Sense and Sensibility, chapters 6-10

These are, in the main, restaging chapters. The Dashwood family has left the splendor of Norland and now arrives at, and settles into, Barton Cottage—comfortable enough, but "as a cottage it was defective, for the building was regular, the roof was tiled, the window shutters were not painted green, nor were the walks covered with honeysuckles." (A swipe at Merchant and Ivory, 250 years early.) There's a lot of bustling about and discussion of plans for certain rooms, and a lot of...