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The Importance of Being Emma (Choc Lit) (Darcy & Friends)
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Review
Winner of The Big Red Reads Fiction Award 2011. Short-listed for the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance 2009. --Publisher
A spirited retelling of Emma by Jane Austen will prove and enjoyable read to those who know the original story and those who don't. Definitely recommended. Buy - Yes, Borrow - Yes. --The Bookbag
... Juliet Archer (well she has the right initials anyway) has reinvented my absolute favourite Austen novel for a 21st-century audience, and done it with breathtaking charm and verve. --Jane Austen Regency World Magazine
A spirited retelling of Emma by Jane Austen will prove and enjoyable read to those who know the original story and those who don't. Definitely recommended. Buy - Yes, Borrow - Yes. --The Bookbag
... Juliet Archer (well she has the right initials anyway) has reinvented my absolute favourite Austen novel for a 21st-century audience, and done it with breathtaking charm and verve. --Jane Austen Regency World Magazine
Review
A spirited retelling of Emma by Jane Austen will provide an enjoyable read to those who know the original story and those who don't. Definitely recommended.
4 stars (out of 5), Buy=Yes, Borrow=Yes
Emma Woodhouse fancies herself as something of a matchmaker, having just married off Tom Weston to her best friend and she can't resist trying her hand with a few more people. There's Harriet Smith, fond of a local man, but Emma's convinced that she could do better for herself and she's aiming to pair her off with Philip Elton. As for herself, well she rather believes herself in love with Tom Weston's son and the good-looking Mark Knightley is just a problem, even if he is rather tempting on occasions.
Does it sound familiar? If it doesn't, it should, as this is Juliet Archer's rewriting of Jane Austen's Emma. When it dropped through the letterbox on Saturday morning I was reading something rather worthy and I'm afraid that the temptation to relax and have some fun was more than I could resist and I'm not quite certain where the weekend went!
The story's set very much in the twenty-first century rather than the nineteenth and Juliet Archer's retelling is skilful and never forced, despite staying very close to the original plot. Emma Woodhouse is the marketing director of Highbury Foods and Mark Knightley has come home from India to take over the reins of Donwell Organics whilst his father is away on an extended holiday. Harriet Smith is Emma's PA and she's a superb creation - Essex girl through and through. Her 'farva as a tan ass' says something about the residence of a relative, but I'll let you work it out for yourself.
The story is told in turn by Mark and Emma in short chapters. It took me just a few moments of wondering why Emma was (seemingly) so taken by a nice pair of female legs before I got into the rhythm but after that we swung along very nicely. Sometimes it was laugh-out-loud funny to see the same situation from the so-different perspectives, and Juliet Archer knows how to keep the reader's interest and the plot moving along very smoothly.
So, what would Jane Austen have thought of Juliet Archer's retelling of Emma? Well, she'd have smiled delightedly at the writing, catching as it does the gentle comedy of her own work. She'd have been shocked at the sex scenes, wondering if, like some of the language, they were entirely necessary, particularly - she might have added - for those of us who are not entirely certain what 'the hilt' is and what it is in 'up to'. I think she'd have mused on the fact that the modern Emma is rather more likeable than her Georgian counterpart and enquired if that was deliberate or if we were simply more used to spoilt rich girls. She'd have nodded wisely and accepted the book as fine tribute.
The retelling of a well-known story is always risky. It can be described as an 'elegant retelling' or, at the other end of the scale, as a 'rip-off'. This isn't quite at the top end of the scale but it certainly gave this jaded reviewer an enjoyable weekend's reading that she wasn't expecting.
I'd like to thank Juliet Archer (see - she's even got the same initials) for sending a copy to The Bookbag.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a light and fun update of Jane Austen's Emma, and is clever in the setting and detail. Highbury and Donwell Abbey become companies in Archer's re-telling, with Emma as a know-it-all MBA Marketing Director, and Mark Knightley is her corporate mentor and life-time friend.
Archer sticks very closely to Austen's story so much of the pleasure, for me, came from the clever way in which she re-writes the original. The characterisation isn't, sadly, quite so spot on, and Archer is far less subtle than Austen. Emma, for example, is charming in Austen but becomes a bit of a spoilt brat in Archer; Flynn Churchill is generally one-dimensional; and the relationship between Emma and Mark is far more antagonistic, more akin to Pride & Prejudice, than in the original.
But all these little niggles are easy to overlook in the overall light-hearted fun. So I really enjoyed this book as the perfect relaxing read.
Archer sticks very closely to Austen's story so much of the pleasure, for me, came from the clever way in which she re-writes the original. The characterisation isn't, sadly, quite so spot on, and Archer is far less subtle than Austen. Emma, for example, is charming in Austen but becomes a bit of a spoilt brat in Archer; Flynn Churchill is generally one-dimensional; and the relationship between Emma and Mark is far more antagonistic, more akin to Pride & Prejudice, than in the original.
But all these little niggles are easy to overlook in the overall light-hearted fun. So I really enjoyed this book as the perfect relaxing read.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
I wasn't sure whether to buy this or not. I love chick lit, I love Jane Austen's Emma- but would I love a combination of the two? I was worried it would be an exact replica of the movie 'Clueless' or that it would be a really cheesy boon and mills type romance, but it was neither of these things. It was just a really great book! At first, I found it difficult to shake off the Jane Austen connection- I found myself constantly thinking 'ohhh that's like the part in Emma where...' and that ruined the enjoyment for a bit. However, once I got past that and started enjoying the book as if it was a fresh novel I'd never read before, I became really engrossed and couldn't put the book down. My advice is to try to look at this as a novel in it's own right, rather than as a new adaptation of a classic. It is well written and well modernised so if you put pre conceptions aside, I think you'll really enjoy this. It reads like any good quality chick lit book. I definitely want to read Juliet Archer's second Austen modern adaptation Persuade Me (Darcy & Friends) now and I hope the modern version of pride and prejudice is on the way- I'd love to read that!
NB My only issue with this book is when I read it (November 2011) there were various formatting issues. I reported this to amazon though, so hopefully they will be corrected soon.
NB My only issue with this book is when I read it (November 2011) there were various formatting issues. I reported this to amazon though, so hopefully they will be corrected soon.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Loved it! Never read the original so had no expectations. I was drawn into the book and characters immediately and did not want to put it down! I really wanted to throttle them at times because you get so involved. Great read, can't wait for the next one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Hero not as level-headed
Being a great fan of Jane Austen's Emma, i jumped at this book and purchased it after reading the positive reviews. Read more
Published 10 days ago by scarlett
Not for me
I bought this book after reading the reviews and because I am a fan of nearly all Jane Austens books After reading it, I wish I hadn't bought it. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Shirley Mosey
Loved it!
Jane Austen in the 21st Century this certainly is
I loved this book. I read it realy quickly for me.
I love the fact that we get to know Mark's (Mr Knightley. Read more
I loved this book. I read it realy quickly for me.
I love the fact that we get to know Mark's (Mr Knightley. Read more
Published on 8 April 2010 by Ms. LH Russell
The Importance Of Being Emma
I usually enjoy an updated classic and this was no exception. Emma is not one of my favourite novels by the great Jane Austen but this was wonderful. Read more
Published on 22 Nov 2009 by Ms. Heidi Johnson
Pure bliss!
Archer's `The Importance of Being Emma' has been a delightful read! With its wittiness, wonderful vivacity and compelling angst between the two protagonists, Archer has beautifully... Read more
Published on 28 May 2009 by H. S. Goldup
Make it into a film, please!
Jane Austen's original 'Emma' has inspired several films and TV series - so will someone please do the same for this book? And can I choose who's playing the hero? Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2009 by Genevieve
Perfect escapist reading - don't miss it!
This is a thoroughly enjoyable story which had me hooked from the start. Mark Knightley is the TDH hero who Emma Woodhouse has known all her life. Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2009 by Sal
Witty and charming read
This is a charming and witty update of Jane Austen's Emma (fairly obviously), which is really very well done, and is one of the new range of books starting to come out from the... Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2009 by Ms. A. Brooke
Very enjoyable Christmas Present...
I was given this book as a Christmas present and what a thoroughly enjoyable, delightful read it was for me over the holidays. Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2009 by Melanie
Calling All Jane Austen Enthusiasts!
A new author, Juliet Archer, has written a delightful book called "The Importance Of Being Emma", bringing Jane Austen's "EMMA"into the 21st century. Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2009 by DJE
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