Emma A Modern Retelling by Alexander McCall Smith

"Emma looked at Miss Taylor. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes. Jane hated her; that had been spelled out to her. Frank took the view that she had grossly complicated his life through her indiscretion. Harriet regarded her as a rival, and Philip no doubt blamed her for his downfall and disgrace. Nobody, it seemed, liked her---apart from her father, and possibly George, and even then he had been cross about her rudeness to Miss Bates, even if he later gave her credit for trying to make amends.  All of these people, she thought, could so easily see me as an enemy."
                             Emma's revelations, from the novel

I was not familiar with the original Emma written by Jane Austen so after reading this novel, I found the following on Wikipedia:

"Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about youthful hubris and the perils of misconstrued romance. The novel was first published in December 1815. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively comedy of manners among her characters. Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, 'I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.' In the first sentence she introduces the title character as 'Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich.' Emma is spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives; and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray."

Except for the modern day setting, this describes Smith's Emma quite well. I was especially struck by "comedy of manners" and by Austen's intention that the reader wouldn't much like the heroine at the start. This updated Emma does seem very self-centered and a bit snobbish but by the end, this reader somehow ended up rooting for her. My quote at the beginning of the post comes from near the end of the novel when Emma discovers some unflattering facts about herself, partly due to the ever-so-wise, Miss Taylor, her former governess. By choosing this quote I thought I could pique your interest in the plot without any actual "spoilers."

I found this version of Emma to be quite entertaining---light reading, to be sure, but with some challenging vocabulary thrown in from time to time. I will rate it a 4 and recommend it to ladies, particularly.