shopping cart
Call us:  800-878-7323 HELP
McAfee SECURE helps keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.
Powell's Q&A, Q&A | June 29, 2009

Janna Cawrse Esarey: IMG Powell's Q&A: Janna Cawrse Esarey



"I fell in love with Crosby, Stills, and Nash's song 'Southern Cross' when I was fifteen. By the time I got to college, 'I'm going to sail around the world someday' was sort of my pickup line." Continue »
  1. $10.50 Sale Trade Paper add to wish list

Ships free on qualified orders.
$9.95
List price: $19.95
HARDCOVER, USED
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
Qty Store Section
1 Local Warehouse Literature- A to Z


Austenland

by Shannon Hale

Austenland Cover

ISBN13: 9781596912854
ISBN10: 1596912855
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
All Product Details

Only 1 left in stock at $9.95!

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.

Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen — or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It's all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

Review:

"In 32-year-old singleton Jane Hayes's mind, no man in the world can measure up to Fitzwilliam Darcy — specifically the Fitzwilliam played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Jane is forced to confront her Austen obsession when her wealthy great-aunt Carolyn dies and leaves her an all-expenses-paid vacation to Pembrook Park, a British resort where guests live like the characters in Jane's beloved Austen novels. Jane sees the trip as an opportunity for one last indulgence of her obsession before she puts it 'all behind her — Austen, men, fantasies, period,' but the lines between reality and fiction become pleasantly blurred as Jane acclimates to the world of Spencer jackets and stringent etiquette rules, and finds herself torn between the Darcyesque Mr. Nobley and a forbidden tryst with Pembrook Park's gardener. Though the narrative is endlessly charming, Jane is convincing neither as a sarcastic single girl nor as a romantic idealist, and the supporting cast is underdeveloped. Nods to Austen are abundant in contemporary women's fiction, and an intriguing setup and abundant wit are not enough to make this one stand out. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"The novel is clever in its depiction of the many ways in which romance can fall away, and Jane is no fool as she attempts to sort out the real from the make-believe. Readers will be as surprised as she is by some of the twists....Mindless froth that Austen addicts will love." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"An amusing trifle likely to please chick-lit readers and Austen aficionados who enjoy modern twists on the author's classic tales." Library Journal

Review:

"A clever confection for fans of contemporary Austen knockoffs." Booklist

Synopsis:

For every woman whos read Pride and Prejudice and sighed for Mr. Darcy comes a confection of a book from New York Times bestselling author Shannon Hale.

About the Author

Shannon Hale is the award-winning author of the young adult novels The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Princess Academy, a New York Times bestseller and a Newbery Honor Medalist. She is an avid Austen fan and admirer of men in breeches. She lives with her husband and two small children in Salt Lake City, Utah.

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 4 comments:
Mary Hart, August 20, 2008 (view all comments by Mary Hart)
Was very excited about this book when I first heard about it. The premise of being able to go back and live life similarly to the way Jane Austen did sounded fun. (I am glad Hale pointed out how uncomfortable and boring it really would be). But the story it's self fell flat and the end was...well uneventful. I was not at all invested in the main characters but it was enjoyable enough that I finished the book.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
Bookwomyn, January 28, 2008 (view all comments by Bookwomyn)
Ho hum. The idea appealed to me more than the actuality of this novel. The premise is rather fun - to have a holiday and return to the time period about which Jane Austen wrote so lovingly. The resultant slim volume though is one, which if I owned it, (I read the library copy) would be destined to the used book stalls or donated to the library's book sale box. It amused me for a few moments - c'est tout. I'd rather read about the period with Jane Austen as my guide.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(2 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
Pat Henshaw, January 11, 2008 (view all comments by Pat Henshaw)
I'm not much for chick-lit, but am a reader of Jane Austen. So I went into this book with a skeptical eye, wondering if Hale would trash Austen or make fun of the millions who love her books. What I found was a highly enjoyable tale with an understandable heroine, two virile heroes, humorous minor characters, and a plot more firmly seated in a modernized Austen landscape than any of the others I've read. Even better Hale's low-key sense of humor meshes well with her restrained Austen style. Personally, I think other Austen readers will be tickled with this delightful novel.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
View all 4 comments

Product Details

ISBN:
9781596912854
Author:
Hale, Shannon
Publisher:
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Subject:
General
Subject:
Vacations
Subject:
Single women
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
Chick lit
Subject:
Single women - New York (State) - New York
Edition Description:
Trade Cloth
Publication Date:
May 2007
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
197
Dimensions:
8.63x5.75x.81 in. .81 lbs.

Other books you might like

  1. $7.95 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

    Broken for You

    Stephanie Kallos
  2. $7.95 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

    Suite Francaise: A Novel

    Irene Nemirovsky
  3. $3.75 Used Mass Market add to wish list

    Foucault's Pendulum

    Umberto Eco
  4. $9.50 Used Trade Paper add to wish list
  5. $4.95 Used Mass Market add to wish list

    1984 (Signet Classics)

    George Orwell
  6. $3.95 Used Hardcover add to wish list

    The Lovely Bones

    Alice Sebold

Related Aisles

  • back to top

Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.