Historical-fiction.com (review of audiobook)

review: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict (audio)
Posted on December 6th, 2007 by arleigh

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
by Laurie Viera Rigler
read by Orlagh Cassidy

Looking through the meager selection of historical fiction audio books at my bookstore, I almost chose Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen, even though I had not been that impressed with Dark Angels. But then I came across Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, which I had already noticed in hardcover in the Literature section. I couldn’t wait for my 25 minute drive home!

I will go ahead and post the official description of this book, because it is a bit different from others that I have reviewed.

In this Jane Austen-inspired comedy, love story, and exploration of identity and destiny, a modern LA girl wakes up as an Englishwoman in Austen’s time.

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 love of Jane Austen 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, condomless seducers, and marriages of convenience. Enter the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, who fills Courtney’s borrowed brain with confusing memories that are clearly not her own.

Try as she might to control her mind and find a way home, Courtney cannot deny that she is becoming this other woman-and being this other woman is not without its advantages: Especially in a looking-glass Austen world. Especially with a suitor who may not turn out to be a familiar species of philanderer after all.

As I was browsing Amazon to find a suitable photo for my blog, I noticed some not-so-nice reviews for this book. I will admit that I found a few things that I felt could have been expanded upon, most notably the ending. However most of the negative reviewers are just piqued at the modernity of the main character, how she does not fit into Jane Austen’s world and the implausibility of time travel. These things are the premise of the story, and if one is turned off by them, you’d think they would have known just by reading the book jacket. Fan fiction will always be a controversial subject, and one that creates either very good reviews or very poor ones. There are those who are against it entirely, or against any variation from the initial work and there are those who can appreciate it as a fanciful creative work, even if it only has a hint of the original inspiration.

I really had to voice my opinion on this because I feel that author is not being reviewed fairly. I enjoyed the audio book immensely. The narrator used a modern American accent when speaking through Courtney, and an antiquated British accent for Jane, so that you could easily differentiate between spoken word and thoughts. As for the story line, I thought it flowed smoothly, except that the James/Jane situation wasn’t entirely clear and the ending did not give enough closure (though I believe I read that there will be a sequel). The main character is very witty and just how you’d expect a modern woman to think and feel if thrust into a situation as Courtney was. It is true that she did not seem to have much period knowledge, but I do not believe that one who has only professed to reading the works of Jane Austen would automatically know how to use a chamber pot, or of the position of servants under their mistresses. Things of this nature aren’t really discussed in present day novels (which Austen novels were when she wrote them). If you were writing a novel set in 2007, you wouldn’t explain how one uses a toilet, would you? And so, someone reading your book in 2207 may not know how one relived themselves 200 years ago only by what you have written. Courtney never declared any historical knowledge of Regency England, only the works of Jane Austen. But I am getting on a tirade again.

If you are looking for a funny, delightful read, I would recommend this book. If you are looking for a carbon copy Jane Austen continuation, look elsewhere. Just please do not try to categorize Rigler’s book into the latter and criticize it for not fitting your expectations.

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