One of the most delightful books of the year. . . . A literary jewel, just like the original.” —Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (Critics’ choice)
“McCall Smith brings all the wit and deft characterization of his No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series to this reimagining of Jane Austen’s classic. . . . The lessons and pleasures of her tale are timeless.” —People Magazine
“With his fluent, soothing prose . . . [McCall Smith] takes Jane’s characters and invites them warmly into our world. . . . We like his Emma, a contemporary small-town girl who worries over dinner parties, pours gin and tonics and drives a Mini Cooper—much to the delight of her friend Harriet. . . . Jane Austen is incomparable, but if she were still with us, I can see her hastily tucking away her handwritten notes and extending her hand to Mr. McCall Smith.” —The Washington Post
“Alexander McCall Smith and Jane Austen?. . . . A delightful match it is. . . . McCall Smith’s Emma answers many interesting questions, such as how Miss Taylor went from governess to such an important friend, how Mrs. and Miss Bates became destitute, and what sort of car Emma might drive (a Mini Cooper).” —The Philadelphia Inquirer
“[A] very pleasant modern update of Emma. . . . McCall Smith’s contemporary updates of Mr. Woodhouse’s hypochondria and neuroses are particularly amusing.” —Flavorwire (Staff pick)
“The Jane Austen we know is delicious enough on her own, but Austen filtered through the mind of Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith could be the best of both possible worlds. . . . Certainly unmistakable is Emma, Austen’s heroine, a born controller who believes (with unshakable certainty in both books) that other people’s happiness can be arranged for them and that she is just the one to do it. . . . This rewarding read is a fascinating pastiche of two of the most enjoyable writers in the British tradition.” —BookPage
“[McCall Smith’s] latter-day Emma possesses all the youth and beauty and a good deal of the wit of Jane Austen’s heroine. . . . McCall Smith has written a delightfully droll, thoughtful novel that reflects on money’s enduring role in relationships as well as on the nature of this meddlesome heroine’s long-lived appeal.” —Kirkus Reviews
“The keen sense of social realities and moral rightness that imbues McCall Smith’s novels is immediately evident when reading his Emma. . . . Surely Austen would be proud.” —Library Journal
This month we’re getting long-awaited sequels, the latest from a Nobel Prize-winning novelist, an ice-cold noir thriller, and a delicious contemporary reimagining of a classic Jane Austen comedy of manners. These are the books you should be pairing with your coffee, your commute, and your late-night “just one more page” protests all month long.
Jane Austen has been the gift that keeps on giving—for authors, movie producers, and Colin Firth fans—for ages now. From modern day retellings, to spinoff books that focus on her tertiary characters, to mashups featuring zombies, Austen’s novels have been adapted, updated, and otherwise celebrated to within an inch of their robust lives, and fans still can’t get enough of her elegant, […]