“Suit and Suitability” by Kelsey Bryant ~ Book Review

(click on image to go to the book’s amazon page)

 

“Suit and Suitability” by Kelsey Bryant

Part of the Vintage Jane Austen collection

Review ecopy from the author

 

About the Book:

 

The mystery surrounding their father’s criminal accusations is almost as hard to solve as the many puzzles springing on their hearts. 

Canton, Ohio, 1935. Ellen and Marion Dashiell’s world crumbles when their father is sent to prison. Forced to relocate to a small town, what is left of their family faces a new reality where survival overshadows dreams. Sensible Ellen, struggling to hold the family together, is parted from the man she’s just learning to love, while headstrong Marion fears she will never be the actress she aspires to be. When a dashing hero enters the scene, things only grow more complicated. But could a third man hold the key to the restoration and happiness of the Dashiell family?

 

My Thoughts:

 

To start out, I must confess that I haven’t read the original “Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen, but I have watched the two movie adaption’s very many times, and next to Persuasion, it is at the top of my list for Jane Austen favourites.
“Suit and Suitability” was a very close retelling to the original (I am basing off the movie, remember), and throughout it, I really felt like I was pretty much watching the movie itself, only it being set in the 30’s in Ohio/New York. The characters were very close to their real representatives, and the plot-line very near the real one. There were a couple differences, and a bit of a twist at the end, but for the most part it had all the great things that make it Sense and Sensibility.
We got to know more of Marion in the beginning, and I was afraid we wouldn’t get to know Ellen at all, but about a little before halfway that changed, and their stories were told equally, which I appreciated. It’s nice to have a book where there are two main characters.

For me, it did get a little long, and I often knew what was going to happen of course, but I did still enjoy the telling of it. The setting was good, and I liked the 1930’s dialogue quite a lot. That was a nice touch.
And what this book did have that the original does not, is the soft but good undertones of Faith and our trust and reliance on the Lord. It was only slight in the beginning/middle, but towards the end it got stronger, and there was a good reminder/lesson of trusting God through all things, even the bad, at the end. I was glad to have that lesson be included, as when watching the movie I always bemoaned the fact that this story could be so perfect for Godly lessons of many kinds. :)

So yes, if you enjoy the story of Sense and Sensibility, you’ll enjoy this one!