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This Jane Austen blog brings Jane Austen, her novels, and the Regency Period alive through food, dress, social customs, and other 19th C. historical details related to this topic.

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Jane Austen Ruined My Life, A Review

January 30, 2009 by Vic

jane-austen-ruined-my-lifeJane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo is a surprisingly fast and fun read, and I found myself unable to put it down at times. The plot revolves around wishful thinking: WHAT IF Jane Austen’s sister Cassandra saved more of her letters than we know about? What if the missing correspondence is hidden somewhere protected from the public?

This knowledge has English professor and devoted Jane Austen scholar Emma Grant salivating. Her academic reputation is in tatters after her husband and his teaching assistant (and paramour) accuse her of plagiarism. Newly divorced and denied tenure, Dr. Grant travels to London hot on the trail of the rumored missing letters. There she meets up with Mrs. Gwendolyn Parrot, a Formidable, who tantalizingly allows Emma to read a copied snippet of Jane’s missing letters. Scholar that she is, Emma immediately recognizes Jane’s handwriting and the (seeming) authenticity of the fragment. To be certain, she would have to read a copy of the original.

After extracting a promise of secrecy from Emma, Mrs. Parrot sends her on a series of tasks, in which Emma visits Steventon, Chawton Cottage, Bath … well, you get the drift … all the places that Jane Austen either lived in or traveled to. Emma’s motives for going through all this trouble are the possibilities of handling the actual letters and researching them. Her resulting book would salvage her academic reputation. Traveling with Emma is an old flame who, coincidentally, is staying in the same flat as Emma. Does he know of her secret or is he truly as interested in her as he claims? His presence adds to the mystery and suspense of the plot. The book is a fast read and I found it completely satisfying until the very end. While Emma finds her own definition of a happy ending (which, I will concede, made logical sense), I wanted to scream out “No!” and rewrite that ending. You see, romantic that I am, I do believe that people can have their cake and eat it too.

Beth Pattillo’s latest novel reads less like a Jane Austen sequel and more like a The Da Vinci Code offspring. Consequently it will appeal to a broader audience than most Austenesque books. Having said that, the plot is not wholly original . There are echoes of  Syrie James’s The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen (in which Jane’s lost manuscript is uncovered and in which she describes a lost love) and Lori Smith’s A Walk With Jane Austen (in which Lori visits the places where Jane lived or traveled). The author, whose writing style is elegant and spare, has written eight other popular books, including the award winning Heavens to Betsy. You can visit her at http://www.bethpattillo.com for more information.

3-regency-fansJane Austen Ruined My life, a Guideposts Book, is slated to come out on February 3rd. 978-0-8249-4771-2, $14.99. Order a copy at this link.

I give it 3 regency fans out of 3.

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Posted in Austenesque novels, Book review, jane austen, Jane Austen's World, Popular culture | Tagged Beth Patillo, Jane Austen Ruined My Life | 10 Comments

10 Responses

  1. on January 30, 2009 at 14:38 blarneygirl

    Vic – Thanks for visiting my blog…and commenting! I feel like I was visited by a celebrity! And you left your autograph! To be visited by the author of my favorite blog; you’ve made my whole weekend.

    BTW – After reading your review, I will be purchasing a copy of Jane Austen Ruined My Life. Have you read and reviewed Shannon Hale’s Austenland? It’s a quick read and quite enjoyable – IMHO.


  2. on January 30, 2009 at 20:32 Arti

    Looks like this is one brisk and fun book to read. I’ll definitely look out for it, haven’t seen it in bookstores here yet. Other than the interesting content which you’ve captureded so succinctly, I’m really drawn to it by its title. Yes, just love the title.


  3. on February 2, 2009 at 09:23 boscodagama

    Have you heard about this?

    http://xom.blogs.com/xoom/2009/02/brains-brains.html

    Jane & Zombies.


  4. on February 2, 2009 at 09:31 MushuThaLohari

    Arti actually said what I had on my mind. I’ll try to get a copy of this books. It sounds like a nice read – and if not, then at least there is that wicked title. I could just reread it over and over again.

    Maybe.

    But yeah… thanks for the review!


  5. on February 3, 2009 at 05:50 Austen Book Sleuth: New Books in the Queue for February « Austenprose

    […] love makes everything more complicated. Guideposts Books. ISBN: 978-0824947712. Early review by Vic (Ms. Place) at Jane Austen’s […]


  6. on February 8, 2009 at 09:06 Adriana Zardini

    Thanks for this news!


  7. on March 24, 2009 at 16:16 Shelly

    This book looks very good! I am going to see if they have it at the library.


  8. on May 29, 2009 at 20:21 Austen Tattler: News and Gossip around the Blogosphere « Austenprose

    […] Jane Austen Ruined My Life – Jane Austen’s World […]


  9. on January 29, 2010 at 14:43 Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart, by Beth Pattillo: A Review « Jane Austen's World

    […] Read my review of Jane Austen Ruined My Life […]


  10. on June 17, 2011 at 14:17 Oxford’s Northanger Abbey, Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sanditon

    […] I need not go into Bath. Beyond the many books on Bath and Austen and Bath, I recommend In search of 18th century Bath. Nowadays we need no longer depend on publishers for our context in reading a book. We can go to […]



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