Probably the only reason someone would read this book today is that it is believed to be one of the inspirations for Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. However, it was an enjoyable read, with some of the same pleasures as Austen’s novels, and interestingly, although the author intended the book to be a didactic piece to counter the supposedly malign influences of other novels, she seems to undercut her message with her choice of narrator and the actions of various characters. As in Sense and Sensibility, A Gossip’s Story follows two very different sisters–the older, who is rational and restrained, and the younger, named Marianne, who is romantic and impulsive–as they navigate society, love and marriage while their family suffers a financial crisis.

The introduction in this edition (from Valancourt Books) is very helpful, as are the notes, and describes the similarities between the novels aside from the general premise. Marianne rejects an early suitor because he is not sufficiently romantic but is then swept off her feet by a man who is more in tune with her sensibilities when he rescues her after she is injured in an accident. The elder sister meets a man early on who she comes to admire and care for, but she believes he is linked to another woman and so endeavors to forget him. After suffering a financial reversal, the family has to move from a large manor house to a small cottage. One of the suitors is soundly rejected and excoriated by the family after they find out that he seduced, impregnated and abandoned a woman. However, there are of course differences in the books. West has a framing conceit that she used for a previous novel–the narrator is a small-town spinster named Prudentia Homespun who describes the Dudley family moving into the neighborhood. Also, there is a long poem called “A Legendary Tale” inserted in the middle of the book–one of the characters recites it, and it is supposedly an example of something Marianne would like, in a quasi-medieval style. I was worried about that part, but it went by reasonably fast and had some links to the story; the happy ending is brought about by reason and platonic friendship winning out over romantic passions. Marianne and Louisa, the elder sister, are very different, but there is a reason: Louisa was raised by their father, while Marianne was raised by their grandmother after the mother died and was never denied anything. Marianne was left her grandmother’s fortune, but Louisa is negatively affected when their father suffers a financial setback.

Marianne does come off as extremely foolish, even though the author notes she is kind and generous. She seems to have every advantage possible but her ruined-by-novels mindset and inability to control her emotions lead her to unhappy circumstances. However, some of her choices seem entirely rational given the time period, and in one instance, she is perhaps too moralistic. Louisa, in contrast, is cheerful and calm when faced with adversity. Marianne’s behavior is criticized by the narrator, and her sister and father frequently give advice. Although the narrator’s wisdom is supposed to be edifying, the author undercuts her reliability by showing her to be a judgmental, small-town gossip, who comes off even worse in the present. The opening of the book describes her circle of friends, who all sound like narrow-minded snobs. They almost seem like caricatures of nosy busybody spinsters, except the men who are associated with their set are also shown as foolish, greedy and self-aggrandizing. In addition, Mr. Dudley is repeatedly proclaimed to be a model father and man by Louisa, the narrator and others, but his actions are extremely questionable. First, he just gives Marianne to his mother-in-law; while that might not have seemed quite as strange in that time period (see Fanny Price), it’s not for financial reasons, as he was sufficiently wealthy at the time and gave Louisa a good life. Also, he and Louisa went to Barbados, where he had an estate–meaning he was far away from Marianne and also raising questions about how he made his money. In contrast to the situation in Sense and Sensibility, the financial difficulties of the family are his fault. Mr. Dudley approves two suitors who are revealed to be bad news, and although he claims to be above money matters, it does seem like he pushes his daughters to wed despite their hesitations because of his financial position. Despite some other issues with the novel–rushed relationships and too-convenient plot turns–the book was generally enjoyable and would probably be of interest to anyone interested in Austen or other books from that period. ( )