CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT

Author: Laurie Viera Rigler ISBN: 9780452289727 4/2008 HISTORICAL/TIME TRAVEL Publisher: PLUME
Time Period: Regency

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 love of Jane Austen 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, condomless seducers, and marriages of convenience. Enter the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, who fills Courtney's borrowed brain with confusing memories that are clearly not her own. Try as she might to control her mind and find a way home, Courtney cannot deny that she is becoming this other woman-and being this other woman is not without its advantages: Especially in a looking-glass Austen world. Especially with a suitor who may not turn out to be a familiar species of philanderer after all.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I had a lot of high hopes for CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT. After reading the synopsis on the back cover, and as a fervent lover of all things Jane Austen, I was anxious to throw myself back in time and be thoroughly entertained by the antics of a modern day woman who is mysteriously thrown back into Regency England after drowning her sorrows in a fifth of vodka. Did it work? Well... sort of.

First off, let me start out by saying that the title can be a little misleading. If you expect this to be like a Jane Austen novel, well, it's not, and I'm sure it wasn't meant to be. Truth be told, Jane Austen's name is mentioned but rarely throughout the story. And you don't necessarily have to be a follower of her novels, either, to find the amusement within. But if you aren't, and for some reason you are one of the one out of 200 million women who hasn't seen any of the movies that her novels have been made into—the names Pride and Prejudice and Colin Firth ring a bell?—then some of this book may go right over your head, as there are a lot of similarities between the storyline in this book and several of Austen's stories. (As was meant to be by the author, I'll assume. After all, the main character, Courntey, is an addict). The same goes with the characters and many of the familiar place names you can't help but notice. But if you're not up on your Austen many of those coinky-dinks will probably slide right by you.

On the upside, the story is cute and the author includes a lot of things it's usually not proper to include in a Regency era romance, such as stinky armpits, the art of bathing and lack of personal hygiene as we know it today (but secretly we all wonder about, right?). I'll admit, too, that there are some pretty funny moments, especially when Courtney realizes what's happened to her and she tries too hard to fit into the mold. But sometimes that old modern-day slang or way of thinking just slips right out of her mouth without thinking, and it's a treat to watch how those early 1800's characters respond.

Overall, CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT is well written, often amusing and just goes to show that sometimes the one who loves you the most is the one person you don't see—the person you take for granted and is standing right there in front of you. If you are a Jane Austen addict, then this book may be just the light read you've been looking for.

Nancy Davis