Title: Ladies Of The House
Author: Lauren Edmondson
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
First published: February 9th 2021
Publisher: Graydon House
Finished reading: February 3rd 2021
Pages: 384

“I wonder, then, why it had caught us all by surprise. We should have known. The only thing uglier than politics is love.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Graydon House in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

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!! Happy publication day !!

I confess that this debut was out of my comfort zone as I’ve never actually read one of the original Jane Austen stories and I wasn’t sure how I would react to this modern retelling… But there was just something about the blurb of Ladies Of The House that convinced me to give it a try. I’m so glad I did now, as I ended up having an excellent time with this story! I can’t compare it to Sense And Sensibility for obvious reasons, but what I can say is that this modern retelling is absolutely worth the time if you think you would be a good fit.

The main focus of the story is on both politics and family. Not only do we see politics pop up in Gregory Richardson and the scandal after his death, but his daughter Daisy works in politics herself and the consequences of her father’s scandal for her career as well as her personal life are felt throughout the story. It also comes back in Wallis’ love interest… And it was interesting to see this element pop up in general. The other important element in Ladies Of The House is family, and especially the bond between sisters. Daisy, Wallis and their mother Cricket have to stick together while they try to deal with the aftermath of the shocking reveals involving Gregory… And it was interesting to see them deal with it all in different ways as well as evolving over time. Especially Daisy’s growth was inspiring!

Ladies Of The House isn’t just a story about grief, family, politics and dealing with a ruined reputation… It also includes a love story. The whole ‘I’m in love with my best friend‘ could get a little frustating at times, and I could have done without the love triangle, but as a whole the rest of the story mostly made up for it. Wallis could likewise get a little frustating with her obsession, but I liked how things wrapped up in the end and there is no denying that the characters themselves are all realistically developed.

The writing itself is really easy on the eye and flows naturally, making it really easy to fully invest yourself in their story. Daisy is the perfect character to narrate their lives, but it was interesting to see how the different characters reacted to the things happening in the plot. As a whole I ended up having a fantastic time with this modern Sense And Sensibility retelling, and I will definitely be looking forward to read more of her work in the future!

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