As you know I have been going through all the Jane Austen audiobooks available on Libby.
The next one on my to-read list was this version of Emma so I decided to give it a listen.
I throughly enjoyed this narrations as May was able to give it the right inflection, drama, comedy, etc. I like how she made Mr. Elton’s voice, he sounded like the social climber he is.
Non-Austen Reads for Austen Readers is something I started a while back for fans of Jane Austen who after reading all her works are looking for something new to read.
There are numerous variations of Jane Austen’s works, but while those adaptations are fun, sometimes you don’t always want to read the same story. Sometimes you want Austen-like works, but not exactly the same as Austen’s works. But what can you read instead?
That’s why I started this series. I will be reviewing books that have components of what we love about the Austen novels, but are not just another retelling, but their own unique story.
I was gifted book four, Someone to Care, in the Westcott series years ago and always meant to read the rest of the series but just hadn’t gotten around to it. When I spotted book one available on the Libby app I decided to give it a try and found it to be something I would recommend to Jane Austen fans.
This is a regency historical fiction romance that does have some spicy scenes. It’s very mild so if spice isn’t for you, you can easily skip those pages and move on to the rest of the book without losing too much of the plot, or if you are a fan of a spice in your romances this will easily satisfy you.
The story begins with the Westcott family gathering after the Earl’s death. His widow, Viola Westcott, and his three children, Camille, Harry, and Abigail; are sad over the death but not over the loss of the man as he wasn’t a very good husband or father. Viola reveals that she knows (and has for a very long time) that the Earl had a secret child from a mistress living in an orphanage. While Viola is hurt over the fact her husband had a child with another, she wants to do right by her and give her a sum of money and to let her know that her father passed. She sets her family solicitor on the case, and tells her nephew by marriage, Avery Duke of Netherby about it, so if anything else needs to be done he can take care of it. She does not want her children to know about it. This small kindness turns out to reveal a terrible secret that completely unravels the whole Westcott family.
Ana Snow has grown up in an orphanage, now an instructor at it. While the orphanage is a lovely place as it was one that is supplemented by the parents/guardians who cannnot take care of their children openly (such as Harriet Smith’s situation in Emma) or those who’s relatives do not care to watch over them: Ana has always deeply felt the lack of family and has dreamed that one day her family would come for her. Something that is shared by all the others who live in the orphanage.
One day a letter comes for her letting her know that her father passed and asking her to travel for the reading of the will. Ana is sent to London, given a hotel room, and directed to the the Duke of Netherby’s home.
Once there, she is at first mistaken for a servant regarding her dress and manner. The solicitor eventually directs her to the room with the rest of the Westcott relations and she discovers that she is the only legal child of the dead Earl, and the only one to inherit his fortune.
Where is everyone?
After Viola set him to reach out to the “illegitimate child”, the solicitor discovered that the Earl was married to Ana’s mother. The Earl was not well suited for family life and quite the spender. He abandoned Ana’s mother, who moved from Bath when she fell ill. She passed away and the Earl sent Ana to an orphanage to be raised.
But the biggest blow is that it turns out that he married Viola before his wife, Ana’s mother, passed and never renewed his vows; therefore making Viola’s marriage invalid, causing all of them to lose their rank, their home, their finances, and their reputations as all children are illegitimate.
The Earldom entailment will not go to Harry but instead pass to their cousin Alexander. The Westcott children have absolutely nothing, (not even a small settlement like the Dashwoods has or what Mrs. Bennet would have been given).
Their life is over, they are socially dead.
Such a reversal of fortune comes as a shock and causes Ana to have part of her wish, knowing who her parent’s are and having them come for her (in a way), but also causes her to lose her recently found family as Viola, Harry, Camille, and Abigail are furious at what has happened, and with no father to unleash their fury on they lash out at her.
Eventually Harry comes around, and the two have a moment before he sets out to join the regiment; but the ladies are sent to Bath in hopes that being with the socially powerful and wealthy Kingsley clan can mend their reputation.
While Ana has lost that part of her family, the rest of her aunts, uncles, and cousins accept her. They all agree that the Earl was always a bit of a rotten apple and when his father grew tired of his bad ways, he cut him off. The promise of his allowance being returned to him and larger than before, if he married Viola Kingsley must be why he felt no qualms with abandoning Ana and her mother; along with committing bigamy.
Ana is taken in by her Westcott relatives, having her cousin Elizabeth, a widow, take on the role of chaperone and be her help in learning and navigating her newfound family, rank, and the ton.
The other person who draws close to her is Avery, much to his own surprise. Avery has never felt comfortable being himself and has lived a very lonely life. Born thin, sensitive, and beautiful, his mother held on to him and kept him seperate from others. His father never cared for him, finding him too girly, and when he was sent to boarding school he was given some tough truths and lessons in how the world works. He had a Chinese mentor who who taught him martial arts and helped him center himself, but after his death Avery become almost a Zorro-like figure. Out in public he is full of baubles, finerly, and affected manners-a fop with nothing to trouble him. Inside his home, however, he allows himself to be his true self and true personality.
Avery has always been bored with the ton and the charade, but Ana presents a breath of fresh air who is so open that he finds himself doing the same, the first in a very long, long, time.
Even though this is Ana’s first season the Westcott’s are set on finding her the perfect match (after all she isn’t getting any younger). All plot and try and push her toward cousin Alexander; but are surprised when Avery proposes in a plain and completely unromantic way. (What is it with these romantic heroes?)
But unlike other heroines, Ana likes Avery, thinks they will get one well, and getting married means she will no longer be controlled by her relatives but granted a bit of independence; so she agrees.
How will this relationship turn out? Will they have made a terrible mistake? Or have Avery and Ana finally found someone to love, and someone to love them back?
So why do I recommend this for Jane Austen fans? First the Earl is a terrible father, sometimes that is shared with many of the Austen heroines. Like Mr. Dashwood, the Ear put no plan aside for his other children, leaving them in this case penniless. Like Mr. Bennet it appears he often made sport of his children and wife and didn’t involve himself much in their lives at all.
The loss of fortune is similar to the themes in Sense and Sensibility, as like the Dashwoods the Westcotts are sent to stay with family and rely on them for food and lodging. The Westcott family’s acceptance of Ana and trying to help her get married and settled remind me a lot of Mrs. Jennings with the Dashwood and Steele sisters.
Pride and Prejudice showed the duality of Darcy, his society persona and his home character. Avery is similar, although a lot more flamboyant, having a society persona and his more comfortable “at home” self.
Ana reminds me a lot of Harriet Smith from Emma and Fanny Price from Mansfield Park. Like Harriet, Ana has grown up in a school and never knowing her parents or if she is legitimate or illegitimate. Like Harriet, Ana is eager to do all her newly found relatives instruct her to do, or in Harriet’s case Emma, as both are eager to have someone care and “love” them. But like Fanny Price, even though she will do anything for her family, she also has a limit of how far she will bend; stopping when she feels tugged in the wrong way.
If you are looking for a Regency romance, I believe you’ll enjoy this book.
For more Non-Austen reads for Austen Readers, go to Land of My Heart
Kamila Knows Best Audiobook by Farah Heron & Narrated by Soneela Nankani
I found this challenge online to read a book that starts with every letter of the alphabet and thought, wait…I’ll do you one better I’ll read a Jane Austen book that starts with every letter of the alphabet. I’ve just been reading as I normally found, filling in the squares whenever I would read a book that started with a letter not filled in.
So far this year I have read the following books to fill in the alphabet:
With only eight slots left to fill, I realized I could actually complete this by New Year’s Eve. But…in order to do so I needed to get serious. I started searching Libby to see what Jane Austen retelling stories they had and found this one. Kamila Knows Best not only sounded interesting, but it takes fills in for the letter K.
This story is a retelling of Emma, but instead of a Regency English girl in the countryside we have a Canadian-Indian Muslim woman living in 21st century Toronto.
Kamila, our modern Emma, has a great life. She has a wonderful townhouse with her father, she works as an accountant for a small profitable firm that her father owns (and she just redesigned), she has wonderful friends (two of which she successfully matched up), and every weekend they have a wonderful Bollywood themed party that Kamila throws. Kamila also has a very best friend in her brother-in-law Rohan Nasser who is always there for her and her father. And to further the wonderful bliss that is Kamila’s life, she has an adorable puppy and is helping her other best friend plan the animal shelter’s number one fundraiser, the puppy prom. If that wasn’t enough, she has decided to continue her impeccable skills at matchmaking and sets her hand at helping out one of the best volunteers find her perfect man!
Life is good!
Everything is wondeful…until it isn’t.
That’s not good.
It starts off with her father waiting on test results. A few years back he had a terrible episode of depression and now is doing great; but Kamila always worries that the slightest thing could change it and send him aspirating. If that wasn’t enough for her to stress over, to further destroy her perfect life, her secret nemesis Jana moves back to the area.
Kamila has always disliked Jana, first for being the perfect girl in their neighborhood that she is constantly compared to and found lacking; secondly for not telling the truth when all the neighborhood aunties thought Kamila was making out with a boy in his car, a boy she had been forbidden to see. No one believed Kamila and she lost her high school graduation party, it then being turned into a party for Jana (who Kamela later found out was the actual one making out in the car).
At first she is just annoying as she keeps popping up everywhere, but it gets worse as Jana is extremely rude to her and constantly makes fun of Kamila. Jana is supposed to be the Jane Fairfax character, but this Jane/Jana is mean. I didn’t mind it as I felt the end of the book resolved everything nice, but I was upset that Rohan (Mr. Knightley) gets on Kamala’s (Emma’s) case but never defends her from Jana’s really cold blooded barbs.
Kamila’s dad gets some worrying health test results and Kamela is incredibly worried that he might go down a depressive cycle. She takes charge of his diet (although she makes quite a few mistakes) with some help from Rohan. She also convinces her father to take a break from work and only do part time, instead filling his time walking more and doing light exercises. This seems to be harder than she thought as her dad doesn’t seem to be adjusting to this new plan as well as she has hoped. I liked that Heron gave the Mr. Woodhouse character she a health condition instead of having him be a hypochondriac. I think it would have worked both ways, but having the added stress that he he could become extremely ill if changes aren’t made added to the stress of an already spread thin character.
Then Kamila’s job is in crisis as her father doesn’t think she can handle his workload, espechially the older accounts. Kamila is determined to prove herself and changes her appearance and attitude so that she can be more “serious”; even throwing a party she doesn’t care for for a client she desperately needs to harpoon. A party that happens to fall right in the middle of the animal shelter’s fundraising and the puppy prom.
That’s not good.
But the disappointments don’t end there as Kamila finds a guy she thinks is perfect for her friend Marcella, only to have him come onto her and not he does not want to take no for an answer.
Kamila has to cancel her Bollywood parties because of he full plate, with Rohan deciding to host. She goes to his home and has a terrible night, ending with a call that her father is having a heart attack.
Thankfully it only turns out to be a panic attack, but changes her father and he decides to sell the firm back to the larger subsidiary and move away. With that decision it seems as if everything Kamela holds dear is to slipping from her fingers.
Kamila has a lot of Issues from her mother that have resurfaced with the return of Rohan and Jana in her life. Previously she had ignored them, but they have come back to haunt her and refuse to be buried.
From The Wolf Man (1941)
Everything in Kamela’a life is changing and it seems like she has no clue what to do next. And everyone is determined to make choices for her. Will she finally carve her path and stop feeling as if she needs to prove herself? Or will Kamila’s perfect life and world completely crumble and be impossible to put back together?
I thought this was very well developed and an enjoyable story. I do think the meddling that Emma did in the original text was primarily due to boredom rather than control, which isn’t the case in this version as our main character is constantly busy and has a very filled life. For Kamila her matchmaking and control has to do with trying to overcome her mother’s cruel words and prove herself.
I really like how the characters of Kamela and Jana work out their issues, clear them air between them, and become friends. The last few chapters were so good I didn’t want to turn my audiobook off.
I also love how they talk about Bollywood films and have Bollywood movie nights, it reminds me of when I used it do that with my friends back in college. One of the films she mentions, Jab We Met, is a favorite and one I recommend for Jane Austen fans.
The only thing I didn’t care for was Rohan. I felt he was far too critical of Kamila espechially as she has a lot going on and is trying her best, while Emma was doing absolutely nothing and actively trying to mold Harriet in her stead. Kamela was actually trying to help her friend and wasn’t as much of a snob as Emma was. Rohan criticized her a lot, never defended her, and in my opinion was not like Mr. Knightley. To be honest I didn’t really want them to end up together, I thought she deserved better.
Also the title is Kamela knows best, but in this book she doesn’t actually think highly of herself, in fact it was the opposite-she had a very low of herself and tried her best to be better than what her mother thought she was.
It was a good story but not quite as Emma-y as it could be. I did still enjoy it and loved the Jane Austen aspects in it. I would definitely recommend giving it a read although you may or may not like Rohan.
I have been wanting to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons), for a long time but haven’t been able to with Covid restrictions, work has been crazy, etc. I finally made plans to go abroad to Ireland but then my passport was held up and I had to reschedule for 2023.
After that was settled my sister wasn’t sure if she would be able to take our girls trip to Ireland so I had to instead start looking into trips to go alone. I also ran into another problem: I wanted to go to both Ireland and Northern Ireland but a lot of tour companies didn’t offer both or didn’t have all the places I wanted to visit on their itinerary.
I was searching and looking when my sister said why not a cruise? I found one by the Princess Company that didn’t give us the full Ireland experience but did go to a few places I wanted to stop at in both Ireland and England. It wasn’t the dream vacation but the best I could find. I couldn’t even get a travel agent to help me out (I know right, so old school) as they all treated me as if I was a waste of time.
Then my sister found one by Norwegian Cruise Line that circled the whole island and went to both Ireland and Northern Ireland. It went to Cobh, Galway, and Belfast which were all the places I wanted to go to! It also went to Dublin which was my sister’s choice. In addition we would stop in Dingle, Foynes, and Killeybegs. We booked tickets and our flight.
Let’s go!
So of course a lot of planning went on with what to pack, especially as I wanted to make sure I had a few outfits in my carryon bag in case my luggage was lost.
A lot of thought also went into my personal bag. I wanted to make sure I had enough things to keep me occupied for the 10 hour flight and to have just in case I was bored during the downtime of the cruise. I also suffer from insomnia so I wanted to have things to do if I ended up staying up much later than my sister. My mom thought I wouldn’t need to be so concerned with bringing stuff as the cruise should have lots of activities, but I’m glad I did as the trip took a bad turn as we encountered a hurricane (more on that later).
Of course with my love of Jane Austen a lot of my items ended up being Jane Austen related!
I do not receive any compensation for these items. I am giving my honest review and including the links if you are interested.
Ex Libris Novel Book Store Co. Pride & Prejudice Jane Austen Passport/Wallet
This was a gift from a friend for my birthday and I loved it. Not only is it an adorable representation of the original 1813 cover, but it was perfect for travel. It’s not too big, 10 cm x 14.5 cm, and has a pocket to hold your passport (or a notebook), 3 card slots, a pen holder, and 2 flaps for cash/receipts/tickets etc.
This was absolutely perfect to hold my cruise room key (which was needed to leave and board the ship), train tickets, shuttle tickets, plane tickets, etc. As everywhere in Ireland took Visa I never changed my money over and just used my credit card.
It’s adorable, practical, and perfect for Jane Austen fans!
I won this little I Love Mr. Darcy pouch from Ellery Adams in 2020 and love it. I used it to hold my lemon ginger tea, charger, cords, headphones, chapstick, etc. It holds quite a bit and can even double for mini purse if needed. It is great for travel, but unfortunately Barnes and Noble doesn’t seem to carry it anymore. I found one on eBay but it has already sold.
Jane Austen Witty and Wise Coloring Book
I was gifted this coloring book a few years ago and back when I reviewed it in February I decided to save it as I thought it would be the perfect thing to take on the trip. I ended up being very happy I brought it as a hurricane gave us three extra sea days with nothing to do, nowhere to go, and us bored out of our minds.
Jane Austen Word Search (Editors of Thunder Bay Press)
The same year I was gifted the coloring book I was also given this word search. I hadn’t had a chance to crack it open just yet, and when I was planning my personal bag I decided this was a must have to take. And boy was it! We had two planned sea days, but the hurricane gave us a total of five at sea days (three unplanned) and us with nothing to do.
I really enjoyed the word search as each page had a passage from a Jane Austen novel and then a list of words to search for. Also on each page are black and white illustrations which was great to color (a two in one type deal). Definitely a win and so wonderful to have when stuck on a ship with nothing to do.
These were a birthday present this year from a friend and I was saving them for the trip as I thought my sister and I could play card games on the plane or I could play solitaire if I was up late at night.
The cards are full of quotes and characters from Jane Austen’s books with illustrations by Hugh Thomson & Chris Hammond.
The card suits correspond to these four novels: Hearts are Pride & Prejudice, Diamonds are Sense & Sensibility, Clubs are Emma, and Spades are Persuasion. I do wish they could have included Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park, but as they can only pick four and it made sense to pick the four most popular novels.
Jane Austen Novel Journal: With Notable Quotations from Jane Austen
I was gifted this journal a few years ago as well and held onto it until the perfect moment. I used it to right down my lists of thing to bring (checking it twice), my plan of places to go to, and brought it with me to keep a diary of the events but stopped writing in it after our second unplanned sea day as I was bored and had nothing new to put in.
The journal is very nice with good lines, beautiful paper, and a sprinkling of Jane Austen quotes throughout.
It is cold on those flights and even though they give you that teeny blanket, you need to wear something warm. I chose my wonderful Northanger Abbey sweatshirt that I helped design and found it to be perfect for the trip. As Northanger Abbey (2007) was filmed in Ireland, it seemed fitting to wear it on this trip.
I really have enjoyed the books written by the duo Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen; a trio of mystery thrillers told in multiple point of views.
Now on the surface of the books backstory, they have nothing to do with Jane Austen, but when I was rereading You Are Not Alone, there are a couple of passages that made me wonder, could these two be Jane Austen fans and leaving Jane Austen Easter eggs in every book?
Hmm…?
The first book The Wife Between Us is told in three point of views. The first is Nelly, a twenty year old who a preschool teacher by day and a waitress by night. She’s seems sweet and fluffy, but has a dark secret from her college days. She marries Richard, the perfect “Prince Charming”; he’s older, rich, handsome, is essentially perfect. But is he? As the marriage continues, Nelly discovers that the “perfect” life isn’t so perfect after all. Our second narrator is Vanessa, Richard’s former wife who was emotionally and at times physically abused by him. She is still trapped in the remnants of her former life and trying to save the next woman he is going to marry by sabotaging the wedding and revealing who Richard really is. Emma is Richard’s newest fiancé: young, beautiful, but there is more to her than meets the eye. Emma thinks she knows everything and has her own plan, but in the end she discovers she was very far off and knew very little about Vanessa and Richard.
On the surface this doesn’t seem anything like Jane Austen, but to start with one of our main characters, Vanessa, has had a reversal of fortune. Like the Dashwoods and Elliots, Vanessa has gone from a wealthy household and the finest of everything to living with her aunt and having to adjust to a new life.
The other similarity is the character of Emma as she shares more than just the same name as a Jane Austen character. She too has a belief that she is is infallibly right and has plotted to make certain things happen; but in the end (just like Emma Woodhouse), she discovers she was incredibly wrong and all she thought she knew about people she was actually blind to the truth.
“You probably have been less surprized[sic] than any of us, for you have had your suspicions.—I have not forgotten that you once tried to give me a caution.—I wish I had attended to it—but—(with a sinking voice and a heavy sigh) I seem to have been doomed to blindness.
from Emma by Jane Austen
Now you might be thinking I’m grasping at straws, but let’s move on to book two; An Anonymous Girl. In this book we have two point of views: Jessica a twenty something makeup artist working paycheck to paycheck and Dr. Lydia a famous wealthy psychiatrist conducting an experiment on morality. Jessica is a talented makeup artist who dreamed of working on broadway shows but that dream died when she was sexually harassed by a director. Now she works for a company called BeautyBuzz and is paycheck to paycheck, anything extra going toward a specialist to help care for her sister. When she overhears two college student clients talk about a study one is going to back out of and the amount of money she would have been given, Jessica makes a life changing choice and pretends to be the girl’s friend “filling in” in order to make the payout. Unbeknownst to her, this psychologist, Dr. Lydia Shields, knows about her lie. She is thoroughly pleased by the answers that Jessica gives and intrigued by how Jessica can be so honest and a full on liar at the same time; and hires Jessica to further be involved in her study. Jessica enjoys this as she can use the extra money, but what she doesn’t know is why she is being vulnerable and honest; Dr. Shields is being duplicitous. This whole study isn’t for a paper or a book, but it is to test her husband to see if he will cheat on her again or if he is honest about changing. Jessica is going to be the perfect bait in this web, but unbeknownst to Dr. Shields; Jessica has already met Dr. Sheild’s husband and is caught in the “mousetrap” this couple has set for each other.
In this book the character of Dr. Lydia Sheilds makes me think of Lydia from Pride and Prejudice. Dr. Lydia Sheilds is jealous of her sister and of the attention her sister would get from her parents. Lydia Bennet is jealous of her older siblings as well, relishing in her elevated status as the first married sister.
“She then joined them soon enough to see Lydia, with anxious parade, walk up to her mother’s right hand, and hear her say to her eldest sister, ‘Ah, Jane, I take your place now, and you must go lower, because I am a married woman.’ …[Lydia] longed to see Mrs. Philips, the Lucases, and all their other neighbours, and to hear herself called ‘Mrs. Wickham’ by each of them; and in the meantime she went after dinner to show her ring and boast of being married to Mrs. Hill and the two housemaids. ‘Well, mamma,’ said she, when they were all returned to the breakfast-room, ‘and what do you think of my husband? Is not he a charming man? I am sure my sisters must all envy me. I only hope they may have half my good luck.”
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
When Lydia first met her husband Thomas she wanted him and had to have him. She became utterly obsessed with him and is unwilling to let him go; desperate to cling and hold onto an unfaithful man that continues to lie and cheat on her. This relationship makes me think of Lydia Bennet and Mr. Wickham. From the beginning she liked him and the two singled each other out. She wanted him for keeps (even if he was originally circling around her older sister) and he wanted her for fun. However, the affection didn’t last long for either Lydia’s husbands; as both quickly wanted out of the relationship but found themselves trapped in.
“His [Mr. Wickham’s] affection for her [Lydia] soon sunk into indifference: hers [Lydia] lasted a little longer…”
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Now for the third book and the one that got the wheels turning. You Are Not Alone is my favorite of their collaborations. We start off with Shay Miller an analyst who has some odd quirks, like writing anything she finds interesting in her journal and fixating on a topic and doing deep dives of research. One day she is planning to rework her resume as she is applying for jobs when she witnesses a girl committing suicide by subway train. This rattles her and as she looks into the woman, Amanda’s, life discovering they are extremely similar. With this strong sense of deja vu and eeriness; Shay starts researching into the death and finds herself interacting with Amanda’s friends and feeling as is she is starting to get out of a hole of loneliness she has been living in so long. Amanda was a sweet nurse who was lonely and joined this group of strong beautiful women; Jane, Shay, Valerie, Samantha, Daphne, and Bev. But while these women are professional, charming, and beautiful they also have a dark side. They take revenge on those who they feel wronged them and recruit Amanda; but when their latest mission goes completely sideways and Amanda won’t fall in line she finds there is only one way to be free of them. As things continue to develop, the girls start twisting things to try and make Shay the fall woman for a murder. Will she be able to outsmart them all? Or will she find herself serving time for a crime she didn’t commit?
This is the book that really started me thinking that these two were fans of Jane Austen. In this the two sisters are named Jane and Cassandra and are utterly inseparable. When they were children they shared a room even though they didn’t need to, have always lived together, do everything together, and cannot be apart. Just like Jane and Cassandra Austen.
“…if Cassandra were to have her head cut off, Jane would insist on sharing her same fate.”
Mrs. Austen
At one point in the story this girl revenge group is trying to fish for information about what Amanda might have told anyone about them that they host Amanda’s funeral, and lie to everyone who attends that they are a part of Amanda’s book club. In the book they say they are reading Pride and Prejudice; but when you listen to the audiobook the narrator pauses strongly and it’s a significant pause before and after the words “Pride and Prejudice.”
So what do you think? Am I making too much of nothing? Are these just a coincidences or purposeful Easter eggs? Let me know in the comments.
janeaustenrunsmylife 