BOOK: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

Have you ever imagined living in Jane Austen's era? Having servants, visiting, partaking in witty conversations? What about the bad teeth, smelly people, the rigid conventions and roles for women?

Courtney, who recently discovered her fiance having an affair, suddenly wakes up in Jane Mansfield's body in 1814. Courtney is a bit of a Jane Austen addict, she retreats to Pride and Prejudice when real life gets to be too much. She isn't too bothered by the fact of landing in Regency England with a similar mother and similar bad lovelife, and just rolls along with what her new life gives her. She has a potential husband, a loyal friend, and parties galore, also a domineering mother, no power, and no memories. She has practically landed in a Jane Austen novel.

Rigler writes a great romp for Austen fans and others as well. It's great chick lit and escapism and she manages to pull off the unreal situation surprisingly well, using something about the fluidity of time.

BOOK: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler


Austen Mini Challenge


I'm not the hugest Jane Austen fan, but I have enjoyed my little forays into her world. I've read two books - Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey. Then I watched part of the PBS Austen marathon, including the two novels I read, plus Mansfield Park. And I love Bridget Jones' Diary, which is simply P&P retold, including Colin Firth and Mr Darcy.


Fan or not, this book was enjoyable. I would guess that for the diehards, this book would be fabulous, with all the references to the novels and the abject adoration of Jane evident within the book club. For the casual reader like myself who is a little in awe of the Austenites, and a little scared of them, there is some playful humor making fun of the Jane fans.


Each Austen book gets a meeting and a host, and a chapter. The six members each get a focus of a chapter and we get to see the interactions and events in their lives. There are five women and one man, who could be considered the perfect hero. Different stages of relationships, matchmaking, uneven matches, and lost loves. I'm sure I missed the exact parallels to the novels, but I got quite a few. I was, however, extremely confused by the first person point of view, because it wasn't any of the characters and yet it was all of them. I'm not sure why it wasn't just third person, because the narrator changed around but was present and gave her/his opinion and little comments, but it was impossible to figure out who it was.


There are also tons of quotes at the end regarding Jane, and synopsis of the novels, and questions the characters would have asked at their meeting. The end notes added to the Austen experience.

What a great book to read for the Austen Mini-Challenge, for someone who doesn't want to read another Austen book (they take me forever!) I might still look for Austenland by Shannon Hale but this challenge is completed for me now:

In 2008 I read The Jane Austen Book Club, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and watched Pride & Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park.

CHALLENGE: Jane Austen Mini Challlenges

Mansfield Park

I would like to read the book now for this one, but I will have to get the image of Fanny out of my head, because this actress was just too jarring. The hair, the frown, smile, and the eyebrows just didn't fit with the times. It wasn't all bad, but it wasn't as good as Northanger Abbey and my new boyfriend, Henry Tilman.

I liked the parents in this one, not Fanny's, but Edmund's. And Edmund was good, almost good looking, but his sudden love of Fanny was quite abrupt. I wish there had been more with the sister's, Mariah and Julia, and that poor servant, Mrs Norris, who got put out on her ear when she didn't love Fanny enough. Mrs Norris reminded me of the cat from Harry Potter who patrols the halls. (I just read that JK Rowling named that cat after this character. Cool)

There seems to be so much to cover in the Austen movies that things happen abruptly. And unfortunately, with the changing times, it is hard to buy the whole 'cousins in love' aspect to the story. Ick. I liked the brother and sister who tried to marry into the family and provided some comic relief. I browsed a bit at the TWoP forum for Masterpiece, and I gather there were some radical departures in Fanny's character for this version, so it is just as well that I haven't read the book first.

Still looking forward to the Pride and Prejudice show.

CHALLENGE: Jane Austen Mini Challlenges

I haven't read a lot of Austen, but I think I might like the television shows. I watched Northanger Abbey tonight on PBS, and it was quite marvelous. Henry Tilman was perfect, and the actor who played him was ideal. I read Northanger Abbey last year for the Classics Challenge (winter)and I quite preferred it to Pride and Prejudice. I liked the humor as Austen pokes fun with her so very naive heroine and the hero who understands her perfectly, right from the start.

Look what I found at Becky's Cardathon blog. You have to picture the little smirk just behind those eyes of Henry Tilman's. Now I have a better memory of the show.

Here's the review I originally wrote last February for Northanger Abbey.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

I had planned to read Emma for the Challenge, but I never got into it, and it was too long. I decided to try Northanger Abbey on dailylit.com and I am glad I did. I ended up getting it from the library because I wanted to finish it more quickly, by the end of February.

I found this much more humorous as Austen seemed to be making fun of the social niceties of the day and also of her other novels,or at least other novels of that time. This is the story of Catherine, our heroine as she is directly called, as she matures and grows up to find love. She is sweetly naive and is confused by all the double talk of other characters. She assumes that people mean what they say and that isn't the case at all. She gradually becomes more careful of what she says and what she believes of others. Of course, there is a gentleman who recognizes her sweet charm and is the object of her affection. And it turns out well. Of course.
I really liked this one, more than Pride and Prejudice, and quite enjoyed the tale.

They did a marvelous job of bringing the book to life, including the imaginings as Catherine lets the novel Udolpho take over her imagination.