Austenland

After reviewing The Actor and the Housewife, I said I may stay away from Shannon Hale's books for a while. The book still annoys me and I would be hard pressed to recommend it to others. Well, I caved with Austenland.

The immediate thing I noticed is that this book was probably the inspiration for The Actor and the Housewife. In this book Jane has an addiction to all things Austen, including the Pride and Prejudice version with Colin Firth. Jane is a 33 year old single woman who dreams of meeting and falling in love with Colin Firth's version of Mr. Darcy. In The Actor and the Housewife, the main character actually meets her hollwood hunk obsession.

Jane inherits an all exclusive trip to Austenland from her great-aunt Carolyn. Austenland is a vacation resort in which clients enter the world of Jane Austen. Clients dress in period clothing, eat authentic food, and take on the life of British gentry circa 1813. The visit includes actors who take on various roles, including possible love interests. Jane decides to accept the trip so that she can experience her idealized dreamland and come to terms with reality.

I won't give the end away, though one can probably guess. This would be a fun romantic comedy. It kept me entertained for the weekend as it is a quick and easy read. It falls into all things Austen and joins a genre which seems to evolve around Jane Austen stories. I probably should get around to reading the actual books as I have only ever seen the movies. Maybe someday. At least this book by Shannon Hale is what I expected and I wasn't disappointed.

Book Rating: 4 Stars