Jane Austen in Scarsdale: Or Love, Death, and the Sats

Cohen tackled a Jane Austen plot once before, in Jane Austen in Boca (2003). In this novel, she pays witty homage to Persuasion-with a twist that wrings modern meaning out of the word-as she explores the lengths to which a high school guidance counselor goes to get her privileged students into college. Head of guidance at Fenimore High, Anne Ehrlich is knee-deep in worried students, demanding parents and the politics of college admissions when her old flame Ben Cutler returns to Scarsdale and enrolls his nephew in Fenimore. Anne's beloved granny-the only trustworthy relative in her family of self-centered social climbers-talked Anne into dumping Ben 13 years before, when he was a travel agency peon. Since then, he's become a successful travel writer and hooked a beautiful, worldly fiance. Pulled back into Ben's orbit by his college-bound nephew, Anne can't hide from her long-suppressed feelings anymore-but she'll try her best by getting involved with grieving poet Peter Jacobson. Endearing and fun, this narrative will ring true for anyone who's had a peek into the madness of college admissions, as well as anyone who's been unlucky in love.