Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen is the March selection for Catch Up On Classics readalong. I plan to watch the TV mini series, and the 1995 movie.

About The Book

My Review

“But remember that the pain of parting from friends will be felt by everybody at times, whatever be their education or state. Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience; or give it a more fascinating name: call it hope.”

Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen’s first novel, begins with the Dashwood family who live at the Norland estate in Sussex. John Dashwood, Henry Dashwood’s son from his first marriage, takes over the family estate after his father’s death. He had promised his father he would provide for Henry’s three daughters with his current wife, but John’s wife, Fanny, manages to convince him to not help them.

Henry’s eldest daughter Elinor is nineteen years old, understanding, affectionate. Marianne is sixteen years old, smart, and eager. His youngest daughter is Margaret, thirteen years old, romantic, and naïve. Marianne represents sensibility, and Elinor is sense.

Fanny’s brother, Edward Ferrars, comes to stay at Norland estate. He’s handsome, shy, affectionate, and attracted to Elinor. Fanny doesn’t take this well, so Mrs. Henry Dashwood and her three daughters leave to rent Barton Cottage from her cousin, Sir John Middleton.

At Barton Cottage they develop a strong friendship with Lady Middleton, Sir John, and Lady Middleton’s mother Mrs. Jennings. Sir John’s friend, Colonel Brandon, fancies Marianne, however, Marianne has strong feelings toward a man named John Willoughby.

The rest of the story is a roller-coaster of emotions as Marianne and Elinor struggle to discover who they are, and hopefully find suitable matches for marriage.

The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!

Writing Style
The wit, irony, and sarcasm make Sense and Sensibility feel relatable. It’s a quiet, slow, emotional read. I felt happy when they were happy, and sad when they were sad. It’s interesting how a society all about hiding your true self, and keeping secrets, are open about their income, something you don’t often see people do today. The characters are extremely well-written. You may think you know who ends up with who, but if you’re like me you’ll be quite surprised.

“I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but, like everybody else, it must be in my own way.”

Some reviewers have mentioned the fact that Sense and Sensibility fails the Bechtel Test:
1. Are there at least two women who have names?
2. Do they talk to each other?
3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?
This may be true, however, I don’t think it’s fair to condemn a book plot written over 170 years before the Bechtel Test was created.

My one dislike is the ending felt a little rushed and confusing.

“I come here with no expectations, only to profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is and always will be…yours.”

Overall, Sense and Sensibility is an engaging, funny, and passionate novel about secrecy, self-discovery, and the balance of feelings between sense and sensibility.

The next Jane Austen book I’d like to read is Pride and Prejudice.

• Setting: 4/5
• Plot Development: 4.5/5
• Characters: 5/5
• Quality of Writing: 5/5
• Ending: 4.5/5
• Overall: 4.6

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About The Author

“Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.”

“From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815), she achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began a third, which was eventually titled Sanditon, but died before completing it.” https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1265.Jane_Auste

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