Full review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books 
 Have you ever had the experience of enjoying a book as you were actually reading it and then five seconds after finishing it realizing that everything about the book was enraging? That was my experience with Alexander Smith McCall's adaptation of Emma. I was so frustrated by the depiction of the character Emma that I kept flying into rages after I finished, but at the same time the side characters and the prose had sort of lulled me into a peaceful state of submission during the moments when I was actually reading. 
 The plot of this adaptation is nearly identical to the plot of the original Emma, although the setting is present-day rural England as opposed to Regency rural England. Emma graduates from college and comes home while she thinks about maybe having a career in interior design. She decides to fix the life of a lower-income woman, Harriet Smith, by setting her up with the extremely annoying local vicar who is also rumored to be rich. 
 McCall Smith's story would be fine (barring some plot stuff I'll talk about in a minute) if it weren't an adaptation. It's especially glaring because it's such a faithful adaptation in every respect other than time period and the portrayal of Emma as mean. In fact, even the time period stuff is extremely watered-down: it doesn't feel modern other than the presence of cars and gap years. Because the book is marked as an adaptation, I think it's fair to judge it on those merits: not just, "Is it a good book," but rather, "Is it a good adaptation of a pre-existing work?" 
 As a stand-alone book about a mean girl who learns compassion, it's fine. As an adaptation of Emma, it's a disaster. Austen's Emma, when she realizes she's screwed up with regard to Harriet, apologizes to Harriet tearfully and sincerely. McCall Smith's Emma tells a lie that contributes to the ruination of another character and she's not sorry about that, either. She's Emma The Evil instead of Emma The Well-Meaning Moron. 
 - Carrie S.