Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

by Laurie Viera Rigler

Book Overview

NATIONAL BESTSELLER 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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452289726
• ISBN13: 9780452289727
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Penguin Adult Hc/Tr
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

I loved this novel.

I found this to be well written and fun to read. I also learned a lot about Regency England. The main character, Courtney, observed a lot about Jane Austen's world, such as how servants were treated, what their day was like, bathing habits, etc etc. These are things that are never mentioned in Jane Austen's books and for good reason. JA didn't need to tell her readers what they already knew. In response to some other reviews, the author wasn't trying to be like Jane Austen. Even though Courtney was well read in Jane Austen's books it would be difficult to adjust to Regency England for any woman. Therefore I feel that the author did a great job of a realistic portrayal of how any modern woman would act in a society where women hold a subserviant place. I hope this review was helpful to you. I can't wait for the sequel to learn how Jane Mansfield is coping in Courtney's world. Happy Reading.

Quick Fix For the Austen Junkie

For this Austen addict, "Confessions of an Austen Addict" was the literary equivalent of chocolate-flavored heroin. It was delicious, I read through it in one day, and it left me wanting more. The basic premise of the book is a bit far fetched: a modern L.A. woman nursing a broken heart after catching her fiance with another wakes up in the year 1813 in the body of a upper-middle class woman in Regency England. However, as I suspended my disbelief, I found the story of how modern Courtney Stone navigated the world of nineteenth century Jane's Mansfield's life facinating. As Courtney starts experiencing some of Jane's memories, the question of just how trustworthy the handsome and very charming suitor of Jane's, Mr. Charles Edgeworth, really is comes into play. Is he more Fitzwilliam Darcy or Willouby? The Austen addict in all of us wants to know. We travel with Courtney/Jane from the pastoral English country homes to Bath and to London in search of answers to both Jane's past and Courtney's path back to her own time and own home. In the mean time, we are treated to colorful 19th century characters, lavish dinner parties, and glitzy Regency era balls (brimming with sexual undercurrants). All the while, we are entertained with some fine meditations on the nature of self while we discover both Courtney and Jane, kindred spirits once separated by time, and now almost as one. It is satisfying to know that the author is planning a sequel in which we will see the nineteeth century Jane Mansfield wake up in modern L.A. inhabiting Courtney's body, the story that was untold in this tale.

I really enjoyed this!!!

I usually approach any Austen off shoot with much trepidation. It isn't Dear Jane (but then again, who is?) but I was absorbed enough by the storytelling to read the entire book in one sitting. Well done!

Two thumbs up for Laurie Viera Rigler!

I'm one of those who has read them all, seen every movie and yet still continues to lust after "just one more" or else I start the process of re-reading them yet again. This was a fun spin on the Jane Austen world. I crashed through it in only about a day and thought it was really refreshing and intriguing!

Sure to Delight -- Strikes All the Right Notes

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.