All about me

I'm just not sure about this one. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either. But then again I had no trouble finishing it. I think that Trollope would have got a lot more bang for her buck if she allowed herself greater deviations from the original story. I recall that the movie Clueless was inspired by Emma, and it was great, not a great estate in sight. Maybe push the boundaries a bit further, change the characters' situations even more while keeping their essence. I think for me that the original premise, the Dashwood girls having to leave Norland in the manner that they did was a bit remote for today; it just didn't seem to ring true to me.

I think if Trollope had freed herself from the glorious shackles of Austen's plot (which we all acknowledge to be fantastic) and her imagining of the characters social situation (which is of course superb) and gave her imagination a bit more of a free reign, she could have produced something that was actually much more faithful to the free-wheeling joy that Austen seemed to be able to effortlessly produce. Not bad, but not fantastic.