by Laurie Viera Rigler
narrated by Orlagh Cassidy
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Published: 2007
Publisher: Dutton
Genre: Chick-lit, Jane Austen, Time Travel
Hardback: 304 pages
Rating: 4
Jane Austen Addict series:
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict
book 3 - tba
First sentence(s):
Why is it so dark in here? And that smell, like dried lavender mixed with ammonia.
After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up and finds herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England.
Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy? Not only is Courtney stuck in another woman’s life, she is forced to pretend she actually is that woman; and despite knowing nothing about her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. But not even her level of Austen mania has prepared Courtney for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condom-less seducers, and marriages of convenience.
This looking-glass Austen world is not without its charms, however. There are journeys to Bath and London, balls in the Assembly Rooms, and the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, who may not be a familiar species of philanderer after all. But when Courtney’s borrowed brain serves up memories that are not her own, the ultimate identity crisis ensues. Will she ever get her real life back, and does she even want to?
My two-bits:
Loved getting transported to the world of Jane Austen. The sights, sounds and etiquette of the times are described in full to be able to immerse yourself back in time.
There are complicated romances with flashes of passion (as much dared).
Similarities of scenes and characters from Jane's books are noted and compared to as the main character experiences this other world.
AND, the protagonist also gets to read Jane's novels somewhat "hot off the press".
The ending left me curious though. So, I will be reading the second book for more.
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Special treat: there is an encounter with Jane!
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Mr. Darcy would like to know...
Would you like to time travel to Jane Austen's era?
* part of Audiobook Challenge
* part of Pemberley... a party (schedule)
