Huzzah! After weeks of interruptions, reading one chapter at a time, I can finally cross this one off one of my many reading lists.

 
First things first: No one - I repeat, no one - back then had bleach-blonde hair. I can almost garuntee you that. Also, I highly doubt that there were cotton candy pink or navy blue dresses, and that they would show that much back. However, they did get the style of the dresses right, for the most part, and the intricate hairdos. Sorry, I had to get this off my chest.

( After all, a carefully won marriage was far more important than affairs of state. )

After a couple of hectic days (had to put our old cat down and do some stuff for next semester), it feels good to post something.  Unfortunately, I think the book I'm reviewing deserves more time devoted to thinking it over.  And at the same time, I just want to do this and move on.


It really sucks when you finish a book and the first thing you can think of, regardless even of whether or not you liked it, is "At least I didn't pay money for this." Well, okay, maybe I'm feeling a bit miserly lately, but the point is I was disappointed in the direction this book took.

( It's the first time Iris has ever seen her stepsister look, for just a moment, as if she doesn't mind being beautiful. )

I bought this book because the sequel, Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, is out right now.  I decided that I had to read this, partly in order to glean how much I'd like the sequel, and partly because it would help me in my quest to read more Austen-inspired books.


Side note: Even in paperback form, it's $4-$6 more than your average YA novel, some of which are just as long as this.  I wonder why this is? 

( I'm sure wherever the real Jane is, she's just as eager to get back to her own life as I am to mine. So why not just relax in the meantime ...? )

I just finished reading it today.


Originally, I wanted to go with a cover that had Clark Gable in all his opened-shirt glory, but then I saw this and thought it better reflected what I thought of the book.  Yes, there's a great whirlwind romance between two of the largest personalities to ever grace the pages of any novel, but the Civil War, its aftermath, and the political and cultural atmosphere it created are just as prominent. 

( Read more... all 1,038 pages if you dare. )

First: I love Jane Austen with a passion.  I have read all her books at least once, some of which rank high on my fave books of all time.  She is a brilliant observer and recorder of how people think, act, and relate to each other.  Pride and Prejudice is a favorite with many people.  Her books are adapted and re-adapted into films and miniseries, many of them top-notch. Just about the only aspect of Austen that I've never gotten into is the glorified fanfiction of sequels to her novels, and imaginings of her own quiet but mysterious life.



A few months ago, I totally broke that rule.

( The tale must be told; a tale which will explain all others. )