Emma: a Latter-day tale - Review

Everytime I hear the Miramax theme start at the beginning of a movie (any Miramax movie) I think of Emma. The Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma movie version.  My sister and I, while we were roommates in college used to listen to the movie. A friend of ours used to tape movies and listen to them in her car on long trips. She made us a tape of this movie. We didn't need the visuals because we had seen the movie enough times to know exactly what was going on in each scene. So many nights we would start the tape with that Miramax theme and then listen to Gwyneth and Jeremy Northam's voices as we fell asleep.

Before this movie even came to the theaters I had roommate (a different one, not my sister) who would challenge us to read the book before we went to see the movie. I hadn't read Emma before this and since the movie was coming out I agreed to the challenge. We read Emma and then had a girls night out and with a bunch of friends went to the movie when it came out.

Since that first introduction to the book and then the movie. I have read the book a few more times and watched a number of different movie versions. In fact I watched Clueless only a few weeks ago when I couldn't find anything else to watch on Netflix that sounded good to me. So I guess what I am trying to say is that I am well acquainted with the Jane Austen's Emma.

When I saw a Latter-day version was available on NetGalley for review I jumped at the chance to read it. I love reading modern day versions of stories I already love.  I also realized I had read Rebecca Jamison's Persuasion: A latter-day tale a while back and really liked that one as well.
So I went into this reading already knowing I was most likely going to enjoy it.

As far as plot goes... it was Emma, just like the plot I already knew, but with an LDS twist. The parties were Family Home Evenings, Singles activities and Baptisms rather than grand balls or well planned outings. It all seemed to work well within the already well established story.  But unlike the book Emma or the movie version I had watched this book explores a lot more about Emma and her journey. She recognizes her short comings and isn't quite as much of a snob as she is in the original. Rather than the emphasis on money and social status this version explores the idea of self righteousness,how we treat others, and honesty with others and self. I enjoyed that aspect of this version a lot! Maybe because I can relate to that a bit more :)

So it was a fun read for me. I think I need to revisit Austen's version again soon.