The Three Weissmanns of
by Cathleen Schine
292 p.
I never enjoy Cathleen Schine as much as I think I will or should, but, having said that, this was probably one of my favorites. The novel parallels Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility but not annoyingly so. As in S & S, a mother and her daughters find themselves in dire financial straights, in need of relocating, and at the mercy of wealthier relatives and strangers. And as in most Austen stories, there is plenty of pride, prejudice, and ultimate realization that people and circumstances aren’t always the way we first judge them to be. But beyond that, Schine’s story takes its own original turns and develops its own lovely characters, in well-drawn settings that allow the reader to enjoy the book without prior knowledge of or expectations about Austen’s.
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