Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Book #27 - Austenland



Austenland
Shannon Hale


Blurb: 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? (From Goodreads)

Opening Sentence: " It is a truth universally acknowledged that a thirty-something woman in possession of a satisfying career and fabulous hairdo must be in want of very little, and Jane Hayes, pretty enough and clever enough, was certainly thought to have little to distress her."

Length: Short - 196 pages

Notes: I actually liked this book more than I should probably admit to.  :) It had really mixed reviews on Goodreads, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I think I liked it so much because I saw some of myself in Jane - back before I got married.  I think I could relate to her, and it made me really like her.  I found this book completely entertaining!

Random quote: " All the hours she had spent daydreaming of living in Austen’s world, and now here she was pondering the mundane realities of normal life. It seemed too cruel."

Recommend: yes

Have you read this book? Share your feelings!

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