The Times-Picayune

Austen has her mojo back
Taking off from -- and into -- the world of Jane Austen

By Susan Larson

It is a truth universally acknowledged -- or it ought to be -- that a reader possessed of a goodly amount of time should be in want of a book. And for readers who love -- and know -- their Jane Austen, this is a bounteous summer and fall to come, with new film adaptations of her work, and several amusing novels and nonfiction books inspired by her life and work.

It is truly possible to be lost in Austen these days. Those of us who are dreamy romantics or sharp, thinking women or even hopeful Darcys will no doubt return to the original six novels that inspired our devotion. But beyond Austen's own words, here's a selection for your reading pleasure:

-- 'Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict,' by Laura Viera Rigler (Dutton, $24.95), has the catchiest title of the crop. And who among us hasn't nurtured a desire to leap into our favorite books? That's exactly what happens to Courtney Stone. After catching her fiancé in flagrante with a cake designer at Weymouth Wedding Cakes and Confectionery (chosen because it had the same name as the place where Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax got engaged), Courtney sets out for a night of self-medication, dreaming of a large clam-and-garlic pizza, a viewing of "Pride and Prejudice" and a few icy shots of Absolut. "Men might come and go, but Jane Austen was always there."

Courtney wakes up to a nightmare -- a medical doctor from another era, knife in hand, approaching her suddenly antique bedside, along with a stern mother. Courtney Stone has indeed left her troubles behind and awakened to life in an Austenish paradise with a new identity -- Jane Mansfield, but bearing little resemblance to the Jayne Mansfield of our time. Before long, she's swept up in a new life in a new world, all the while wondering how she will get back -- and does she even want to go back with that gorgeous Mr. Edgeworth lurking around?

This is a delightful comic romp: Modern readers are forced to consider life with chamber pots and without hand sanitizer and cell phones. And imagine what those "curative" waters at Bath really were like. Last, but not least, Jane Austen makes a cameo appearance that is pure pleasure.

-- 'Austenland,' by Shannon Hale (Bloomsbury, $19.95), offers a different sort of time-travel riff. When Jane Hayes' wealthy aunt dies, she leaves her a trip to Pembrook Park, a true Jane Austen holiday. So Jane takes a break from her job as a graphic designer and goes off to look for a happy ending -- or at least a vacation. At first, she's relieved to see that her lamp still has a plug, but Jane soon finds herself wrestling with the mores and manners of a bygone century, and liking them more than she expected.

Along the way, she contemplates her past boyfriends, history for the usual assortment of reasons. Paul Diaz, twenty-something, the "guy between boyfriends No. 6 and No. 7," for example, asks her, "What was your name again?" "There's always something to lose," Jane muses. Then there is "Boyfriend No. 7, Juan Inskeep, age 25, Gay." Oh well. The fantasy of Mr. Darcy dies hard. So is all of this a game or can it lead to the real thing? (As a reader, I'm hoping this doesn't mean we'll suddenly be deluged with novels about J.K. Rowling fans visiting the Hogwarts amusement park in Orlando.)

But Hale's Jane is a charmer, and the reader rejoices when the man of her dreams says, "Miss Hayes, have you stopped to consider that you might have all this backward? That in fact you are my fantasy?" Who could resist?

-- In 'Me and Mr. Darcy,' by Alexandra Potter (Ballantine Books, $12.95), Emily Albright impulsively books a trip online, a tour of Austen country, rather than setting off to Mexico for a vacation with her friends. Warned that it will be a group of "kooks and old people," Emily perseveres, only to board the tour bus and see "a sea of curly gray heads." Not to mention the mysterious Una J. Steane. But, as it turns out all through this novel, nothing is as it appears to be, and these older women have a lot to teach Jane -- and vice versa.

As our story progresses, Jane finds herself caught between Mr. Darcy, naturally, and a journalist named Spike. She notices, too, that her Jane Austen novels all have blank pages where the endings should be. Hmmmm. Will she make the right choice, ensuring that the fictional Austen universe remains intact? Just remember: Jane's a bookseller and her parents gave her a name to reckon with, "Emily Bronte Hemingway Albright" -- there are worlds of possibilities in such a name.

Alexandra Potter's clever comedy, an affectionate celebration of books and readers -- and bookstores -- might lead you to start browsing those travel Web sites yourself.

-- 'Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure,' by Emma Campbell Wester (Riverhead Books, $14), is perfect for those who love literary games. You are Elizabeth Bennet, and your mission is to marry well. Turn these pages, traveling the Austen landscape, making the right and wrong choices that will lead to marriage, ranking yourself in intelligence and confidence, fortune, connections and accomplishments. There will be momentary triumphs -- "Congratulations! Your fortune score is high enough to satisfy Mr. Lefroy's high demands!" -- and shameful failures -- "Add Deplorable Weakness for Gothic Literature to your list of Failings and deduct 50 Intelligence points."

Webster knows how to go her inspiration Jane one better, though: "You are determined to find a way for your heroine to say no to 'The End' and continue her adventure."

-- 'Dear Jane Austen: A Heroine's Guide to Life and Love,' by Patrice Hannon (Plume, $12), is a witty fiction in which Jane Austen returns to life to dispense advice to contemporary women. When "Almost Happy" writes to her to ask whether she should allow her boyfriend of two years, Bill, to move in with her, the quick reply is: "Dear Almost Happy Heroine. How much self delusion there is in almost all of our plans! Have you truly read my novels? I must ask because I find it incredible, inconceivable, impossible! that you would not know my opinion already."

Miss Austen guides her heroines-in-training through issues of character, family and friends, and life in the world, addressing such topics as how to recognize a hero, s-x, marriage, beauty, money and the inevitable happy ending. Jane's wisdom on Internet dating, cell phones? Here! Her thoughts on Carrie Bradshaw? Here, too, and just as stringent and bracing as you might imagine.

Don't wait to read -- or view -- your Austen of choice. As the great lady herself wrote, "Why not seize the pleasure at once? -- How often is happiness, destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!"

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