Ladies of the House

Content warnings: death of a parent, affair, heartbreak

A U.S. senator leaves his family in a precarious situation after his death.

This modern retelling of Sense and Sensibility begins with a memorial for Senator Gregory Richardson, attended by his wife and daughters. During the funeral, a scandal breaks and the attendees' phones go off during the Lord's Prayer. The senator had a heart attack while in the company of his mistress and the New York Times has just broken the story.

Daisy Richardson, the eldest daughter of Gregory, is the main protagonist. Daisy also works in politics, but for another politician. Financial drama follows her father's death, leaving mother Cricket no other option than to sell their family home. Younger sister Wallis is unemployed and adrift, and she starts dating Blake -- the son of a Southern senator who is Daisy's employer's opposition.

When Daisy is put on unpaid leave to avoid scandal, she takes coworker Beau's offer to visit Charleston. Wallis comes along as Blake is also in Charleston. While in Charleston, the Richardson sisters keep getting bad news.

Daisy is the Elinor Dashwood of the story and Wallis is Marianne. Lauren Edmondson has updated Austen's story and replaced Elinor with a career woman, but both sisters and their mother are close to financial ruination after their father's death. While the setting is more contemporary, the involvement of politics made the story less interesting to me personally than Austen's original.

Emma Lysy's narration is a solid performance. Passages without dialogue have enough inflection and emotion to remain interesting while not distracting from the story. Her British accents are passable but the Southern ones are a little dramatic.

Recommended for readers who enjoy Austen retellings.

Lauren Edmondson received her MFA in fiction from Sarah Lawrence. She lives in the Washington, D.C. suburbs. Ladies of the House is her first novel.

Publisher: Graydon House (print); Harlequin Audio

Narrator: Emma Lysy

Running Time: 11 hours, 11 minutes

Length: 384 pages

Release Date: February 9, 2021

Representation: gay character, POC, biracial, women in positions of power

I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.