Sense Sensibility and Spilling the Tea

<p>(originally published in 2011 as <em>The Dashwood Sisters Tell All)</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Were ever two sisters more different?</strong></p><p></p><p>I've never been close with my sister Mimi but my mother's dying wish sends the two of us on a walking tour in England that follows in the footsteps of Jane Austen. Once there we discover that our mother also left us a mysterious diary that belonged to Jane's sister Cassandra. Its undiscovered pages shed light on the secrets that nearly tore the Austen sisters apart and inspired one of the great love stories from Jane's pen. </p><p></p><p>As my sister and I visit the places that were important to the Austens from Steventon Church to Chawton Great House to the cathedral at Winchester we discover that Cassandra's diary holds clues that lead to that holiest of grails-Jane Austen's own diary. Someone though doesn't want us to find Jane's diary and they will do whatever it takes to keep us from discovering its whereabouts.</p><p></p><p>My sister and I also face unexpected paths to love as we traipse through Hampshire. A formidable colonel can't keep his eyes off Mimi and my own lost love reappears in a fashion that's so timely it's suspicious. As we retrace the steps of the Austen sisters we discover what (and who) inspired Jane to write the famous sisters of <em>Sense and Sensibility</em> Elinor and Marianne Dashwood and we come to realize as the Dashwood and Austen sisters did before us that despite our differences sisters are vital to one another's happy endings.</p><p></p>