Austenland

Austenland by Shannon Hale, 2007 Bloomsbury

     Jane Hayes is a single thirty-something with a closet fascination with Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. When her great-aunt comes to visit and discovers Jane's secret she decides to help Jane through the stage. When Aunt Carolyn dies several months later, Jane discovers she's inherited a trip to the extremely secretive Pembroke Park.
     Pembroke Park is a vacation in the year 1816. Jane meets two women living through the fantasy with her, and a few gentlemen to pose as the women's Darcy. Yet the obvious actors don't seem to interest Miss Jane Erstwhile, she is drawn to the gardener Martin. The quick fling serves to prove that Jane can't swear off men entirely--they're much too much fun. But Martin doesn't appreciate that Jane isn't like the other guests and looking for something to make her stay worthwhile: he dumps her.
     While she mopes about her luck with men, another man catches her eye. Mr. Nobly is the most Darcy-like of all the men at Pembroke and once Jane decides to immerse herself in the experience they seem to draw closer. Life begins to follow Austen's plot lines and Jane begins to have more and more fun in Regency England, even to the point of the Grand Ball and an expected proposal.
     Jane surprises everyone, even herself, when she turns down the gentleman. It is the turning point and the moment when Modern Jane's spunk meets Regency  Jane's composure. The new Jane looks forward to her next relationship and as she leaves Pembroke for home, she has a chance to fall head-over-heels for a true gentleman.
     When the Modern Miss travels back to Regency England, Jane is living every Austen reader's fantasy. Yet she knows that something is off and the world she is visiting, while enjoyable and full of fascination, isn't the one she belongs in. Jane transforms from a self-conscious worrier to a confident and poised lady, but the transformation extends beyond her habits to her attitudes.
     Readers can relate to Jane's experiences in the modern dating world, but she becomes something more when she returns from her journey into the past. Austenland is aimed at high school readers, but reaches to older readers, still fascinated by their own experiences with Jane Austen.