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Chapters (59)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Praise
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. January
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. February
  13. Six
  14. Seven
  15. Eight
  16. Nine
  17. Ten
  18. Eleven
  19. Twelve
  20. March
  21. Thirteen
  22. Fourteen
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. April
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Twenty
  30. Twenty-One
  31. Twenty-Two
  32. Twenty-Three
  33. Twenty-Four
  34. Twenty-Five
  35. May
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. June
  43. Thirty-Two
  44. Thirty-Three
  45. Thirty-Four
  46. Thirty-Five
  47. Thirty-Six
  48. Thirty-Seven
  49. Thirty-Eight
  50. Thirty-Nine
  51. Forty
  52. July
  53. Forty-One
  54. Epilogue
  55. Acknowledgments
  56. Author’s Note
  57. Ladies of the House - Reader’s Guide
  58. Questions For Discussion
  59. Excerpt

Still, while the Richardsons have far more legal rights and agency than women in Austen’s era, they too find themselves constrained by that question of how a woman should be. When older sister Daisy Richardson is faced with the dilemma to speak out or stay quiet regarding her late father’s corrupt behavior, at first she chooses the latter. Her silence, she rationalizes, is the safest, most practical choice because women are often excoriated when they publicly speak truth about powerful men. I wanted my novel to be hopeful, though, and so while at first Daisy obeys the demands of the patriarchy, she and Wallis ultimately triumph by writing and following their own set of rules, learning how to use their power in a way that reflects who they are and not who society says they should be.

While some may read Marianne and Elinor Dashwood as each representing two contrasting types of impulses—sense and sensibility—in my view, Austen’s novel, and my own, are not so much about the differences between the sisters, but the unbreakable bond between them—how the women’s support and love for each other is the real, transformative power.

Ladies of the House - Reader’s Guide

Ladies of the House

Lauren Edmondson

Reader’s Guide

Questions For Discussion

Questions for Discussion

  1. Discuss the plot differences between Ladies of the House and Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. How does Lauren Edmondson’s novel update Jane Austen’s?
  2. What do you think Jane Austen might say about the society in which Daisy and Wallis operate? What has or has not changed for women since the Austen era?
  3. Did you understand Daisy’s justifications for not initially going public about her father’s behavior?
  4. Did you think Daisy’s ultimate decision to speak out was the right move? Why or why not? What might you have done in her situation?
  5. How did you feel about Wallis at the beginning of the novel versus the end? Do you think she grew as a character? In what way?
  6. Daisy at first has trouble accepting Blake because of his family’s actions. Is this something you have ever faced in your own life? Can you separate a person from their beliefs?
  7. Toward the end of the novel, Daisy tells Blake Darley: “You think you’re something special, don’t you? You think you’re unique. But you’re just one of the millions in this town who will regularly choose power above all.” Is this a fair assessment of him? Or did you have more sympathy for Blake?
  8. As parents, how are Gregory Richardson, Cricket Richardson, Melinda Darley, and Judge Collette Reed similar and/or different?
  9. Which character(s) did you most identify with in the novel? Why?
  10. How can society better support women and raise up their voices?

Excerpt

It’s the wedding of the season, and all of Newport is abuzz...

in this delightful, witty novel about two society families