A Season in Mansfield Park
by Cindy Jones
Description from Amazon:
Lily has squeezed herself into undersized relationships all her life, hoping one might grow as large as those found in the Jane Austen novels she loves. But lately her world is running out of places for her to fit. So when her bookish friend invites her to spend the summer at a Jane Austen literary festival in England, she jumps at the chance to reinvent herself.
There, among the rich, promising world of Mansfield Park reenactments, Lily finds people whose longing to live in a novel equals her own. But real-life problems have a way of following you wherever you go, and Lily's accompany her to England. Unless she can change her ways, she could face the fate of so many of Miss Austen's characters, destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
by Giada
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Review:
This novel is not what I expected it to be and, sometimes, it was hard to digest. Forget “Happily Ever After”, forget “Fairy Tale Love Stories” and be ready for a realistic story, believable characters and a journey of self-discovery.
Lily Berry is a character desperate for a change. Her love life ruined, her family upside-down, she seeks refuge in the only things that give her solace… Jane Austen’s books.
I have to be honest...I didn’t like Lily and could not relate to her. Even if living in a novel would be an amazing experience (it depends on “what” novel though… I wouldn’t particularly like to find myself in It by Stephen King), I always believed that problems are something to be faced with courage and not something to escape from.
Nevertheless My Jane Austen Summer is a story I grew to love page after page. I admired Lily’s determination to change her life and rooted for her in her quest for happiness. Life is not easy, but eventually Lily manages to overcome her problems and fears and, most important of all, she comes to understand that happiness doesn’t just fall into your lap. Happiness is the fruit of hard work.
" True happiness involves the full use of one's power and talents." (John W. Gardner)
Baci!
Giada
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Guest post created by by Giada of Dr. Stravagante’s Traveling Book Circus
© 2012. All rights reserved.
by Giada
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* image source tea cups
