Sense and Sensibility
There is a lot said of countenances.
Elinor and Marianne have markedly different countenances and differ on the best way to face the society presented to them by their neighbors and acquaintances. Marianne has little patience for measuring character and follows her passions, where they lead her to a predictable end. Elinor, however, makes a religion out of social observances and goes through a lot of internal heartache and suffering to prevent others from knowing her true feelings in order to keep up a good front.
They, along with their mother and younger sister, are forced to seek out a new home in a distant county after the death of their father. The sisters have little fortune of their own to pave their way in the wider world. The Dashwoods are content to settle quietly in the country until they are pressed by a well-meaning neighbor into a wider society. Complications arise with suitors, perceived engagements, ill-bred drawing room companions, withheld letters and overweening honor.
It's about more than that, of course. The humor is as strong here as her other novels, if not more so. As many reviews have pointed out the real meat of the novel is in the relationship between the sisters themselves and between each of them and their mother. I've only read two other Austen novels so far, so this was my first taste of a full family dynamic that felt genuine. None of them were perfect and they unintentionally worked against each other as often as for each other. There were aspects of the plot that seemed like too much of a stretch, a little too convenient, but I enjoyed reading this and will have to make a decision on which one to read this year.
