Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
I’ve got to say, once again, that what if? histories are fun, and even better is a what if? history that asks what if a Jane Austen fanatic from the 21st century gets stuck in the world she loves? There’s a little magic, a little history and an interesting story in this book by Rigler.
Courtney Stone has broken up with her cheating fiancee and been mending a broken heart. Not only that, she’s been nursing a broken ego because her best friend had been in on the lying to her about the cheating. After a night of Absolut and Sense and Sensibility, Courtney wakes up in another woman’s body in 1813.
Courtney is able to live this other woman’s life, though basically through the skin of her teeth and her knowledge of the time period based on Austen’s prose. People don’t realize that she really isn’t Jane Mansfield, a 30 year old spinster who Courtney soon finds out has been picky in her suitors and unsatisfied with her life.
As Courtney struggles with her new surroundings she remembers her sad past with men as well as dealing with Mr. Charles Edgeworth, who has been wanting Jane’s hand. Soon Courtney begins getting Jane’s memories and a growing unease with her location. She realizes that perhaps Austen’s world isn’t what it’s all cracked up to be and she soon needs to find a way home before she gets lost in a life that’s not hers.
This story is written in first person and there are some things that come across and make the book suffer. The big thing is the fact that Courtney is rather selfish and though she claims to know how to behave, she makes some mistakes in a time when your reputation reflects as much if not more on your acquaintances as it does yourself.
It’s also easy to see that her fiancee, Frank, was a real jerk. How she stayed with him so long, even long enough to get the scumbag to propose is beyond me. Her friend who covered up the lying, Wes, was definitely a better guy and Courtney is one of those idiot women who stay with the jerk even though the good guy is right under her nose.
First person and Courtney’s selfishness aside, the story is full of wonderful secondary characters, Mr. Edgeworth and his sister, Mary, Jane’s father, and even a hilarious (if embarrassing) cameo by Jane Austen herself. Austen’s world does come alive, even more so than in her novels since the narrative describes both the romantic ideals and the down and dirty day to day living in the early nineteenth century.
Austen lovers will appreciate all the references and allusions to her novels, especially Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. I’ve only read and seen Pride and Prejudice, seen Sense and Sensibility and Emma. There were probably things I didn’t catch since I haven’t read Mansfield Park, Persuasion or Northanger Abbey.
Grade: C+
