Julie's Review: The Three Weissmanns of Westport

Summary: “Sense and Sensibility” is transported to the world of hedge funds and infomercials in this clever, frothy novel. When Joseph Weissmann divorces Betty, his wife of forty-eight years, she takes refuge in her cousin’s cottage in Connecticut, with her two daughters. Annie, the elder, is a sober worrywart, while Miranda, the younger, is self-involved, inclined to melodrama, and on the verge of bankruptcy after her literary agency represented too many fraudulent memoirs. The sisters become involved in a shifting game of romantic entanglements that include a celebrated reclusive writer, a semi-retired lawyer, a Hollywood-bound schemer, an epidemiologist, and a couple of vacuous hangers-on. The ironic title—the three are anything but wise men—does little justice to Schine’s real wit, which playfully probes the lies, self-deceptions, and honorable hearts of her characters. ~cathleenschine.com

Review: When I received a copy of The Three Weissmanns of Westport,  I was hoping for a warm and loving story about a mother and her two grown daughters trying to rebuild their lives. What I got was a novel about 3 women who are so utterly lost that they just can't be found. That being said, the novel did have it's merits and that was in the secondary characters and the prose.

I admit it, I haven't read Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics) and it's been years since I've watched the movie. So, I can't and won't compare this to either of those.

When we are first introduced to Betty and her husband of 40+ years tells her he wants a divorce because of irreconciable differences. At first, I felt horrible for Betty. She's still in love with her husband and sinks into a depression. She passively lets Joseph handle the divorce and ends up getting screwed along the way. He pretty much leaves her destitute until the divorce can be resolved. If it wasn't for her Cousin Lou, who knows what would have happened to Betty if he didn't offer up the house in Westport. She is joined by her adult daughter's, Alice and Miranda. By adult, I mean one in her 50s and another one in her late 40s. Although you wouldn't guess it by the way they acted.

I thought the book would focus on the relationship between a mother and her daughters. While we did get some of that, it wasn't a real examination of it. It's obvious that Betty loves Alice and Miranda and the girls adore their mother. What the book focused on was love in the later years of life. Finding it, holding on to it and losing it.

It is the secondary plot lines that I enjoyed. I thought Cousin Lou and his snobby wife, Roslyn were a hoot. They added much needed humor into the book. Their dinners where "everyone is family" were great entertainment. I could envision the table and the eclectic guests.

Ms. Schine did a wonderful job of describing the house in Westport. The town, the beach, the Mayback's house were all vivid and jumped off the pages for me. I would love to take a blanket and a book out to the porch that looked out over the beach.

If you are a huge Jane Austen fan and have read Sense and Sensibility, then
The Three Weissmanns of Westport, you will enjoy the parallels that have escaped me. This book is perfect for a day at the beach or pool. If you are looking for a book for the upcoming Labor Day weekend, this would be a quick read.

Final Take: 3/5

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book.