My Jane Austen Summer by Cindy Jones
Morrow Paperbacks March 29, 2011
Paperback: 352 Pages
Review Copy
Lily has squeezed herself into undersized relationships all her life, hoping one might grow as large as those found in the Jane Austen novels she loves. But lately her world is running out of places for her to fit. So when her bookish friend invites her to spend the summer at a Jane Austen literary festival in England, she jumps at the chance to reinvent herself. There, among the rich, promising world of Mansfield Park reenactments, Lily finds people whose longing to live in a novel equals her own. But real-life problems have a way of following you wherever you go, and Lily’s accompany her to England. Unless she can change her ways, she could face the fate of so many of Miss Austen’s characters, destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
Review
Lily is depressed, alone and becoming a certified stalker. Its funny what can happen when a broken heart cant handle the loss of love. Shortly after Lily's mother passes away, her then boyfriend dumps her, leading to nightly drive-bys of his home and encountering a new woman who has taken her place. Her father is going on with life and remarrying a woman half his age and Lily's boss has just fired her for mismanagement and reading on the job. Needless to say Lily's life stinks!! The one steady our little gal has is her love for Jane Austen, so instead of finding a job in her hometown of Texas, she takes up an offer to spend the summer in England, living out a Jane Austen novel, little does Lily know that her summer pretending to live in Mansfield Park will in reality play out precisely similar to an actual Jane Austen character after she meets Willis, the elusive priest in training, Gothic and romantic, you know one of those guys that makes a girl turn into Jell-O.
Soon after meeting Willis, Lily secretly starts spending time with him in the attic nightly. The attic is nice and has been set up for Willis to work on his thesis, so its comfy up there, yet at the same time a little dangerous because no one knows. The two share thoughts on Jane Austen's characters, his career as a future priest, her life and so on and over the course of the summer Willis and Lily fall in love and begin a passionate affair, hidden from everyone including- you guessed it- the other woman.
Everyone who is a fan of or knows Jane Austen's history has at some point realized the melancholy of her stories and the sadness that encompassed her real life. So its no surprise while this was a well written and light read, it also captured the aura of a truly sad Jane Austen romance, giving readers a modern day character with language and setting surrounded by that desperate haunting thing. In that way I was left a little heartbroken for Lily, during the story her character does experience many highs and happy things, but there was always that underlying sadness about her life that couldn't be patched up, just like an Austenesque character Lily could never catch a break, she was always a step away from true happiness, she had to face heartbreak, broken dreams and sadness in each development of the book and by the end what I wanted to see happen for her didn't. I guess I was hoping for a more modern outcome.
I myself love Jane Austen, but her novels as well as this one by Jones, always seem to leave me emotionally torn- I love and hate them. I loved Lily, yet I hated her desperation, I loved the idea of Willis, that mysterious guy you want to figure out, in this case the Gothic attic dweller you want for Lily's Edmund, however in reality, Willis was a jerk! Nothing says loser faster than a man who is engaged and sleeps with another woman. Had he had an ounce of genuine integrity, Willis would have broken off his engagement and staked his claim on Lily before all the tortured emotions consumed these characters, but then again had Willis made the honorable choices, I guess it wouldn't be like Mansfield Park.
Jones has created a true Jane Austen story with her own flair, featuring that forever burdened heart who carries the torch for her indecisive soul mate- the one who loved her under the stars, the one who craved her and then left her for another, while eternally longing for her from a distance and as my swirling emotions rumble: How Tragic! How Romantic! How Pathetic!
Rating
My Jane Austen Summer is recommended to adult readers and would be perfect for Austen fans with a bit more spice. Content includes: Romance, sexuality, language, dirtbags, death, depression and family drama.
4/5- Women's Contemporary
Thanks to Publisher and TLC for review copy
Fantastic review Tina! I would be just like you with this one I think - I would be rooting for a more modern outcome even though I can appreciate the haunting quality to Austen's stories. I so love my happily ever afters, but I also like being emotionally all over the place and it sound like this one does play with your feelings:)
ReplyDeleteOoh, I love this: "true Jane Austen story with her own flair" - what Austen fan wouldn't want to read this book after that description?!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being on the tour.
This sounds amazing. The first I have heard of it. ~Runs off to add to wish list~
ReplyDeleteGreat review :)
Oh boy! I'd be fired in a nanosecond for reading on the job. I think I'd be able to relate to Lily in a lot of ways, especially since we are both stalkers and we love JA.
ReplyDeleteT, your reviews always make me laugh. I love how blunt you are. I think I get why you didn't like reading about the depression, but something about it appeals to me. But I agree that Willis sounds like an asshat.
I live in Texas! Why couldn't this be my story?! Minus the cheating asshat! LOL
Now this is a book that really interests me. LOVE LOVE LOVE Jane. I tend to get disappointed by books revolving around Jane, so *fingers crossed*!
ReplyDelete