REVIEW: Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza & Emily Harding

In Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza & Emily Harding, A grad student at NYU and a fully-fledged member of society in Manhattan, Emma Woodhouse looks like a twenty-three-year-old woman who has it all. And in all fairness, she does have her fair share of blessings. But with her father preoccupied with his and everyone else’s health, her sister Margo now married and in her own place, and her friends living in different parts of the world, Emma is feeling a bit lost. Her new project literally bumps into her on the busy New York streets: fellow grad student Nadine Pittman. Sweet as could be and unaware of her own beauty, Emma knows Nadine could benefit from a makeover. And she’s just the woman to do it.

‘It felt like she had been playing a part for so long now but didn’t have the energy to maintain it. The facade was crumbling, and the strength to repair it was too herculean.’

But as Emma and Nadine become wonderful friends and the lives of her family and friends move ever forward, she still feels stuck. Trips to the Met, a date here and there, nothing cheers her up. Well, her back and forth conversations with neighbor George Knightley are the bright spots in Emma’s days. It’s a highlight for Knightley himself if he’s being honest. As he notices over time that his feelings for Emma have slowly changed from close friend to more of a romantic nature, Knightley worries that acting on them would put a wedge between them. He’d hate to damage the one friendship he counts on. But he doesn’t think he can let what he feels for Emma go without at least trying to see where it could lead them.

“But that’s the problem, Emma. I don’t want to be friends.”
“What do you want?” she whispered.
“I want you.”

A classic romance brought into the modern day without losing any of its charm or thoughtful observations of society, Emma of 83rd Street was a solid debut by authors Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding.

“You’re my forever relationship, Emma Woodhouse.”
A sly smile curled her lips. “I thought that wasn’t a thing.”
He grinned. “Oh, it is absolutely a thing.”

I do love a good Jane Austen retelling, and this proved to be a nice homage to the original while blending some modernity into the storyline. I will admit I still had moments where Emma’s matchmaking and her tendency toward frivolity got to me (just like in the original), but over time–as she and Knightley began their path to each other in earnest–it became almost a part of Emma’s charm. She wasn’t meddling in her loved one’s lives to be manipulative. No, she wanted each of them to be truly happy and settled in life. Well, okay, part of her was also a bit bored and lonely with her sister moving out after getting married and Emma’s closest friends being scattered across the globe. So, she used her time (in her way of thinking) to help others.

Now, to me, Knightley was very similar to Jane Austen’s version. He was as dreamy and devoted to Emma as I had hoped he would be, first as a close friend and then as much more. Although of course it took time to get there. He was overall on the quiet, serious side and didn’t show a lot of emotion–although he was very protective and deeply loved those he held close. Knightley wasn’t into long-term relationships. And his dates knew that upfront. So, I loved watching him slowly realize his true feelings for Emma and seeing how it changed his mind on romance, relationships, and even his workaholic ways. And that was very evident in the sweet, sentimental epilogue where we touched base with all of the quirky people in Emma and Knightley’s lives one more time, ending on a lovely note.

QOTD: Do you have a favorite Jane Austen character? (In her books or in the subsequent movies)

Book Info:

Publication: Published: May 23rd, 2023 | Gallery Books |

In this witty and romantic debut novel, Jane Austen’s Emma meets the misadventures of Manhattan’s modern dating scene as two lifelong friends discover that, in the search for love, you sometimes don’t have to look any further than your own backyard.

Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her tight-knit Upper East Side neighborhood with very little to distress or vex her…that is, until her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and subsequent move downtown. Now, with her sister gone and all her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school grappling with an entirely new emotion: boredom. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio transplant with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a potential new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would get out of her way.

Handsome, smart, and successful, the only thing that frustrates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her shopping sprees between classes or her revolving door of ill-conceived hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on all the finer points of adulthood she’s so hellbent on ignoring. But despite his gripes—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl-next-door is a woman now…one who he suddenly can’t get out of his head.

As Emma’s best laid plans collide with everyone from polyamorous hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two lifelong friends slowly realize their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they discover that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises.