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Wives and Daughters

As those who know me already know, I’m a sucker for historical dramas. I especially love Jane Austin and other stories from the same period. I can’t quite figure out why. Why is it so appealing to watch stories about the lives of women during this period? Why is it so appealing to follow the lives of women who have only one goal, one thing that seems it will give their lives any meaning – marrying well.

I guess if being an old maid is a fate worse than death, I can be grateful I didn’t live then. Although good old Jane never married and somehow she survived. Perhaps it’s the gentile manners, the prescribed codes of conduct or just the flowery language.

And can you imagine these men? I truly wonder if men of this era were as prone to get swept up into the romantic goings on around them this way? At any rate, they seem to have a sense of romance that men, in general, in the real world, seem to lack. Perhaps if one were to develop a curriculum for men on how to be romantic, Jane Austin should be on the menu.

At any rate, this is not a Jane Austin story – although if you like her stories you’ll likely to like this BBC miniseries. It came out in 1999 and centers around a girl coming of age named Molly. Molly is very attached to her father. Her father, however, decides he needs to remarry and so in comes a step mother with a beautiful daughter of her own. Molly has a hard time adjusting, although thankfully gets along with her new step sister.

The step sister, however, has a “past” and Molly gets caught up in keeping her secrets. It almost “ruins her reputation as a respectable young lady.”

I don’t want to give away the ending, but the ending is the best part! This miniseries starts off kind of slow – but if you stick with it the plot becomes more and more interwoven and interesting.

Definitely a chick flick – and I don’t remember anything that would set off the family friendly meter. I’ve really got to pay more attention to that – but nothing made an impression that I remember. Again, younger viewers probably would just find the whole thing boring.

The series is available on Netflix instant play.

I give it four out of five spoons.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I love that show as well!!! Netflix is sooo great! Matt and I love it .... currently we are watching Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman together.... he actually likes it! Hope you are doing well!
The Rush Blog said…
I would probably give "WIVES AND DAUGHTERS" at least 3 1/2 spoons. I was a little disappointed with the miniseries' last 20-30 minutes, which covered Molly and Roger's romance.

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