Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

Categories: Entertainment , Movies & Books , Romance , Fiction

I’ve read a couple of Jane Austen's novels and have seen many of them adapted on film, but author Laurie Viera Rigler is a self-proclaimed Jane Austen addict.  She has read and reread all six of Austen’s books and is a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America.  She has also just written her first novel, a charming romantic tale called Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict.  

After Courtney Stone finds her boyfriend Frank having an affair with their wedding cake designer, she nurses her rejection with a copy of Pride and Prejudice and a bottle of Absolut.  She wakes up to find herself in the body of Jane Mansfield, a 19th-century English woman.

Courtney is not prepared for the chamber pots, corsets, and endless embroidery that are a normal part of Jane’s life.  But living in Jane’s body does have its perks: servants wait on her hand and foot, there’s plenty of delicious food to eat and balls to attend, and the dashing Mr. Edgeworth makes her weak in the knees.  But can he be trusted?  And how will she ever return to her life in 21st-century Los Angeles? 

Laurie Viera Rigler has written an engaging story with all the plot twists and misunderstandings of a Jane Austen novel.  If you're looking for another Jane Austen era/21st century switcheroo, check out the PBS documentary Regency House Party on DVD.  Six modern-day Mr. Darcys and six Miss Bennetts (and their chaperones, of course) live at Kentchurch Estate for nine weeks to see if they can find love according to the costumes and complex courtship rituals of 1811 England.