Modern take on Austen's 'Sense' on its way

LONDON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- British author Joanna Trollope is to write a modern re-telling of Jane Austen's 200-year-old literary classic "Sense and Sensibility," her publisher said.

Trollope is the author of "The Choir" and "Friday Nights." She is to head up next year's Orange Prize for Fiction contest, as well.

Her version of "Sense and Sensibility," which is about the loves and losses of the once-wealthy Dashwood sisters, is to be published in the fall of 2013 as part of a series of six HarperFiction novels that rework Austen's beloved books, the BBC said.

"This is a great honor and an even bigger challenge," said Trollope. "It's a hugely exciting proposal to attempt the reworking of one of the best novels written by one of our greatest novelists. This is a project which will require consummate respect above all else -- not an emulation, but a tribute."

"Joanna Trollope and Jane Austen share an extraordinary ability to combine heart-rending plots with a social acuity which has powerful resonances for contemporary audiences," the BBC quoted HarperFiction publishing director Louise Joyner as saying.

The authors of the updates of "Pride and Prejudice," "Emma," "Persuasion," Northanger Abbey" and "Mansfield Park" have not been announced yet.