Sarah Bevan Fischer

There seems to be a glut of Emma 'Austenuations' at the moment, from the (*ahem*) 'professional' (Alexander McCall Smith) to the more typical published fan fiction. Sarah Bevan Fischer's novel is one of the better examples of the latter, surpassing McCall Smith's effort because she manages to stay true to the main characters while adding a few original twists of her own. The only unforgivable failing seems to be a lack of editing/proofreading/any kind of beta-reading at all.

Another 'twenty-first century Emma' revision, Sarah Bevan Fischer attempts to drag Hartfield's heroine into the modern world, while staying true to Austen's influence. For the first few chapters, I was worried that all the author was actually doing was 'translating' the narrative into less formal speech, but eventually this Emma does manage to break free of the past. I like how she is more of a carer for her dad in this version, which makes sense, and recognises the problems of her own situation enough to turn to Harriet for fashion advice and envy Jane Fairfax her natural elegance. Having Emma branch out into opening her own boutique in Highbury is another inspired development, rather than having her focusing on marriage. Harriet is still labelled as slightly dim, but she shows a lot of natural talent - albeit for hair and make-up - and understanding. I'm not sure why Robert Martin is still considered unsuitable - he and Harriet seem the perfect pair - but the Austen has spoken. George Knightley is still George - bonus points - and he shares the same comfortable rapport with the Woodhouses, a bond which is often overlooked in modern rewrites.

A few clashes between Austen's time and today remain, most notably in the clumsy hybrid dialogue, which seems to be based more on the 2009 BBC adaptation than anything modern twenty-somethings would say (bar the odd 'OMG!' thrown in for good measure). Emma objects to Robert Martin for no good reason, and Frank and Jane are still hiding from Frank's aunt, despite Jane being the model daughter-in-law. But Austen must have the last word, I suppose. Overall, none of the twists and turns of the original novel seemed to have any impact in this modern retelling, no matter how the author repackaged them, and yet I still cared for the characters and enjoyed my stay in Highbury, which is the main criteria of any Emma emulation.

I shall include my favourite 'Fischerism' as a prompt to the author to employ a good proofreader next time: 'I felt really scared at one point and P-Philip just left me to m-mange on my own...' 'Noo!What a cad!'… (altro)