Catering to a special clientele (to wit: rich, unhappy women), Austenland is the place where obsessive fans of all things Regency and Jane Austen-y go to live their fantasies: for three weeks, they immerse themselves in 19th century without any technology living as an unmarried young miss would live back them.

Then one day her rich aunt dies and leaves her an all-inclusive, paid for, holiday to an exclusive place called Austenland (the place is so exclusive, it doesn’t even have a website and it doesn’t show up when you Google it).

To Jane, no one can measure up to Mr Darcy, not one of her former 13 boyfriends did, no one never will and this is why she decided not to date anymore. Jane Hayes is a 32 year old, successful graphic designer living in New York who has a dirty secret: her obsession with Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen in all its forms but most especially with the BBC adaptation that has Colin Firth as Mr Darcy. Unfortunately Austenland was not one of them and the more I think about it, the less I like it. It is a truth universally acknowledged that I am always in the lookout for a good book. 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. 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.ĭecked 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. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. Summary: Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Why did I read the book: I was in the mood for a light romance Jane Austen-style With a twist – both books we are reviewing take Jane Austen in the modern era, either in spirit (literally), or in form…

It’s Austenmania! Today we do a little homage to the queen of Historical Romance herself, the indomitable Jane Austen.

Shannon hale austenland series