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64 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
2 1/2 stars: not too dire, September 25, 2007
I'll confess to being a Jane Austen fan -- I've read and reread her completed and incompleted works, her letters, read many of the Jane Austen pastiches (and will admit to really liking Stephanie Barron's & Carrie Bebris' Jane Austen mystery novels) and seen all the film realisations of her novels (but not "Becoming Jane Austen" -- one has to draw a line somewhere). I'll also confess to not having very high hopes about Laura Viera Rigler's "Confession of a Jane Austen Addict" -- after all this out-of-body/time travel plot motif is that has been utilised by quite a few Regency-era romance novelist before this, and might I add with better effect? But I did want to be proven wrong, and so checked the book out. And came to the conclusion that while "Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict" proved not to be as dire as I feared it would be, it was not quite the stellar read either.
Reeling from a broken engagement and the betrayal of her best friend, the last thing Courtney Stone expected was to wake up one morning and find herself in Regency England, trapped in another woman's (Miss Jane Mansfield) body. Shocked and concerned, Courtney desperately wants to return to her own life in L.A. but fate seems to have decreed that she remain in London for a while, leading Jane Mansfield's life. Can Courtney pull off this masquerade without anyone being the wiser? And what she should do about the real Jane's suitor, the dishy Mr. Edgeworth? Jane's masterful mother is determined that her daughter make a match of it with Mr. Edgeworth, but Jane seems to be strangely mistrustful of her very eligible and desirable suitor...
For me, the first part of the book unfolded quite smoothly and rather well. I thought that the author did quite a good job of portraying Courtney's love of Jane Austen's novels and of the pain she suffered when she realised how much both her fiance and her best friend had each betrayed her. Where things fell apart for me was when I realised that Courtney may have read and reread Miss Austen's novels a great many times but except for the storyline, very little else stuck in her consciousness. Courtney seemed to have very little understanding about the manners and habits of the Regency period -- she made the kind of mistakes that even the most casual of readers would have avoided. And I don't think I'm being unnecessarily harsh here.
The other thing I kept wondering about, instead of losing myself in this novel, was what was going on at the other end, in L.A, where presumably Jane was inhabiting Courtney's body and leading her life. I found myself really wanting to know at once what was going on. Especially since Wes, as a romantic lead seemed more interesting than Mr. Edgeworth. I also kept wondering why Jane was still unmarried at thirty, and if there was some kind of back story as to why her character seemed so sheltered and unformed. These questions were never fully answered and rather took over my enjoyment of the book, which was a bit of a shame.
I'd have rated "Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict" a 3 star read except for that fact that what was going on "off stage" proved more interesting than what was unfolding before my eyes. And for that reason, I'd rate this novel as a 2 1/2 star read, and suggest actually rereading the excellent Miss Austen if you feel a need for a Jane Austen fix.
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28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Engrossing and entertaining time-travel..., March 16, 2008
It is a truth, universally acknowledged that if you use Jane Austen's name or one of her beloved titles into your own work you are guaranteed a bestseller (or, at the very least, a book deal). The gimmick has been done to death. How many romances and chick-lit books have a variation of Jane Austen in its story or title? Helen Fielding did it with Bridget Jones's Diary, and I've lost count of the many, many so-called sequels or retellings of Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Sense & Sensibility and Persuasion. And so, I picked up Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict with a certain level of skepticism. Here we go again, I thought. Another wannabe Jane Austen. However, I was drawn to this novel for two reasons. The most obvious is, of course, Jane Austen (it appears that the aforementioned gimmick does work). The other reason is that I love time travel stories -- well written and thoroughly researched time travel stories, that is. More on that later.
Courtney Stone is a thirty-year-old L.A. woman who has had it with men after she catches her fiancé cheating on her with the wedding cake baker. Add insult to injury, Wes, a man she thought she could trust, had been covering Frank. But that becomes the least of her problems when Courtney wakes up in 1813 England, inhabiting the body of a country bumpkin by the name of Jane Mansfield (yes, Jane as in Jane Austen and Mansfield as in Mansfield Park). Courtney, a Jane Austen fanatic, cannot believe she has been transported into a body, a setting and a story not unlike Austen's memorable novels. Not only does she have to become accustomed to corsets, shapeless high-waist gowns, uncomfortable transportation, body odor and scarce baths, but she has to make sense of everything that goes on around her. She also has no idea what to make out of Mr. Edgeworth, Jane's most dashing suitor. Is he as besotted with her and charming as he seems, or is he nothing but a two-timing loser in a cravat?
The most interesting part about this novel is that it begins with Courtney waking up in Jane Mansfield's body. There is no ceremonial- or paranormal-like transporting thing going on like in most time-travel novels. I found that very refreshing. Another interesting thing is that Laurie Viera Rigler seems to be a big Jane Austen connoisseur. She doesn't presume to interpret Austen's work in her way; she simply goes with the flow and creates storylines and situations that resonate with Austen's stories and characters -- social commentary included. I like the parallels between Austen's views and Courtney's modern-day musings, proving that Austen was indeed a woman before her time. In short, this novel is well-researched. The author brings up the differences in customs, wardrobe and expressions without overdoing it. You won't get a history lesson here, but the author does take her time bringing the time period to life. I would have liked to see more of Courtney's world though. It appears that a sequel is in the works, and I hope that Rigler plans to cover more of that. Some things are unclear, but I won't discuss them here, for they are spoilers, and I'd like to get some answers regarding those loose ends in a future installment. There is one scene that puzzles me and it's the one with Mr. Every. Why on earth would a "gentleman" lure a well-bred lady to a private place and seduce her? Is he stupid? Would any man of rank risk ruining someone that way and in turn end up with a marriage he would not want? What a strange scene! There is also a scene in which Jane/Courtney discusses Jane Austen with another woman. Women were demure in those times, and they did not engage in "intelligent" conversations in such an outspoken way, especially in the presence of men. I found that scene to be kind of unbelievable. Anyway, I do like the somewhat vague diary entry at the end though. It makes you wonder who really wrote it. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict is a fun, entertaining, intelligent and at times thought provoking read. I couldn't put it down. I gotta say that using Jane Austen for this story was not a bad idea at all.
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31 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sure to Delight -- Strikes All the Right Notes, August 1, 2007
As a fan of Jane Austen who has, on occasion, been disappointed by Austen adaptations or re-imaginings, I approached this book with reservations. No-one can be more pleased than I am to say my skepticism proved undeserved. Here is a book that any lover of the books of Jane Austen is sure to relish and appreciate!
What would happen if a recently and multiply heart-broken modern-day woman, who has fallen asleep drinking vodka and reading Pride and Prejudice while mourning her broken engagement, were to wake up in Jane Austen's England? This is how the book begins. Courtney wakes up to find everyone calling her Jane Mansfield, doctors wishing to bleed ill humors out of her, and a marriage-obsessed mother threatening to put her into an asylum if she keeps insisting she is not, indeed, Jane. Courtney decides to play along convinced she'll soon wake up back in modern day Los Angeles, until she realizes perhaps it isn't a dream after all.
The reader gets to experience the early nineteenth-century English countryside, Bath, and London through eyes at once modern and Austenian. Throw in a bit of pride, a bit of prejudice, and a host of characters, plots, and subplots, and it all melds into a wonderful kaleidoscope of Austen.
The story is so deftly plotted, simultaneously familiar and new, the characters so likeable (and dislikeable), the prose so fluid and fresh, that the book goes by in a flash. Austen's words and world are ever-present, without weighing the story down. Laurie Viera Rigler has accomplished a marvel--a delicately-mastered fusion of the beloved and known with the sure-to-be-loved, not-yet-known.
I meant to read a few chapters before bed and ended up foregoing sleep, staying up all night, to read the book in one sitting. Whether you are a die-hard "Austen addict" or just discovering Austen's world, this book is sure to delight.
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