The Dashwood Sisters Tell All

By Beth Pattillo

From the back of the book:

Ellen and Mimi Dodge have never been close, but their mother’s dying wish sends them on a walking tour of Hampshire, England, that follows in the footsteps of Jane Austen. Their mother also left them something: a mysterious diary that belonged to Jane’s sister Cassandra. Hidden for centuries, the diary sheds light on the secrets that nearly tore the Austen sisters apart and inspired one of the greatest love stories of all time.

Just my opinion:

This is the second book by Beth Pattillo that I’ve reviewed. The other was Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart in January 2010. That one also had a Jane Austen theme and I enjoyed it as well.

These are delightful stories of modern-day people who have a connection to Austen. In The Dashwood Sisters Tell All, the two main characters are sisters and their mother, who recently passed away, was a great fan of Austen. She arranges a tour of the area where Austen lived for the two girls, who are loosely named for characters in one of Austen’s books, as a way to bring them together. She also wants her ashes scattered in the area and leaves the location up to her daughters.

The two are as different as night and day and Beth does an excellent job of bringing their personalities to the written page. As a result, the reader truly gets to know the characters and begins to see how there are certain traits that point to some similarities as well.

It’s a fun story to read and I had a difficult time putting the book down. In fact, when I got to the point where I only had about 100 pages to finish it, I stayed up late into the night … determined to find out what happened at the end of the book.

Fans of Jane Austen will enjoy reading this tale, as will those who aren’t familiar with this legendary writer. The book may even convince you it’s time to read all of Austen’s writing – and to pick up the other novels by Beth Pattillo.