drawn in to the events surrounding
Elinor, Marianne and Margaret and I even felt moved at the denouement.
Trollope's 'Sense and Sensibility' is a good read for Austen lovers and modern fiction readers alike and I would recommend it.

Suzanne Marsh
I have read many of Joanna Trollope's books and enjoy them all. I was very delighted to read Joanna Trollope's new book. What made this book more exciting was the fact Joanna Trollope has recreated one of the much loved fiction books ‘Sense & Sensibility’ that Jane Austen wrote.
I admire Joanna Trollope for re-telling Jane Austen's classic novel. I very much liked the way Joanna Trollope has re-told ‘Sense & Sensibility’ with the mention of today’s modern technical system such as the laptop and Facebook. One of the sisters, Margaret, is described as using her Ipod and earpiece and not being able to get a good signal on her mobile phone where she has to move near a tree to get five bars on her mobile phone. Marianne dreams of going to art school and would sit in her bedroom playing on her guitar one of Taylor Swift songs.
It really does not matter if any reader has not read the original
‘Sense and Sensibility’ by Jane Austen because I am sure you all with love Joanna Trollopes new updated version.
You can follow Suzanne’s blog at: www.ireadnovels.wordpress.com
Maggie Crane
This book is a spirited attempt by a well known present day author to
‘modernise’ a work of an excellent, world renowned author of the past, a scenario many authors would not even contemplate. Most ardent Jane Austen fans would question the need to modernise a book which demonstrates with such clarity the social history of a country, possibly even considering it sacrilege to do so. However within the pages Ms Trollope manages to raise social issues which are relevant in present day life whilst maintaining the spirit of Jane
Austen. In essence she has achieved an updating of the story, albeit without the beauty of language which one expects of Austen novels, producing a pleasant book in the process.
Whilst her version of the book will never achieve the heights of the original it will no doubt encourage some readers who, for various reasons, would not normally attempt to enter the realms of Jane Austen. In this Ms Trollope has succeeded in her efforts and provided a window of modernity into the Austen world.

Natasha Radford
Joanna Trollop's modernisation of Austen's classic doesn't fail to hit the mark.
I am a huge Austen fan, so it was with a mixture of excitement and trepidation that I began to read Joanna Trollope’s modernisation of ‘Sense and Sensibility’.
Never having read anything else by Trollope (sorry) meant that I really had no idea what to expect. However, within the first page I was hooked. The characters remain perfectly true to Austen’s original concept of them and yet they do not seem dated. Trollope has successfully planted the emotional plot within a contemporary setting, which a modern reader can access and identify with.
Of course their situation is not something that all can immediately connect with
– rather how the other half lives. But that’s part of the joy of reading; to escape into a parallel world, where not all is familiar.
I would certainly recommend this to any Austen fan, as it pays homage to the original in every sense. As I read I could depict every scene with such clarity, empathising with Eleanor from the very beginning, whilst despairing of her rather weak half-brother, John. Having said that you certainly do not need to know Austen’s novel to appreciate Trollope’s interpretation; it is a beautiful tribute as well as a beautiful novel in its own right.
You can follow Natasha’s blog at: blog@chickenandfrog.co.uk
Julie Bertschin
A modern day spin on a classic - the Dashwood family's saga of loss, love, heart-break and redemption is a thoroughly good read.
Joanna Trollope brings Jane Austen's characters from the original ‘Sense &
Sensibility’ into the modern day with great success. The Dashwood family fall from great heights when they are forced to leave their home after their rich uncle dies and the house is left to the only remaining male of the family. The girls rally round their mother when their father dies and they are forced to move away to a much less grand home. Both Marianne and Elinor meet and fall in love with men who have wealthy families and suffer the tribulations and complications which come from the expectations that are placed on marrying well when one is from an affluent lineage. As it was in the 19th century, it still is today that family expectations weigh heavily on the shoulders of young love, with the desire to love for love's sake at odds with the pressure to do as one's family sees fit. This is an interesting transportation of family ideals and standards into today's modern culture.

Sarah Musk
I enjoyed it and I liked the funky cover of the book but I didn't love it like I loved the original.
Modernising a classic novel is always going to be interesting (and it has been done before with Jane Austen) but to do it with such an adored and highly esteemed author as Jane Austen is almost dangerous. She has so many devotees and I am definitely one of them. I tried to forget about men in breeches and girls in Grecian-style dresses but I just couldn't in the end imagine the characters in a modern setting. Perhaps it might have helped if their names had been changed.
The social situations of early nineteenth century England didn't seem credible for the twenty first century such as storylines about secret engagements and destitute grown women.
Joanna Trollope is an efficient, readable writer but her book only emphasises what a great writer Jane Austen was; a woman, who never married and lived in a reasonably restrictive society but who wrote sublimely about the intricacies of human nature and society. If you are a Jane Austen fan you might find it difficult to believe in the characters and the storyline even though it sticks quite faithfully to the original. I did enjoy it and I liked the funky cover of the book but I didn't love it like Jane's own ‘Sense and Sensibility’.
Angela Rhodes
I started reading Joanna Trollope's version with slight trepidation, as I am a big fan of Jane Austen.
It is an easy read, well written, in the style of Jane. Joanna manages to pull it off with ease.
The reinvention, of ‘Sense & Sensibility’, tells of the Dashwood family, mum
Bella, and three daughters, Marianne, Elinor and Margaret, the romances, the upsets, and the fun.
It tells of how a family pulls together in the face of heartache, loss and love. A book I would happily let my fourteen year old daughter read, (she loves romance) as it's not full of explicit sex scenes and is a joy to read.
Do you want to revisit ‘Sense and Sensibility’? Yes? Good, then this is the one to read complete with all the mod cons, teenagers, love, Ipods, etc.
Joanna Trollope's reinvention is a beautifully written story. Loved it.

Phyl Smithson’s
I have never read Jane Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’ so I cannot vouch for how loyal Trollope’s work was to the original. I am wondering therefore whether my review can do full justice to her goal of modernization of Austen’s classic.
Certainly, I enjoyed the modern-day ‘Sense and Sensibility’.
I felt it captured the ‘rules’ of modern living. Lives full of greed, risks, notably drugs, dependency on technology, and the demands younger generations face to complete education to realise ambitions. At the same time however, she sensitively delivered how love can over ride all material aspirations. Her excellent observation of the differences of human life was one of the key attractions for me.
However, I am not sure I enjoyed the story enough to recommend it as a ‘mustread.’ Perhaps those who are committed Austen fans will get more from it than
I did. For me, I felt Trollope was trying to make a story from another writer’s efforts which created restrictions in delivery of a classic in her own guise.
Jane Pepler
This is a fantastic reworking of the classic book by Jane Austen, written by one of the great authors of our time, who will hopefully be as well loved in 200 years time as Austen is now.
The Dashwood sisters are left without a home when their father suddenly dies and the son from his first marriage orders them to leave Norland Park, the house in which they have grown up. Eleanor, an architecture student, is a sensible type, who worries about what the family are going to live on. Marianne is an impulsive and creative character who broods on life whilst playing the guitar and has her sights set on Art College. Margaret, the youngest sister, is a stroppy teenager. Sir John Middleton of Barton Park, a distant relation of the
Dashwood girls’ mother, Belle, takes in the family.
Trollope has made a terrific update of the story, putting the characters into contemporary life whilst keeping so much of the original story in much detail, actually making more of a role for some of the minor characters such as
Margaret, the third Dashwood sister, and their mother Belle. The use of social media such as texting, Facebook and Twitter bring the book completely into the modern age.
I think that readers who have not previously read Austen’s novels will read this book by Joanna Trollope and be encouraged to try the original, bringing a new readership to Jane Austen for the 21st century.

This is a brilliantly detailed reworking of ‘Sense and Sensibility’ by one of the most loved authors of our time. Joanna Trollope has brought Austen's world into the twenty first century.
Edel Waugh
A truly wonderful re-telling. A perfect indulgent, engaging read.
I love a re-telling. When I knew I was getting this gorgeous book, a Jane Austen re-telling, I was very excited!! It has been a while since I read ‘Sense and
Sensibility’ so before starting this I went back and read Miss Austen's version so
I could remind myself of the story.
This book was such fun reading about the characters that I know so well brought into the modern day world where I thought the they were really well portrayed in present day and the essence of the book was not too altered.
Joanna did a wonderful job of this retelling and I had a smile on my face many times during the reading of it seeing these characters put into modern day situations . My favourite characters were still as lovable and the likes of Fanny were still as horrid I am glad to say and the story was very engaging and hard to put down. This is a must read for any Jane Austen fan who enjoys a retelling. I am definitely a fan! Well done Joanne!
You can read Edel’s blog at: http://edelwaugh.blogspot.ie/2013/09/sense-andsensibility-by-joanna.html
Zarina de Ruiter
The writing is beautiful and lush and very reminiscent of an Austen novel so I am positive that the fans of the original stories will be very pleased with the modern retelling of the classic tale.
I will start my review with an honest but unpopular opinion: I am not a fan of
Jane Austen's novels. I find her female characters highly dramatic and the storylines dull at best. So when I came across the news of the Austen Project I wasn't instantly excited by the thought of more Austen related releases but I was highly intrigued by the fact that the authors involved were going to modernise the works by placing the characters in a contemporary setting.
While I did mostly enjoy the story of the Dashwood girls in this version I actually had a different problem with the reimagining of the classic tale. Despite the mention of iPods and computers the story felt dated as the characters both spoke in an old-fashioned way and acted as if the old hierarchy is still very much alive. While I appreciate that author Joanna Trollope tried to convey that amongst the wealthy families the importance of coming from and marrying

into money remains as persistent as ever, this didn't come across well and I believe the novel would've benefitted from an update in the social progression as well.
Having said that, the writing is beautiful and lush and very reminiscent of an
Austen novel, so I am positive that the fans of the original will be very pleased and excited by the modern retelling. And I do appreciate the story more than I did before picking this up so I will definitely try one of Jane Austen's other works again in the not too distant future.
You can read Zarina’s blog at: http://www.pagetostagereviews.com
Ruth Paterson
‘Sense and Sensibility’ is a delightful story, well reworked in a contemporary setting, by Trollope. It is beautifully written, easy to read and enjoy.
I absolutely devoured this modern reworking of Jane Austin’s ‘Sense and
Sensibility’. I have to sheepishly admit to never having read the original, only having seen the screen adaptations. Before starting Trollope’s new novel, I browsed through the first few chapters of Austen’s to get a feel for the original story and style.
Trollope’s version is beautifully written and stays true to much of the original ambience in setting, characters and storylines, but in a contemporary setting.
In modern times, our heroine, Elinor Dashwood, is aspiring towards a career in architecture and the youngest sister, Margaret is often to be found plugged into her Ipod, spouting modern euphemisms. In essence the storyline is still about inheritance, families, first love, class and money, which apply in every century.
The book is sensitively written, the language more modern whilst prose similar to the original is still evident. It was easy to read and enjoy, the time old romantic storyline, still as important today as last century. ‘Sense and
Sensibility’ is a delightful story, which has been well reworked by Trollope. I am glad to have read it in this modern format.
You can follow Ruth on twitter at: ruth_pat
Carolyn Huckfield
I thought Trollope would have been too constrained to develop a believable story around the original but I was wrong-this a totally modern family story told with humour and deference to Jane Austen

Joanna Trollope is brilliant writer. She always tells a family story with humour and compassion. This novel is no exception; all the characters are believable and entertaining. Elinor is a level headed and caring girl who understands and protects her younger sister Marianne. The confusions around their love lives and the sheer lack of family feeling from their step brother John and his wife
Fanny are all beautifully brought to a conclusion during one weekend. Their mother, Belle, is a likable character who always hopes for the best.
I thought Trollope would have been too constrained to develop a believable story around the Jane Austen original but I was wrong. She has followed the plot but has created a believable modern story and developed some of the characters further than Austen could have done. Making Robert a gay man was a touch of brilliance. I liked the way Belle had a stronger character than regency times would have allowed. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t read the original novel, this story stands on its own but it will make you want to read the original one.
Fiona Maclean
An easy to read, contemporary reworking of Jane Austen's famous novel. Nothing too challenging, Joanna Trollope pulls off a convincing updated version of the original .
One of those novels I've enjoyed reading and re-reading, ‘Sense & Sensibility’
(the original Jane Austen version), is reworked by Joanna Trollope into a contemporary setting. It's easy to read and the story line works very well. But, nevertheless I found myself asking if it was in any way necessary or valuable other than as an exercise in writing. Unlike Shakespeare, where arguably making sense of the language is helped by modern-day interpretations, I simply don't find Jane Austen's writing in any way hard to follow. And, part of the joy of her works for me is getting an insight into how little has changed in society. I prefer the elegant original to Joanna Trollope's updated version. For all that, I enjoyed the read and found it well written, with a charm of its own and I wasn't disappointed.
You can follow Fiona on twitter at: @fionamaclean
Victoria Sharman
Having never read any Joanna Trollope books I was a little wary about doing so but I have to say that I did really enjoy this book; a modern take on a very romantic classic. Having said that, I did find the Dashwood girls to be a bit airy and needy at times, especially Ellie who’s, quiet tongue, goodness and putting others first was all too good to be true. I don’t think anyone would have been able to bite her tongue with Lucy and Fanny. Don’t get me started on Fanny!!!
Quite a character.

A truly good read for anyone – quick, easy and quirky and will be a winner for all Joanna Trollope fans out there. It is really the romance we all dream of.
Helen Gough
So very many writers have written stories based on Jane Austen’s novels; you only have to look at Amazon say, or in any book shop, and there they all are, pale imitations really of the real thing, however well done.
Joanna Trollope has taken on the task of writing a modern day ‘Sense &
Sensibility’, no mean feat. But she’s well respected and has and is having enormous success with her own books, so it should be fairly easy for her shouldn’t it?
The book is a delight in that she captures the essence of the original, with the characters set in the modern world. But I really missed the swirl of petticoats, the horses and carriages, the Jane Austen world.
It’s hard to read one of the Dashwood sisters almost using the F word for instance. Jane will be turning in her grave! I tried not to think of the original work as I was reading but it’s difficult not to.
Joanna has written a lovely, romantic novel but it is unlikely to stand the test of time like Austen. Joanna has written a lovely, romantic novel but it is unlikely to stand the test of time like Austen.
The project itself is an interesting one; if further Austen novels are re-written I will certainly read them, just to see what the other writers have done. A brave attempt but I prefer Joanne’s own novels and the original Jane Austen!
Josie Barton
This is light and easy to read retelling of a classic romance, which, with wit, humour and sensitivity has been made contemporary for the twenty-first century.
When I heard that there was to be a reworking of ‘Sense and Sensibility’, I must admit that I was sceptical. So it was with some trepidation that I started to read
Joanna Trollope’s more contemporary version. Initially, I felt that the prose was all wrong; the Dashwoods came across as shallow, weak and rather too insipid, and I seem to be forever comparing them to the more durable description offered by Jane Austen. That’s when I realised that I had to lay aside my classic copy of ‘Sense and Sensibility’, and started to concentrate on this new

version as being entirely ‘new’ rather than a pale imitation of the original. After that I started to enjoy the book on its own merits.
The story does indeed lend itself to a contemporary version, and whilst there is much to compare the ruinous nature of today’s rather impecunious society to the original, there is also the same sense of traditional values. It became entirely convincing to see Willoughby’s skill with a top of the range Aston
Martin, replace Austen’s description of Willoughby as there not being ‘a bolder rider in England’. All this is beautifully expressed within the novel as with multilayered efficiency Joanna Trollope has infused new life into a story which some may have said was outdated.
It goes a long way to prove that, in the hands of a talented and clever author, even the reworking of a major classic can be deemed to be entirely successful.
You can follow Josie’s blog at: http://jaffareadstoo.blogspot.co.uk/
Barbara Goldie
This is a delightful rework of a classic novel. ‘Sense and Sensibility’, by one of the best loved novelists of all time Jane Austen, has been updated by one of the best loved novelists of today.
An excellent choice of author for this the first rework in ‘The Austen Project’ though not necessarily my first choice of Jane Austen’s novels to be reworked.
As I really enjoy the work of both authors, I thought I was in for a good read and was not wrong. I actually re read Austen’s work before Trollope’s just to familiarise myself with the written work again, the plot is very familiar through the films but it is a while since I had read the book.
When I opened the 2013 rework I was actually hooked from very early on. The language is delightful and modern, the plot of course well known but this does not affect the page turning capability of the novel. The story does not lose anything in the rework; its characters are still so well drawn and believable but with a modern twist, still staying true to the original work. The social climate is definitely 2013 and would make a good standalone novel. There is a coming of age story, young love and heartbreak and of course money. As the back cover says, when it comes to money, some things never change. I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to all Austen fans. Try re reading the original, then the rework or the other way around or even alongside each other!!

Jodie Robson
Joanna Trollope has written an entertaining and plausible novel in fine Austen tradition.
In her latest work, Joanna Trollope takes on ‘Sense and Sensibility’. The loss of comfortable and gracious Norland, family home to the Dashwoods, puts us straight into Trollopian territory and, although the story must strike the modern reader as very old-fashioned -- three women of reasonable intelligence with virtually no resources to fall back on -- she constructs an entertaining and plausible novel around it. Marianne is not just over-sensitive but asthmatic, her emotional vulnerability in part the result of her physical frailty. She and her mother, Belle, rely excessively on the eldest daughter, Elinor, but the whole family has been devastated by the sudden death of the girls’ father (Margaret, the youngest, is as joyous a character as she is in the original book: forceful, opinionated, infuriating and, one suspects, very much like Jane Austen herself was as a girl).
I don't want to say too much about the plot, because seeing how Trollope makes it work is part of the fun. But it's all done with her usual skill and aplomb: in fine Austen tradition, there are some characters who make you positively writhe with loathing. The old debate about whether Edward Ferrars is weak, spineless and unworthy of Elinor, or a young man of integrity and sensitivity, will find plenty to fuel it. Re-interpretations worthy of mention, I think, are Sir John
Middleton, young Margaret and, of course, Elinor herself. And I can still see
Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon (grin!).
You can follow Josie’s blog at: http://geraniumcatsbookshelf.blogspot.com