Austenland

By Shannon Hale,

Book cover of Austenland

Book description

Jane is a young New York woman who can never seem to find the right man-perhaps because of her secret obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. When a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering…

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Why read it?

3 authors picked Austenland as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

It might not be Korean, but the same feeling is there. So many fangirls dream of visiting their favorite stories—and the main character Jane—in the book Austenland gets to do just that. When Jane’s grandmother buys her a trip to Austenland—the place where any girl’s Jane Austen dream can come true, she feels rude turning it down. Although, she’s enamored by men wearing smart coats and cravats, she’s also keenly aware of how fake everything is. It only takes a few days, however, to get swept up in the realness of the scene. A fangirl can hardly control her desire…

I won’t start out this recommendation by admitting how many times I’ve read/watched Pride and Prejudice or by telling you about all the Jane Austen paraphernalia I have. (Ok, yes, I have the Jane Austen action figure.) I think it’s safe to say that a lot of us wish we could live in Jane Austen’s story worlds. So I loved the premise of this book: There’s a vacation place where women go and can have their own Mr. Darcy. 

Maybe the heroine almost gets kicked out, but hey, we like her all the more for it and root for her…

Ahhh, a fun modernization of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice! I’m biased, of course, because I’m such a huge Austen geek and have been obsessed with Mr. Darcy since I was 14, but it was incredibly easy to relate to the heroine of Hale’s lighthearted novel. The protagonist—aptly named “Jane”—believes no man she encounters can ever compare to the literary rendition of Mr. Darcy. (Well, who could?) But what makes this story so enjoyable is seeing the way our heroine’s visit to the fictional "Austenland" resort plays out on the page, and how experiences by the characters in…

From Marilyn's list on romance inspired by British classics.

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