Product Description

The eagerly anticipated sequel to Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

Laurie Viera Rigler's debut novel, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, was a hit with fans and critics, and a BookSense and Los Angeles Times bestseller. Its open-to-interpretation ending left readers begging for more-and Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict delivers. While Confessions took twenty-first-century free spirit Courtney Stone into the social confines of Jane Austen's era, Rude Awakenings tells the parallel story of Jane Mansfield, a gentleman's daughter from Regency England who inexplicably awakens in Courtney's overly wired and morally confused L.A. life.

For Jane, the modern world is not wholly disagreeable. Her apartment may be smaller than a dressing closet, but it is fitted up with lights that burn without candles, machines that wash bodies and clothes, and a glossy rectangle in which tiny people perform scenes from her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. Granted, if she wants to travel she may have to drive a formidable metal carriage, but she may do so without a chaperone. And oh, what places she goes! Public assemblies that pulsate with pounding music. Unbound hair and unrestricted clothing. The freedom to say what she wants when she wants-even to men without a proper introduction.

Jane relishes the privacy, independence, even the power to earn her own money. But how is she to fathom her employer's incomprehensible dictates about "syncing a BlackBerry" and "rolling a call"? How can she navigate a world in which entire publications are devoted to brides but flirting and kissing and even the sexual act itself raise no matrimonial expectations? Even more bewildering are the memories that are not her own. And the friend named Wes, who is as attractive and confusing to Jane as the man who broke her heart back home. It's enough to make her wonder if she would be better off in her own time, where at least the rules are clear-that is, if returning is even an option.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81139 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780525950769
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
[Audio Review] This delightful sequel to Rigler's Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict has 19th-century Jane Mansfield switching bodies and milieus with contemporary L.A. girl Courtney Stone. As Jane grasps the idea that she's a different person in an unimaginable world, and grapples with the radically liberal social mores, dress and language, she leans on Jane Austen's novels as touchstones to reality. Kate Reading performs the first-person narration with a cultured tones and accent befitting an upper-class Regency-era young lady. Her skill as a versatile voice performer becomes evident as dialogue introduces modern American characters, and she skillfully modulates her accent, dialect and tones to accommodate them. The romantically suspenseful story and the entertaining vocal interpretation will keep romance listeners enthralled and amused. A Dutton hardcover. (Aug.) --Publisher's Weekly

About the Author
Laurie Viera Rigler's first novel, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, was a national bestseller. A life member and regional webmaster of the Jane Austen Society of North America.

From AudioFile
In Rigler's sequel to CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT, nineteenth-century Jane Mansfield finds herself transformed into 20-something Courtney Stone, who lives in L.A. Kate Reading's pitch and accent are spot-on as Jane's cultivated British internal voice. Jane's confusion and fascination with our current era's technology and pace are audible in Reading's every voicing of Jane's thoughts. Reading also shifts smoothly from Jane's thoughts to Courtney's actual L.A. American speaking voice. And in a deft blending of the two periods, Reading delivers the charming formality of Regency language when Courtney is compelled to use such phrases in speaking to her contemporary L.A. friends in her American accent. The bewildering complications of 21st-century romance, employment, social strata, and freedoms are depicted in a story that asks if society has truly evolved for the better. A.W. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict
In Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, Jane Mansfield who is from Regency England, wakes up in the body of Courtney Stone, current day in Los Angeles. At first Jane thinks she is dreaming, and wills herself to wake up.
Courtney's friends explain to Jane that she hit her head pretty hard while in a swimming pool and that her 'confusion' might just be a concussion. Her friends are also wondering why Courtney is now talking as if she just stepped out of a Jane Austen novel.
The last thing Jane remembers is riding her horse and bumping her head while taking a fall. While in Courtney's apartment, she finds copies of Jane Austen books as well as movie version of the novels. She begins to read the books and watch the films.

Jane is in shock to see so many differences in society. Besides television, cell phones, internet, cars and radio, Jane is stunned to see ladies unchaperoned, working and exposing so much skin. As the story goes on, Jane is getting flashbacks of Courtney's life. She realizes she has alot to figure out and wants to help Courtney set things straight. One thing Jane does find out is that both she and Courtney were unlucky in love at the time they switched bodies. With the help of her friend Deepa, Jane winds up going to a fortune teller who does seem to be other wordly and has some answers to Jane's questions. As Jane is trying to adjust to current day L.A., she is also wondering how and if she can ever get back to her former life.

I had been eagerly awaiting this book. Having read and really enjoyed Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and seeing what happened to Courtney while she lived in Jane's body, I was very curious to see what happens with Jane while she inhabits Courtney's body. Laurie does answer some of the questions, and she leaves the ending a bit open. I wonder will there be a third book?

If you're in the mood for a fun, light read, pick up a copy of Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, you won't regret it! First of course, you have to read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict . These books are the perfect read for Jane Austen fans. The way Laurie writes, you can tell she is a true lover of Austen's work. I like how she refers to Jane Austen novels throughout both books.

Average
Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict is the sequel to Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. This time the tables are turned--a young 19th century woman named Jane Mansfield wakes up in the body of Courtney Stone, a 21st century woman living in LA. Jane here has more challenges to overcome than Courtney did, as she learns to adopt herself to a totally new life. Along the way, she becomes attracted to Wes, one of Courtney's friends. She also learns a lot about herself, and she learns that the 21st century isn't so much different from the 19th, after all.

This book was a quick read; I finished it in two sittings. It's enjoyable for the most part, and funny. There's good character development, but only insofar as Jane/ Courtney goes; the other characters aren't as well defined. The ending of the novel was very open-ended, too. There's not much focus on how or why Jane and Courtney exchanged bodies (yes, Courtney hit her head in a pool and Jane fell off her horse, but that doesn't quite explain how time travel resulted). On the other hand, I thought the author captured Jane's sense of confusion upon waking up in Courtney's body perfectly. It's a cute idea, and a unique take off the whole "Jane Austen lit" craze, that isn't a continuation of one of Austen's novels. It's a good summer book that good for escapist reading.

A Must Read
Jane Mansfield or Courtney Stone, who is she? Who is this woman who awoke to a world strange and different from her own? Did she even wake at all?

"Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict" is a marvelous book that most Austen lovers will enjoy. I laughed, I cried and I hated to reach the end; I just wanted the tale to go on and on.