Emma: Meet the Modern Miss Woodhouse

As a huge fan of both Alexander McCall Smith and Jane Austen, it should come as no surprise that I enjoyed Emma: A Modern Retelling. Smith's update of Austen's classic novel is a charming and cannily observed homage that manages to add interesting new details to this incredibly familiar story. If you're one of those people who will always be sad that Austen wrote so few novels, this is a book that is sure to bring you some comfort.

Smith starts this novel rather unusually. We are treated to the complete background of Mr. Woodhouse, a character who merely serves as hypochondriacal comic relief in the Austen novel. Here we learn more about his history, why he's such an anxious man, and how he became a widower with two young daughters left to his charge. We also get the story of Miss Taylor, the governess who becomes the subject of Emma's first attempt at matchmaking. Which brings us finally to the heroine of the piece, Emma Woodhouse.

Smith pulls no punches when it comes to Emma. She is not a sympathetic character, but a deeply flawed and spoiled rich girl who needs to evolve over the course of this story and learn what it means to be a polite and empathetic adult. She is vastly clueless about what it means to be poor, is an incredible snob, and does some pretty rude and awful things over the course of this novel. However, her heart is eventually revealed to be in the right place, and she does learn her lesson, thanks to the wise ministrations of Miss Taylor and of course, George Knightley.

While Austen aficionados will face no surprises in terms of plot, they may be a little thrown by the language of this novel. While Smith has remained faithful to the essence of the story and its characters, he does imbue this tale with his trademark penchant for philosophical introspection and bizarre non sequiturs. I won't spoil anything, but let's just say that Emma's portrait of Harriet is a slightly more odd affair than it was in the original. There are also many fun modern embellishments to bring the proceedings firmly into the twenty-first century; but if you have a closed mind where your classic Victorian literature is concerned, you may not derive much joy from those.

Emma: A Modern Retelling is a charming light read, a lovely attempt to bring these beloved characters into the modern world and regard their thoughts and actions with a modern lens. Some things change dramatically while most others stay completely the same, and it is heartening to see how Austen's power to create compelling vivid characters means that no matter what the setting, the essential humanity of her stories will always shine through.