The Three Weissmanns of Westport

• Book: The Three Weissmanns of Westport
• Location: New York City (NYC), Palm Springs, Westport
• Author: Cathleen Schine

I picked this book because of the suggestion it was a modern Sense & Sensibility – nah. Not unless Austen, in the fifties she didn’t reach, co-wrote it with Woody Allen. This is a story primarily about sharply-drawn characters, bitter-sweet, occasionally laugh-aloud funny, often sad. Even when I realised this wouldn’t be the hilarious read suggested by some of the reviews I was hooked, and stayed with the story to the last page.

I don’t know Westport, or Palm Springs, or New York for that matter, so this was real trip fiction for me. I imagine anyone who does know any or all of those places will be delighted and enchanted. The various homes are detailed, the background lightly sketched but evocative even for this distant reader in Scotland.

Would I recommend it? Not as a light-hearted Austen-style romance, no. The only comparison could be the sharp eye for character, and it is very well written. On that basis, recommended wholeheartedly.

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