The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo

Ellen and Mimi are fulfilling their mother's last wish by embarking on a walking tour of Hampshire, England. Their mother was a Jane Austen fan and her dying wish was for her daughters to walk the countryside that Jane herself had lived in.

Ellen and Mimi have never been close. Ellen is the sensible sister and Mimi has always been the flighty sister. Neither woman has been lucky in love. Ellen feels that she has always had to clean up Mimi's romantic disasters and Ellen herself lost the love of her life while she was in college.

 After arriving at their first hotel Ellen receives a package containing what appears to be the diary of Jane Austen's sister Cassandra. Shortly after that Daniel arrives on the scene. He is the only man that Ellen has ever loved. He is now divorced and his presence causes Ellen much stress.

Mimi in her usual fashion starts flirting with their tour guide Tom. She doesn't mean anything by it as he is way too old for her taste. She really falls for Ethan though and mistakenly tells him about Cassandra's diary. While the girls are studying the diary they soon find a sort of code in the words that Cassandra has written. It becomes obvious to them that Cassandra has left clues to a second hidden diary. One that could be worth much more than Cassandra's. When the diary disappears both girls have suspicions of who took it and for what reason.

What I enjoyed most about The Dashwood Sisters Tell All is the development of Ellen and Mimi's relationship. How it compared with Elinore and Marianne Dashwood's relationship in Sense and Sensibility and then to how it compared to even Jane and her sister Cassandra. I have really enjoyed reading Beth Pattillo's trips into Austen-land!