"The Three Weissmanns of Westport" Review

 

Since I mentioned in my Musing Mondays  answer that there was a book I had trouble reading this past week, I now feel it only fair that I write a brief review of that book. So here it goes.....


The Three Weissmanns of Westport, by Cathleen Schine


This is a book that is described as a playful, devoted, loose-jointed homage to Jane Austen's beloved "Sense and Sensibility."  However, you do not have to be a Jane Austen fan to read and understand this book. It is a book anyone can read and enjoy or not.


The three Weissmanns of Westport are specifically,  Betty  Weissmann, who has just been dumped by her husband of forty-eight years, and her two grown daughters, Miranda and Annie, who quite unexpectedly find themselves the middled-aged products of a broken home.  When Betty is exiled from her elegant New York apartment by her husband's mistress, the three women---whose lives are in varying states of disrepair and confusion---regroup in a small, run-down Westport, Connecticut, beach cottage owned by Betty's wealthy and generous Cousin Lou.


Since I was familiar with the storyline of Sense and Sensibility it was easy to follow where the story was leading me. I would have probably liked the story better had I not been a Jane Austen fan, and if I hadn't known the storyline of Sense and Sensibility.  I lost interest very quickly while reading it. It was a challenge getting it read, but I did.  And the ending was not a favorite of mine, it strayed way to far from the story of Sense and Sensibility, even for an updated version.


On a scale of 1-5,  I would rate it 2 1/2, being an OK read, but one I would never read again. I will be donating this book to the local Library, because I'm sure there are people who will read it and love it.  However, it was not a favorite read of mine.