Austenland...Review

About the book:
Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.

Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen;or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It's all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

I loved it! Absolutely a delightful, easy read. I needed something light, because the last three books I read were on the heavy side! So, I read this book in an evening.

The premise is fun: a thirty-something single woman with an obsession with Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy. (Well, I'm a 40-something married woman who loves Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy!) Jane receives an vacation to an English estate modeled after Austen's world. The guests all take on personas similar to her characters and live their lives as if in 1816 England. It's a cute idea.

The author doesn't make any attempt to write like Jane Austen. Neither does she make pretenses for this being a sequel. I have yet to find any attempted Pride and Prejudice sequel that is worth my time.

Austenland is a delightful book, and definitely worth the couple of hours it took to read.

Thanks to my local library for having a copy I could borrow.

Read 11/07

* * * *
4/5 Stars

Comments

  1. I'm glad that you enjoyed this book! I read it and thought that it was okay, but then I haven't read Jane Austen's books (other than P&P). I have enjoyed others of Shannon Hale's books though. If you haven't allready read The Princess Academy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved this book too. It was great!! I think women who love P&P, Darcy, and Colin Firth can really relate.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment