Review: Austenland by Shannon Hale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From Goodreads.com:

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 read Austenland as a mild Austen fan– I’m not obsessed, but I’ve read all the books, most of them more than once, and I’ve seen multiple movie versions as well.

I very much enjoyed this book on several levels.

First, it was cute and fun, and was just a pleasure on that surface level.The descriptions of Jane hiding her DVD of Pride and Prejudice, of her dealing with her (contraband) cell phone, and her dealings with the other guests at Pemberley were light and funny. The recaps of Jane’s previous “boyfriends” (anyone she’d ever dated) were laugh out loud funny at times, even while being sadly real. Also, I like fish out of water stories, and Jane trying to fit into a (faux) Regency England qualified.

Second, I was entertained by the Austen references. I wonder how many more I missed.  I’m a fan of books about bookish things, and again, this book fit into that niche for me.

Third, I appreciated the slightly deeper perspective of the book, looking at reality vs. fantasy in relationships, particularly in their early stages. I enjoyed getting to know Jane through the recaps of her past romances– they painted quite a picture of her when put together. Even better were her reflections as she moved through her Pemberley experience– she really was making an effort to think through her life.

In the end, I liked this book because it was the kind of book I like.  I really enjoyed The Actor and the Housewife when I read it earlier this year for similar reasons.  Like that book, Austenland won’t be for everyone, but Austenland lives up to its description.

I read this as part of the Everything Austen Challenge. This is the 4th item (out of 6) that I’ve completed– I’m probably not going to finish the challenge by the end of the month.

Thank you to Stephanie at Stephanie’s Written Word for organizing this challenge.