Booklist Review
This first book by Academy Award^-winning actress Emma Thompson contains both the screenplay of the Jane Austen novel and the diary she kept during the long months of filming. Thompson labored over the screenplay for five years, and the resulting treatment of what many consider Austen's weakest novel is strong, well written, and enjoyable to read. Fans of the movie as well as of Austen will enjoy perusing the screenplay, and the accompanying photographs of the cast and set are striking. The last section of the book is dedicated to Thompson's diary, which is fairly brief, written in sharp, witty style, and alternately hilarious and morose. Thompson's musings and witticisms are often very funny and ultimately provide a clear, definitely unglamorous documentary of life on a movie set. An interesting introductory piece by producer Lindsay Doran details the 15-year odyssey that finally saw the film to fruition. Kathleen Hughes