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Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Jane in Love by Rachel Givney


 

What would Jane Austen choose, love in the future or becoming a successful writer in her own time?

Jane in Love tells us the story behind this choice.  In 1803 Bath England, Jane Austen is 28 years old and becoming a spinster.  She longs to be able to have her own independence without everyone trying to push her into marriage.  After a visit to a mysterious woman, she finds herself in present day Bath.  She meets Sophia Wentworth. Sophia is an actress playing Mrs. Allen in a new film version of Northanger Abbey.  She was once a major Hollywood star married to a famous director, but as she nears the end of her thirties, her career and marriage are in shambles.  As Sophia helps Jane find her way in modern England, will she also be able to find herself?

I always love time travel novels.  I thought it was an interesting concept to bring Jane Austen to the future and to see if she would choose love over her career.  I enjoyed her meeting Fred and their romance, but I never really felt the love connection between the two as I feel that I should have.  Part of it may be that I didn’t feel the character of Jane fit with the Jane Austen I know and love.  Persuasion is my favorite Austen novel and I loved how it worked with this novel.

My favorite part of this novel was actually Sophia.  I loved the details of her rise to fame, her marriage, and her trials of being an actress nearing forty in Hollywood.  The making of the movie was fascinating as well.  I would love a spin off novel on Sophia and her future adventures in film and love.

I kind of hope future versions of this book will change the year to 2019 or 2021.  The story didn’t fit in the 2020 setting as there weren’t movies being made that year.  It’s hard to have a story set in 2020 without mentioning COVID.

This is our August selection for the JASNA Northwoods Book Club and I can’t wait to discuss it with our group this weekend.

Favorite Quote:

“She was too old to act so childishly, gripped by juvenile longing, but then love never aged.  She’d feel the same at eighty.”

Overall, Jane in Love is an interesting time travel novel that looks at the impact of Jane Austen on our time.

Book Source:  Review Copy from William Morrow.  Thank-you!

 

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