The Three Weissmanns of Westport

By: Cathleen Schine

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

The Three Weissmanns of Westport is a sparkling contemporary adaptation of Sense and Sensibility from the always-winning Cathleen Schine.

In Schine's story, sisters Miranda, an impulsive but successful literary agent, and Annie, a pragmatic library director, quite unexpectedly find themselves the middle-aged products of a broken home. Dumped by her husband of nearly 50 years and then exiled from their elegant New York apartment by his mistress, the sisters' mother, Betty, is forced to move to a small, run-down Westport, Connecticut, beach cottage owned by her wealthy and generous cousin Lou. Joining her are Miranda - escaping unexpected literary scandals - and Annie, who dutifully comes along to keep on eye on her capricious mother and sister. As the two sisters mingle with the suburban aristocracy, love starts to blossom for both of them, and they find themselves struggling with the dueling demands of reason and romance.

©2010 Cathleen Schine (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

Jane Austen’s beloved Sense and Sensibility has moved to Westport, Connecticut, in this enchanting modern-day homage to the classic novel.
"Compulsively readable....A smart crowd pleaser with lovably flawed leads and the best tearjerker finale you're likely to read this year." (Publishers Weekly)
"Schine writes with the speed and punch of a seasoned comic, conveying her character in a single line of dialogue." (The New Yorker)
"Her eye for telling detail and the giveaway gesture is faultless, and her ear for dialogue is just as finely attuned." (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times)

entertaining middle age chick lit

This is the audio equivalent of an engaging beach read for -- sigh -- the post 45 set. Good for relaxation, but also somewhat gratingly cliched.

If only....

..the narrator hadn't been so boring, and researched how to pronounce certain words which she'd obviously never heard.
...the plot hadn't disintegrated to a luke-warm pot-boiler by hour 3.
...trusted "critics" hadn't led me to believe this was worth at least a light-summer-listen...
...then I might not be so disappointed!

Sorry but disliked

My dislike for this book is that it didn't have a plot or story. Can't say I would recommend this book. My rating is low because I didn't care for the book. No story just a family complaining over their lives. I did listen to the full story trying to give it a chance to see if it would turn but never did.

fun listen, but narrator unworthy

I just finished listening to this book. I actually had to bring my ipod in from the car to get the last 30 minutes or so because I was enjoying the story so much. I will heartily recommend this book to my friends, but can't truly recommend this audio experience: I agree with the last reviewer in that the narrator just doesn't seem to "get" these characters... I mean, for goodness sake, the Three Weissmanns are exiled New Yorkers! give us some NY! Five stars for the book, 2 stars for narration.

Eh. Don't bother.

I don't know how I actually managed to listen to the whole thing. The narration was almost unbearably irritating-- affected and snobby sounding. I didn't care much about the characters. Though it picked up a little toward the end, generally speaking I was quite disappointed (esp having read a few good reviews).