A few days ago, I saw on the TCM channel the movie ‘Mujercitas’; The second of the four ‘mainstream’ versions that have been made of the Louise May Alcott classic (there are actually many more adaptations to cinema and series). This film is 1949 and stars the unforgettable June Allison as Jo March and Peter Lawford as Laurie, and with a cast in which Elizabeth Taylor also shone, such as Amy and Janet Leigh, as older sister Meg.
It is my favorite adaptation of all; I have been able to see it more than a dozen times since I fell in love with her as a child and, seeing her, I remembered a trilogy of period books that I have discovered this year 2025 and that has fascinated me. In fact, when I get home, I always reserve for a while to immerse myself in reading this wonderful trilogy: I can see the landscapes, smell the sea and imagine the characters in stories that take place in the second third of the nineteenth century, in England. A delight.
This is the trilogy ‘on the coast of Devonshire’, by Julie Klassen, a prolific American author who declares is a fan of everything that has to do with Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. The presence of the writer of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Sense and Sensitivity’ is warned in the empowered protagonists, in the headings of the chapters, in the books that the protagonists see and in a tremendously faithful setting at the time.
The main protagonists of ‘On the coast of Devonshire’ are the Summers sisters who, unlike ‘mujercitas’, are five and not four -although the fifth, Claire, which is the largest, takes a bit to appear in the trilogy. As in Louisa May Alcott, there is a passionate about writing, a more tender and sensitive one, a more determined …
This is the trilogy ‘on the coast of Devonshire’
An authentic joy; I have seemed richer and more entertaining than the saga of ‘Los Bridgerton’ and it has been a very pleasant surprise. Set in the real town of Sidmouth, in Devon County, these are the three books of ‘On the coast of Devonshire’, all edited by silk books.
1) ‘A hotel by the sea’
At the death of their father, the Summers sisters (Sarah, Emily, Viola and Georgiana) receive from the family lawyer the bad news that the money of the inheritance is limited and that it will not last long. Sarah, who exercises as a family, proposes to open his family residence to the Sidmouth Sea to other guests to earn money and stay with this business. Their mother and sisters are reluctant, but in the end they accept, restore the house and visitors of all kinds begin to arrive, even elegant knights with whom love with young people may arise.
Pages: 448
2) ‘A winter by the sea’
On this occasion is Emily, Sister writer, the main protagonist of the novel. He has presented to a local editor a manuscript that rejects first, but another competitor promises to publish it with a condition: to write a Sidmouth guide before. Meanwhile, the Dukes of Kent have rented the neighboring house, Woolbrook Cottage, to spend the winter and the Summers family has received the request to host three members of the Dukes staff at the hotel. They will be somewhat strange men, with many secrets, but very handsome, such as the Secretary of the Duke, which is offered to Emily to help her write the guide.
Pages: 492
3) ‘A home by the sea’
The third part of the saga has just arrived at the bookstores, the most short of all, which is starring the older sister, Claire, of which in the first book they tell us that he has had a problem With his mother and sisters and that in recent years he has been living very far, in Scotland, along with an aunt. But now he is going to run out of place to live and long for his sisters, so he considers answering an advertisement in which they ask a ‘respectable lady’ to take care of a pension precisely in Sidmouth. He makes the decision to return to the coastal people but when he arrives, things are not what they look like: the guaporous owner hides something strange … and of course, she too.
Pages: 418
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