The Importance of Being Emma by Juliet Archer
My rating: 3 of 5 starsThe Importance of Being Emma is a modern, sexually charged, corporate view of the story of Emma originally written by Jane Austen. If one wishes to read a modern day comic romance without identifying it as being a variation of a Jane Austen novel, this is a fun story with a good bit of sexy romance. However, comparing it to Austen's Emma, this modernization did not improve on the original, offer the same kinds of insights as the original, nor present the characters in the same favorable light as the original.
Emma Woodhouse is a 23 year-old highly educated English woman who is now joining her father's business as its Marketing Director. She brings her MBA from Harvard with her as she seeks to bring Highbury Foods into the 21st Century. Her confidence and pig-headed stubbornness lead her to believe she has all she needs to take on this daunting task. Her father, on the other hand, believes Emma needs some help, as she will eventually take over all of the business from him. He seeks out an old family friend to mentor Emma.
In steps Mark Knightley. The Knightley and Woodhouse families have been neighbors and friends for decades. Emma's sister Izzy married John Knightley when Emma was a teenager, uniting the two families. Mark has always seen himself like an elder brother to Emma, who is about 12 years his junior. However, Mark has been in India working for his father's business concerns there, and has not seen Emma in many, many years. After seeing the gorgeous woman Emma has become, Mark is happy to take on the job of mentoring the young corporate go-getter.
As in the original, Emma sees herself as a successful matchmaker. Her father's personal assistant Kate has recently married, and Emma congratulates herself on being a major factor in getting Tom and Kate together. Emma is anxious to keep her skills honed and seeks to match up Harriet, the temp hired in Kate's place. Much of the story is based on Emma's attempts, as well as the other romances swirling around Emma and Harriet's lives. Let's just say, Emma is not quite as talented at this matchmaking role as she believes she is. She also is just a bit blind to the possibilities for her own romantic life.
I couldn't immediately put my finger on why this version of Emma did not fully satisfy me, but I think I may have finally come to the conclusion that the characters are just not the same kind of good people we found in Austen's version. For example, in the original, Mr. Knightley is a kind mentor to Emma whom she respects and admires. In this version, he has his head in his pants and provides advice to Emma in a very harsh and condescending manner. On several occasions he lets his mouth run off and actually says some fairly mean things to Emma. Emma is just harsh all the way around - it is rare in this version for her to say something nice to anyone, particularly Mark. Jane Fairfax is unattractive and boring and Flynn Churchill does not inadvertently hurt people as in the original. Instead, he kind of ignores the fact what he is doing or saying could be hurtful, and takes no responsibility for it.
The characters are not totally repellent - they are entertaining and funny. But, there is a harshness to the characters that does seem to detract from the romance. I didn't see what everyone saw in each other. However, the sex appeared to be good!
All in all, it was a cute story, but not a great compliment to the original. It just could have used a tiny bit more kindness.
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Oh, too bad about the characters not being as sparkling. I think I have the Persuasion story from this series, but haven't read it yet.
ReplyDeleteNice review, Barb!