Jane Austen in Scarsdale

Jane Austen in Scarsdale is another wonderful book from Paula Cohen. Like her first two novels, Jane Austen in Bocca and Much Ado About Jessie Kaplan, it is a slice of ordinary life with all its humor and pathos. Nothing really out of the ordinary happens, and yet the story is absorbing because the characters are so human. Cohen's books are infused with a deep love of, and respect for, humanity. Some characters are more likeable than others, but none is unlikable. And yet both the characters and the plot ring true. This is a rare achievement and testament to Cohen's exceptionally keen powers of observation and her superior craft as a storyteller. Her world is not simply a beautiful place to visit, she succeeds, as only the greatest storytellers ever do, in convincing us that it is perhaps where we have been living all along.

This is another literary bon-bon from a talented author, with characters you root for and empathize with. I'm a huge Jane Austen fan so it's a pleasure to read the Persuasion story, updated to a believable and relevant situation. Today's college application process is truly ripe for satire and Cohen has caught the right tone and lunacy, yet found the humor and emotion in it as well. Bravo!

You normally aren't pyscho but getting your child into the best college, or one that you prefer you go crazy. That is why there are guidance counselors! This one is a single, thirty-something, young woman who has had one true love in her life that she let slip away. All the sudden Ben shows up. But he is engaged. Should she forget about him and move on? She wants to but her heart won't let her. In the meantime she meets a few men, but they just aren't BEN! However, her grandma who said once upon a time that Ben wasn't good for her, has changed her tune. But a life-changing moment changes everything. This is an author to keep your eye on.

I don't know if I laughed out loud only because I am High School Guidance Counselor, but many parts made me laugh. This was a great book. The author captured a lot of what means to be a High School Guidance Counselor, and she also told a great love story.

"Jane Austen in Scarsdale," by Paula Marantz Cohen, is a breezy and humorous romantic comedy set in the affluent county of Westchester, New York. Thirty-four year old Anne Ehrlich was born into wealth, but her family is now barely solvent, thanks to the profligate spending habits of her widowed father, Elihu. Anne spends her days soothing overwrought high-schoolers and helping them get into the right college. Cohen scores in her dead-on description of the competitive and high-strung Scarsdale parents who push their children mercilessly and often unrealistically to ace their SATs, write the perfect college admissions essay, and earn a spot in a top college. It is to Anne's credit that she manages to keep her sanity working in the pressure cooker of Fenimore High. Anne's stress level rises even more when someone from her past turns up in town. Ben Cutler was penniless when he and Anne fell in love many years ago. Because of Ben's lack of prospects and her family's disapproval, Anne abruptly broke off their relationship. Now Ben is a rich and successful travel writer who has arrived in Westchester with his sister and nephew, Jonathan. Unfortunately for Anne, Ben is engaged to a beautiful woman named Kirsten, and Anne must find a way to bury her feelings for this still very attractive man. "Jane Austen in Scarsdale" is a fast-moving, entertaining, and savvy look at the bad choices we make and later regret. Cohen makes some telling points about the importance of staying true to ourselves, especially when we have controlling parents who want to orchestrate our lives and make crucial decisions for us. This enchanting comedy of manners is a deliciously wicked satire and a poignant love story that should have wide audience appeal among fans of contemporary light fiction.