Austenland - Book Review

Several friends have read and enjoyed Austenland by Shannon Hale and I was in the mood for some seriously light reading. My brain seems to have turned off this holiday season. Austenland turned out to be exactly what I was looking for this week.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the story of Jane Hayes, obsesssed with Mr. Darcy (aka Colin Firth), goes on vacation to Pembrook Park, Kent, England. I'm sure there aren't many women who haven't dreamed at least for a second that they were back in Jane Austen's England. I'm not even a super-Austen fan (I've only read four of her novels) and yet . . .

Jane Hayes soon becomes Miss Erstwhile and is immersed into the world of Pembrook Park and the stuffy, politeness and gentility of the handsome actors that inhabit it. Jane is trying desperately to leave her obsessions behind her so that she can successfully move on to reality.

Hale's writing is witty and engaging in this squeaky clean novel.