Book Review: Austenland by Shannon Hale

Austenland
by Shannon Hale
Bloomsbury USA
Copyright 2007
202 pages
ISBN: 978-1-59691-286-1
Fiction


Synopsis: Jane Hayes is thoroughly obsessed with Jane Austen and the Colin Firth version of Mr. Darcy, although she stores the P&P dvd in the foliage of one of her neglected houseplants! When a wealthy Aunt discovers Jane's love of all things Austen she arranges a trip to an English resort aptly called Austenland. For 3 weeks Jane, aka Miss Erstwhile, is immersed in regency life and even meets her own potential Darcy. Jane must decide to leave her fantasies behind in Austenland and return to the daily grind in NYC or continue dreaming of the world created by Jane Austen 200 years ago.

My review: Haven't read anything remotely Austen-ish other than Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in the past month, I elected to read this book which came the other day via Bookmooch. I haven't read any of Shannon Hale's work before but if this book is any indication I'm sure her other books are terrific!

I really enjoyed this book and the main character, Jane. I'm sure Ms. Hale based her on me...or well at least on the many rabid Austen fans out there! I believe what Jane thought was tedious while at Austenland would be some of the things I would have dreaded in the 19th century! For instance being bored to tears with nothing to do other than play whist or the pianoforte or not being allowed to venture outside without a chaperon would annoy me after a while.

This was a cute book with a good message about relationships and making discoveries about yourself and maybe finding your own "not so perfect after all" Mr. Darcy!

To learn more about Shannon Hale and her other books visit:

*I received this book from Bookmooch, a terrific book swapping website!*


Comments

  1. KatyOctober 8, 2009 at 2:00 PM

    :) I enjoyed this book too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Margaret MetzOctober 10, 2009 at 12:11 PM

    This has been on my "list" for quite a while. I am quite the addict myself - and with your good review, I may just have to move it up a few spots!

    ReplyDelete

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