Putting a twist on Sense and Sensibility

The Dashwood Sisters’ Secrets of Love, a novel by Rosie Rushton, is a lighthearted twist on a Jane Austen classic. Though the novel is a sweet homage to Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, Rushton doesn’t even come close to the renown author’s writing style and ability. Nonetheless, the book is a worthy “beach read” and a pleasant escape on a lazy afternoon.

The novel centers around sisters Ellie, Abby, and Georgie Dashwood, aged 17, 16, and 13 respectively, who live with their recently divorced mother in their beloved Holly House in Sussex, England. Their father, Max, has run off to marry the wealthy, nutrient-obsessed Pandora, and left the girls and their mother heartbroken. When Max suddenly dies, the family learns that he changed the will so that Pandora now owns Holly House. Devastated, they must relocate to the windy, coastal county Norfolk. However, moving proves to not be such a bad thing after all, when each girl finds love in unexpected places.

Unfortunately, most of Secrets of Love’s characters are rather stale and stereotyped. Oldest sister Ellie is the law-school-bound, levelheaded one; middle child Abby is the partier (she refuses to move to Norfolk if there aren’t any open air raves or all night dance clubs); and youngest Georgie is a tomboy through and through. All these character types have been much overplayed in teen novels, and the girls don’t seem to get much deeper than what you get at face value.

Though the characters are fairly static, there is an observable change in the girls’ openness to new ways of life. When the family moves, each Dashwood seems stuck in their old routine, not willing to budge. However, they slowly begin to forge new friendships and change their viewpoint. For example, Nick, a laidback drummer, begins to pursue Abby, and she starts to realize that she may not need a rich, hot guy to make her dreams come true. Ellie learns that she doesn’t need to stand up so straight all the time, and should just relax and be a teenager once in awhile. And as is normal for a pubescent girl, Georgie begins to appreciate the finer things in life besides sports.

If any one theme sticks out in the plot of this sugary novel, it’s that we need to embrace life as it comes and be open to change. The sisters have been so adjusted to getting whatever they want, that they get a harsh wakeup call when they have to move. Each girl crawls out of her comfort zone, bit by bit. Reality is tough, they learn, but once they begin to accept it, good results come about.

Secrets of Love was, regrettably, an easy book to put down, save the time around Max’s death and the climax. At times, it felt the plot was on repeat. Each girl was found doing the same ol’ thing, which made it extremely predictable and not tempting enough to sneak some reading in during a boring math lesson. However, being a chick lit novel, it’s understandable that the plot usually revolves around the love lives of the three girls.

If you’re in search of the next teen phenomenon, you won’t find it in The Dashwood Sisters’ Secrets of Love. Despite this, it’s worth a checkout at the library if you are in search of a simple, fun read when you’re bored and in need of a getaway.