Writing Jane Austen by Elizabeth Aston
I found this book while I was perusing the shelves of the library one day. The title immediately caught my eye – could this be another book about Jane Austen? I quickly turned the book over to read the synopsis on the back. It sounded interesting so I checked it out.
Georgina Jackson is an American author living in London. Her first book was well-received by critics but didn’t sell well, and Georgina’s writing block is preventing her from finishing her second novel. Her agent decides to give her one last chance and offers Georgina the opportunity to complete a recently discovered unfinished manuscript by Jane Austen. The only problem is that Georgina has never read a Jane Austen novel. However, Georgina needs a job and needs money to pay her rent, so she agrees to the assignment.
I found this novel to be a light and entertaining read. It kept my attention and kept me wanting to read, mainly to find out if Georgina was going to write the book. There are so many Jane Austen tidbits in the story. Georgina procrastinates and decides to travel to Bath to see if she can figure out what is so great about Jane Austen and to try to get ideas for the story. In Bath, she is bombarded by Jane Austen paraphernalia. She then travels to a Regency-area village, where she is surrounded by not only Jane Austen gift shops and tour buses, but actors and actresses filming an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
I thought it was humorous the way Georgina’s agent and publisher were constantly able to find her. Somehow they are able to find the number for an old friend that she visits; they even call her in the car to ask where she’s going when she should be writing.
The one think that annoyed me was that it took Georgina over half the book before she even picked up a Jane Austen novel to read. She was so adamant that she didn’t like Jane Austen, but she hadn’t read any of her books. Georgina seemed to spend a lot of time make excuses about not writing.
I did feel the ending was a bit rushed and there is a romance that, I thought, came out of the blue. However, I thought this was a cute book and I will gladly read other books written by this author, especially if they are Jane Austen-themed.
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