Ladies of the House: A Novel

Adjectives to describe this book include: delightfully witty, engaging, entertaining, clever, insightful and fast-paced. To break it down, the book is touted as a “Modern Retelling of Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen. Gasp! I never read that entire book, so I can’t tell you whether this one was an accurate re-telling, but I do know that Austen did not dabble into loose morals, so this modern story definitely left the trail provided by Austen in many ways. However, I actually enjoyed this book, which was one of the reasons I did not enjoy Austen’s dry book. This book captured me from page one, with the dilemma of Cricket (the mom), and her two daughters Daisy and Wallis. Senator Gregory Richardson died of a heart attack with another woman and his family left behind has to survive the scandal. Unfortunately, the man who lost his reputation also lost his money and the family has to sell the family home. I felt bad for what each of them had to face in the judgmental society of D.C. The characters were well-developed and the conversations that took place between them was unexpectedly humorous. Daisy was the main character and the one who was determined at all costs to salvage the family’s name. With acerbic social commentary on the life and politics of D.C. this book was like reading an extended gossip column, with some PG rated details. My favorite character was Daisy’s best friend Atlas, a newspaper columnist tasked with writing an exposé of the disgraced senator. He was totally charming and seemed to be there to rescue Daisy from herself. He was also the one who was intelligently insightful into what was actually happening with the family. As the debut novel of this author, this book impressed me with its brilliantly crafted and uniquely relevant to our times social commentary on life among the rich and powerful. The author has done a magnificent job of representing the family drama genre! Disclaimer Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”