Tag Archives: Mr. Woodhouse

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Kamila Knows Best Audiobook Narrated by Soneela Nankani

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.

For more Emma, go to Are Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen Jane Austen Fans?

For more Emma adaptions, go to Emma Spanish Language Audiobook Translated by José María Valverde and Narrated by Nuria Mediavilla

For more on audiobook reviews, go to Sense and Sensibility Audiobook Narrated by Wanda McCaddon

For more Jane Austen adaptions, go to A Lady in Defiance

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The Lost Dreams of Elizabeth Elliot or How Elizabeth Elliot is the “Sad” Version of Emma Woodhouse

Years ago I had the idea to go slowly through Austen’s works and write a post whenever a particular passage or line struck me. At first I thought I would go book by book and figured I would move through then quickly.

I know, I had too much faith in myself. I then decided to instead just do each book one at a time, walking slowly through the books and alternating them. It’s been a while since I’ve done a post like this as there are just so many other things on my list (right now I have over 300 drafts and that number is only down because I finally finished a few I started).

So as I was taking this meandering walk though Persuasion I started thinking about Anne Elliot’s older sister Elizabeth.

Elizabeth is a terrible person. She is just like her father a self-centered snob focused on looks, breeding, and believes herself to be better than almost everyone (including her sisters). She enjoys the importance of being first woman of the fmaily and the elevated status it grants her, but she is terrible with the finances as she wants to maintain a certain style of living but doesn’t understand how to stretch their finance nor how to rein in her father’s love of material and expensive objects.

When she does realize she needs to help budget the family finances cut spending, the first things she decides to cut off is not the amount of mirrors being purchased by the family but charitable donations, improvements to rooms (all rooms she does not use), and not giving her sister Anne, a present.

She is kind to Mrs. Clay the steward’s daughter but that is only because she flatters and appeals to her vanity.

I never really thought more of her than being a terrible character, until this time I reread it, (after also rereading Emma), this time I realized Elizabeth is a very sad version of Emma.

Hmm…

Elizabeth and Emma are very similar characters. Both are raised by single fathers who have elevated them to the role of First Lady of the family and both are in charge of running the household. Both have a decent educated, from good families, are top in the social hierarchy of their area, etc. Both ladies are also very strong willed, opinionated, and believe highly of themselves. However, one thing that sets Emma apart was that she was fortunate to surround herself with good people and a Mr. Knightley who was willing to point out when she was too far off the mark. Elizabeth wasn’t as lucky as she only had those who appealed to her vanity, causing her to have an increased ego, believe she is always correct, etc.

Both Emma and Elizabeth begin the book single with a lack of marriage on the horizon; but unlike Emma; Elizabeth will not inherit her family home. The estate is entailed and I predict she will not be left much funds as her father is quite the spendthrift.

While Emma doesn’t want to be married as she doesn’t see how getting married could increase her happiness in life; Elizabeth does wish to married, but has no prospects on the horizon. She may be similar to Emma, but she is facing a grim future; most likely left to live off the goodwill of her sister Mary and her husband (something that will most not work out long term as Elizabeth looks down on Charles Musgrove and Mary). Essentially, she is much closer to the future of Miss Bates with just the good “Elliot” name being the real difference.

Mrs. & Miss Bates

Both Emma and Elizabeth have a married sister, but while Emma’s relation is an older sister; with Elizabeth she not only is 29 and unmarried but has the added shame of her younger sister being married and forever written down in the family book first.

“Always to be presented with the date of her own birth and see no marriage follow but that of a youngest sister, made the book an evil; and more than once, when her father had left it open on the table near her, had she closed it, with averted eyes, and pushed it away.”

Persuasion by Jane Austen

She had dreamed once long ago that she would marry William Walter Elliot, the heir, and forever be mistress of Kellynch Hall and Lady Elliot…but while everything had seemed to align with her plans, like Emma the future timeline she created was thrown awry. Emma has the good fortune to marry a wonderful man; Elizabeth gets ghosted.

“Elizabeth found him extremely agreeable, and every plan in his favour was confirmed. He was invited to Kellynch Hall; he was talked of and expected all the rest of the year; but he never came. The following spring he was seen again in town, found equally agreeable, again encouraged, invited, and expected, and again he did not come; and the next tidings were that he was married. Instead of pushing his fortune in the line marked out for the heir of the house of Elliot, he had purchased independence by uniting himself to a rich woman of inferior birth.”

-Persuasion by Jane Austen
That’s embarrassing.

Yep, Mr. Elliot turned out to be a just like Frank Churchill with a secret agenda (and fiancé), although in this case Elizabeth did care about the man. She had imagined a future and life with him, but now all was lost.

I’m sure Elizabeth felt the same.

Then, to their surprise and delight a single Mr. Elliot returns to their lives and with him TBE hope that maybe this time. She dares to dream that her life just took a detour, but will soon be back on track with her original life goals.

But not only does he pay attentions publicly to her younger sister Anne; (again the embarrassment of being the elder sister and being rejected yet again); to add insult to injury I he also runs off with the steward’s daughter and her “dear friend” Mrs. Clay.

It would be well for the eldest sister if she were equally satisfied with her situation, for a change is not very probable there. She had soon the mortification of seeing Mr Elliot withdraw, and no one of proper condition has since presented himself to raise even the unfounded hopes which sunk with him.

On one hand reading this book she is pretty terrible and you are partly happy she gets her just desserts for being so terrible; but at the same time you do kind of pity her.

What do you think. Do you pity her? Or relish in her just desserts?

For more Persuasion, go to Persuasion (2022) or MadsenCreations and I Watched the New Persuasion So You Don’t Have To

For more on the text of Persuasion, go to It Sucks to Be Lady Elliot

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Emma Spanish Language Audiobook Translated by José María Valverde and Narrated by Nuria Mediavilla

My book club is reading Emma, my pick, and I was hoping to get a copy of the audiobook from the Libby app to listen to.

I enjoy listening to audiobooks and sometimes when I hear the book instead of reading it, I pick up on something that I hadn’t noticed before. Plus it is so easy to play it when cleaning, cooking, driving, etc.

However, when searching for audiobooks Libby only has two Emma copies. One has an extremely long waitlist while the other was currently available. The first I had been on the waitlist forever and a day and had no illusions of it getting to me before we had our book club meeting. I did think it was odd that one audiobook should have so many holds and a six month waitlist and the other none, but I reasoned it as I must have just been lucky to spot a new addition to the app before all the others. I borrowed it and downloaded it immediately.

Oh well…

However, when I began listening to it I realized that it was in Spanish, not English.

From Clueless

As I have mentioned before I am Mexican but I am not fluent in Spanish (although I wish I was!). When it comes to understanding Spanish and translating it to English I do a lot better with the written word than hearing it. I think another reason why I struggled with this audiobook is that Austen is using words that aren’t as commonly used today, translated into Spanish, and I’m trying to retranslate it back into English. Although some lines I had memorized I could still follow along with, for instance the opening line.

So while I decided to give the audiobook a try it was a struggle. That is no reflection to the actual piece as I did think it was a good adaption as felt Nuria Mediavilla did very well in narrating. The only thing I had an issue with so that some of the pronunciation of the words follow the “Spanish” Spanish dialect which means that some of the words have the “th” sound; for example diez, diez y ocho, etc. are pronounced dieth, dieth y ocho, etc.

I would recommend it to those who are fluent in Spanish and looking for a Jane Austen audiobook to give it a listen. Although the Spanish “th” might be hard to hear if that’s not the type of Spanish you are used to hearing.

For more on Emma, go to Clueless Party Game: Ugh As If! Edition

For more audiobooks, go to The Real Jane Austen Audiobook Narrated by Kate Reading

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I Won the SaChasi Blends Giveaway

Back at the end of February a friend entered a SaChasi blends giveaway and I decided to as well. Part of the entry was to share what else have you used tea for and I replied that I have used it for my dry or irritated skin, made a hair rinse, and have baked quite a few tea-infused items: such as Crispy, Chewy, Matcha Green Tea Cookies; The Picture of Earl Grey Tea Cookies; Lavender Earl Grey Tea Shortbread Cookies; Cranberry-Spice Scones; Lavender and Earl Grey Scones; Cranberry Chai Scones; and Brown Butter Matcha Brownies.

Unfortunately, after I won I realized I hadn’t paid attention to the giveaway rules and that it was actually only open to UK residents. I apologized and said I would understand if they would need to choose another winner, as it was clearly my fault for not reading the rules correctly. However, they decided to send me my giveaway prize in exchange for a review. You know me and free, I just can’t resist.

I ended up winning a sample bag of Maple Pecan Pie Tea.

A slice of heaven. Famous for serving a sweet, buttery crunch with every glazed, nutty bite – our Sri Lankan black tea and wholesome rooibos perfectly recaptures this delicious North American dessert. All intricately enhanced with a sprinkling of indulgent, yet bountiful, carob and creamy lucuma.

SaChasi Maple Pecan Pie Tea

Ingredients: Ceylon black tea (Orange Pekoe), rooibos, dried apple, dates (rice flour), organic cacao husks, organic carob powder & lucuma powder, pau d’arco, vanilla powder, orange blossom and natural flavouring

I tried the tea and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was delicious, comforting, sweet, and a little nutty. I have to say this tasted much better than a lot of other pie flavored teas I’ve had before. A lot of pie flavored teas are either extremely weak and need multiple teaspoons or tablespoons like the Pinky Up brand. SaChasi gave you a full flavored tea that didn’t require adding extra amounts of loose leaf to your tea cup/infuser.

Prices range from $4 for a sample size (20g) to $8 for 50g and $16 for 100g.

As Wednesdays we have tea (one of my book clubs meets on Wednesdays) I decided to share the tea with the other members.

Two of us members loved the tea while the other two thought it was a great Pecan Pie Tea, but could use extra maple pieces or maple sweetener to really make it pop for them.

I still thoroughly enjoyed it and drank most of the pot all by myself! (Sorry book club members, once I start drinking tea it can be hard to stop).

For more giveaway posts, go to I Won the Ellery Adams’ September 2020 Giveaway + My Review of the First Two Books in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society Series

For more tea posts, go to Magical Matcha Latte

A few years back I was given a collection of five teas, A World of Teas. As I was about to try them out, I started thinking: which books would best suit these teas? After all, nothing goes together better than a good book and a delicious cup of tea.

Thats me

Since then I try my best to repeat it whenever I review new teas. 🙂

Let’s spill the tea.

I was trying to think of which book best went with this tea. I needed something comforting (a comforting read), something that was relaxing but sweet and fun; along with having a few nutty characters thrown in there…and finally decided this tea paired perfectly with Emma.

For those of you who haven’t read it, Emma is the story of a girl who has been mistress of her house and doted on by her father. After her governess marries (a match she believes she put together) she becomes bored and intends on trying her hand at matchmaking. She pygmalions her new acquaintance, Harriet Smith, and plans to set her up with the new minister. Things do not go according to plan as her matches do not take hold and her “creation” takes a life of their own.

For me Emma is a fun comedy (although it does have its dramatic parts) with quite a few nutty characters and situations. We have Emma’s failed matchmaking, Miss Bates’ silly chatter, Mr. Woodhouse hypochondria, etc. Everyone in the book is guilty of being silly at one point or another.

For me it is a comforting read and even though Mr. Woodhouse wouldn’t approve of the sweetness of maple pecan pie; when I drank the tea it made me think of spending a chilly day by a fire (or heater), and the following quote popped in my head:

For more Emma, go to The Emma Project

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Jane Austen Children’s Stories: Emma

Emma (Jane Austen Children’s Stories #4) by Jane Austen, adapted by Gemma Barder

I did not originally plan to purchase both the Northanger Abbey and Emma adaptations in this series so close together. If I had I would have done a dual post like I did for the Babylit series. I was just going to purchase the Northanger Abbey one, but a couple weeks after my cousin’s birthday party I discovered that my friend moved her daughter’s birthday party up to the first weekend in June. I needed a present stat and I always buy her a book and toy for her birthday.

So when I was trying to find a book for a 7 year old, the first thing that popped in my head was to get another one book from the Jane Austen Children’s Stories.

As I mentioned in my previous review, any time I spot a children’s book that has to do with Jane Austen, I try and purchase it to gift to them and hopefully influence spark a love of Jane Austen in them.

The Jane Austen Children’s Stories series takes the text of Jane Austen and adapts it for children who are reading on their own and want something longer than a beginning reader, but not quite ready for thick chapter books. Each novel has easy to read text, illustrations, but at the same time still retains the plot of the original novels.

The recommended age for this series is 7-10 years old. The series has adapted Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Love and Friendship. You can buy them individually at ~$7 a paperback (hardcover is ~$12 per book) or in a set of all seven in paperback form (plus a journal) for ~$27.

Emma is the story of a girl who has been mistress of her house and doted on by her father. After her governess marries (a match she believes she put together) she becomes bored and intends on trying her hand at matchmaking. She pygmalions her new acquaintance, Harriet Smith, and plans to set her up with the new minister. Things do not go according to plan as her matches do not take hold and her “creation” takes a life of her own.

While I enjoyed the Northanger Abbey review, I loved this adaption of Emma. It was done a little different with it starting off with a breakdown of the characters, a who’s who of everyone.

The book easily captures the attention of the reader as it leans in to the already comedic tones of Emma. The illustrations were also well done, no complaints of the men’s outfits here.

I really enjoyed it, and I think the 7 year old who I purchased it for will love it as well. If you are looking for Jane Austen books for elementary schooled children in your life, then I definitely recommend giving this series a read.

For more Jane Austen Children’s Stories, go to Northanger Abbey

For more Jane Austen children’s books, go to Jane Austen (Little People, BIG DREAMS)

For more on Emma book adaptations, go to Emma Manga

For more on Emma, go to Lean on Me: Austentatious (2015)