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Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

by Laurie Viera Rigler
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

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ISBN13: 9780452289727
ISBN10: 0452289726
Condition: Standard


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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

Read Laurie Viera Rigler's posts on the Penguin Blog.

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 her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. But not even her level of Austen mania has prepared Courtney for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condom-less seducers, and marriages of convenience. This looking-glass Austen world is not without its charms, however. There are journeys to Bath and London, balls in the Assembly Rooms, and the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, who may not be a familiar species of philanderer after all. But when Courtney’s borrowed brain serves up memories that are not her own, the ultimate identity crisis ensues. Will she ever get her real life back, and does she even want to?

Review

“A devotee of all things Austen… discovers the reality of life in Regency England: rampant body odor, sexual and class repression and a style of medical care involving bloodletting.… Despite the smells, little in [her] current lifestyle—including most of the men—can compete with the erotic charge of dancing in a candlelit ballroom.”

—USA Today

“[A] delightful comic romp… Jane Austen makes a cameo appearance that is pure pleasure.”

—The Times Picayune

“[A] charming novel… Rigler writes beautifully… a light and deftly orchestrated visit to 1813.”

—Austenblog.com

“[A] winner.”

—Publishers Weekly

Review

"Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict... places her protagonist, in dreamlike fashion, right in the middle of a classic Jane Austen setting. Courtney, a modern L.A. woman, wakes up from a drunken evening of lamenting her fiancé's infidelity and finds herself in the body of Jane Mansfield, a nineteenth-century unmarried woman, recovering from a fall off a horse that resulted in a nasty blow to the head.

Rigler does an excellent job of conveying the shock of Courtney's transition to life in the nineteenth century, complete with the smells, sounds, frighteningly archaic medical practices, and domineering social protocol." Danielle Marshall, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)

Synopsis

The Los Angeles Times bestseller that has Austen lovers hooked

After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up to find 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 inside another woman’s life, she is forced to pretend she actually is that woman; and despite knowing nothing about her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. For her borrowed body knows how to speak without slaying the King’s English, dance without maiming her partner, and embroider as if possessed by actual domestic skill.

But not even Courtney’s level of Austen mania has prepared her for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condom-less seducers, and marriages of convenience. Enter the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, a suitor who may turn out not to be a familiar species of philanderer after all.

Synopsis

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 her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. But not even her level of Austen mania has prepared Courtney for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condom-less seducers, and marriages of convenience. This looking-glass Austen world is not without its charms, however. There are journeys to Bath and London, balls in the Assembly Rooms, and the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, who may not be a familiar species of philanderer after all. But when Courtney's borrowed brain serves up memories that are not her own, the ultimate identity crisis ensues. Will she ever get her real life back, and does she even want to?

Video


About the Author

Laurie Viera Rigler is a freelance book editor who teaches writing workshops, including classes at Vroman’s, Southern California’s oldest and largest independent bookstore. Laurie lives in Los Angeles and holds a lifetime membership in the Jane Austen Society of North America. This is her first novel.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating 5 (1 comments)

`
Susan Wiget , June 06, 2009 (view all comments by Susan Wiget)
This hilarious romp of a time travel novel is written in contemporary style but with a decidedly Regency setting. After reading the blurb, I expected the novel to begin in the twenty-first century, but characteristic of twenty-first century novels, it plunges directly into the action, with the protagonist, “Jane Mansfield” waking up in strange surroundings after a riding accident. The trouble is, this is no longer the real Jane Mansfield but Courtney Strong, a twenty-first century woman trapped in early nineteenth-century Jane Mansfield’s body. The plot reminded me of both Pride and Prejudice and Doctor Who. While the writing style is contemporary, the richly described setting is straight out of a Jane Austen novel, and the characters appropriately speak as if they’re from a Jane Austen novel. Jane’s mother in particular comes across as a character one would expect to find in a novel by Austen; she is narcissistic and devoid of affection or kindness toward her daughter. The character Louisa is reminiscent of Mrs. Jennings in Sense and Sensibility but proves to be rather more sinister. No novel by Austen would include such details as the protagonist desperately needing to go pee and the servant presenting her with a chamber pot. Nor would an Austen novel involve the protagonist uttering a lewd joke to a man who proposes to her. As I read, I both laughed and felt painfully embarrassed alongside the main character. On a more serious side, the main character sprinkles the narration with feminist analysis of the era in which she has found herself trapped in more than one sense. She is also appalled by how hygienically challenged Regency society is. This is a delightful and insightful novel that is almost impossible to put down.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780452289727
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
05/01/2008
Publisher:
Plume Books
Series info:
Jane Austen Addict
Language:
English
Pages:
304
Height:
.67IN
Width:
5.34IN
Thickness:
.75
Age Range:
18 and up
Grade Range:
13 and up
Number of Units:
1
Copyright Year:
2008
UPC Code:
2800452289729
Author:
Laurie Viera Rigler
Author:
Laurie Rigler
Author:
Laurie Viera Rigler
Subject:
Literature-Contemporary Women

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