REVIEW: The Importance of Being Emma by Juliet Archer
It is fitting that a company called Choc Lit produced this fluffy confection of a book, a modern-set retelling of Emma, as it is as sweet and light as a piece of nougat that melts quickly on the tongue.
Emma Woodhouse is 23, with a freshly minted Harvard MBA to go with her bachelor’s from the London School of Economics. She’s no dummy, but unfortunately all her business knowledge is strictly academic, and she needs hands-on experience as she takes over marketing for the family gourmet food business—and her brother-in-law Mark Knightley, an executive with his own family’s organic food business, is just the person to mentor her. However, Mark’s growing attraction for Emma and her self-satisfied mistakes complicate their business dealings.
The plot closely follows the original, and it’s fun to see the very modern aspects of marketing and business skillfully worked into the narrative. The secondary characters are all there: Harriet Smith is a temp with an Essex accent and tacky dress sense; Philip Elton is Hartfield’s financial director, and after being spurned by Emma, becomes engaged to Gusty, a nosy business consultant; Miss Bates is Mr. Woodhouse’s garrulous personal assistant, called Batty behind her back by Emma; Jane Fairfax is an intern at Hartfield; and Frank Churchill is a celebrity chef who had been raised in Australia by his aunt, and who distracts Emma with his flirtatious ways.
Ms. Archer is a talented writer and her prose style is definitely a big step above the average Austen fan fiction; the story is smart and funny and never overwrought or melodramatic. We understand she is planning modern-set rewritings of all of Jane Austen’s novels—we suppose a sort of more secular version of Debra White Smith’s series. For those who prefer their Austen paraliterature without explicit sexual content, there is a little bit here, but the book is far from a bodice-ripper, and the scenes are relatively short and tastefully done.
The only negative we can say about the book is that it is perhaps a little too fluffy, and the retelling is so close to Jane Austen’s novel there is little surprise or suspense for a reader familiar with the original; but it’s hard to quibble when the result is so enjoyable. The Importance of Being Emma is a fun summer book, perfect for reading on a hot, lazy afternoon. Like a single piece of good chocolate, it’s a sweet treat that you won’t regret later.
The Importance of Being Emma is available in paperback and ebook (PDF, Microsoft Lit, and Mobipocket formats, with no DRM, huzzah!) from Choc Lit. A sample chapter is available at the same link.
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Finally a book about Emma Thompson!
Link to sample chapter seems to be broken
It should work now. It’s actually the same link as the first one in the review.
Ordinarily a book like this would be just my thing. But the idea of a 23 year old having a degree from the LSE plus a Harvard MBA is too much “belief” for me to suspend. Age 27, ok. Age 23? Preposterous. Sorry.
Sounds great – I’m putting this on my “to read” list!
to #4: Good point. The real Emma would have made a start on all those degrees, plus several more, but she would not have finished any of them.
I wonder why George Knightley’s name was changed to Mark. Isn’t that the name they used for Darcy in Bridget Jones or one of the other movies? Is there something about that name that I don’t know?
Tina, I thought the same thing about Mark. I will say that in this book, his father is still alive and his name was George, and being a modern story, everyone called him George, not Mr. Knightley, so it might have been confusing to have two Georges running around. (George has a trophy wife, by the bye.)
Sounds like fun…may give it a go! I like Emma in the “What Not to Wear” mode–suits her perfectly, imo.
To the person who commented on Emma’s age earlier: it is possible to get a advanced degrees early, although I know it’s rare. My husband had his master’s degree in computer science at 19. If he’d chosen to continue with the doctoral program he would have had that by 22. I was previously engaged to someone who received his M.D. at 23.
Personally, I don’t see Emma as the type of person who’d do this, but given the right circumstances I don’t think it would be unbelievable. I’m looking forward to reading this book!
Hi. I’m comment #4, the one objecting to Emma’s age. Of course it’s theoretically possible for someone to have advanced degrees at a young age. However, the comment from Tina B. explained my objection a little better. Can’t see Emma doing it, sorry.
Also, not to drop the H-bomb, but what the heck, this is anonymous. The top business schools like Harvard rarely if ever take students directly after their undergraduate degree. I know this from direct personal experience.
Thank you for explaining that, Mags. I could not imagine Mr. Knightley as a junior to anyone, so I suppose it is best that they have two different names. I should go look up Mark in that Jennifer & Jason, etc. baby book. I’d be interested in hearing their take on the connotations of the name Mark. Maybe it would help me understand why it is used as a substitute for Jane Austen heroes.
Hi there, I’m the author of The Importance of Being Emma and, first of all, let me say that I’m thrilled with the book’s review on AustenBlog.
I’m also delighted to have generated so many comments. The only reason I haven’t responded earlier is that I’ve been in the US and Scotland (holiday, plus a bit of book promotion) and only returned home late last night. So, here goes!
Comment #4 – I did check this out and it is technically possible, as Beth says in #9. And I reckoned if anyone could wangle anything from Harvard, it would be Emma Woodhouse. Hence my book title – she’s so full of her own importance! The point it’s meant to illustrate is that she breezes into her family company full of theory but with no practical experience in the outside world. And don’t worry – Mark Knightley picks her up on this point early in chapter 1! Finally, I chose Harvard as nothing but the best – or one of the best – will do for Emma Woodhouse.
Comment #6 – Tina B. – fair challenge. We know that Emma started lots of things and never finished them when younger. I took the view that this was partly because she was competing with Jane Fairfax and/or she was bored rigid by whatever she was doing. I have included references to this teenage Emma throughout the book, often as put-downs from Mark. However, I also took the view that, as Jane Austen tells us, Emma is highly intelligent and – once she felt passionate about something – she would see it through to completion. She certainly feels passionate about her family company and wants to be taken seriously, especially by those directors who’ve known her since she was little. So acquiring knowledge and gaining the credibility that she imagines top degrees give her, have been relatively easy and extremely important achievements as far as she’s concerned.
Comment # 6 and others – Mr Knightley’s name change. As I modernise Jane Austen’s novels, I change characters’ names only with good reason. In the UK, I don’t know any men in their mid-30s called George – they are either much older or much younger. I certainly like the name, especially when it is worn by a certain Mr Clooney! So I called Mr Knightley Senior ‘George’ (I felt he had to be alive – enough parents in the original Emma have expired as it is – and I am including Mr Woodhouse in this!) and looked round for a similar solid-sounding name of one syllable for his son. For personal reasons, it came down to ‘Mark’. Similarly with Persuasion – I’ve changed Frederick (or ‘Captain’ as he is usually known!) to Rick because I thought it had a more contemporary feel.
It’s been great to ‘meet’ you and I hope I’ve cleared up those points.
If you read my book, please don’t hesitate to visit my website and give me feedback – I’ve even had a glowing review from one of my writing icons, Joanna Trollope!
Hugs, Juliet
Juliet, thanks for popping in to answer our questions! Stick around, this is a great gathering place.
Thanks, Deb, I will. It’s a wonderful site!
Juliet x