Book Review: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, Laurie Viera Rigler
originally published: April 2008
finished reading: 5 March 2012
cost: $14 (paperback swap trade)

I love Jane Austen fan fiction. I'm not one of those purists (like my daughter) who think the only story is the way Jane wrote it. This particular story is one in which the 21st century heroine wakes up suddenly in the body of an Austen contemporary. She keeps trying to figure out why she is where she is and is vaguely interested in getting back to her own time.

The descriptions of the life she's found herself in are quite good. Who thinks about deodorant or the politics of bathing every day when they think about how lovely it would be to swan around a ballroom with Mr. Darcy? Rigler was spot on with the manners and decorum of the Regency era. I also loved her take on "shopping" - how many bolts of fabric can one look at when you get the same dress every time anyway?!

Where Confessions falls down for me are the constant thoughts about the life Courtney left behind. She's just broken up with her fiance after discovering he was cheating on her. Not only does she obsess about the way she handled the situation, she obsesses about the way she treated the fiance's best friend. Fish or cut bait, grrl! And in a book where the main character essentially time travels, I suppose it's truculent to point out the fortune teller's description of why she's traveled is nonsense (time bends, time moves, we are all in the same time while we are all in different times).

This is a quick read and has some merit, but only read it if it falls in your lap. Don't go looking for it.