Book Review: What Would Jane Austen Do?

by Laurie Brown

This is a dazzling 2009 version of a “Janeite heads to the past” type storyline. Downloaded for free onto my Kindle on Jane Austen’s birthday, while it took me a while to get around reading it… when I did I was gripped. Packed with historical nuances, detailed comments about the fashion of the time and some raunchy Regency sex (pulled off semi-tastefully, although it did surprise me a little when I first stumbled out of “cute dancing in a ball” chapters and before I even noticed I’m reading “certain-dashing-heroes cutting open beautiful-eligible-female’s corset with knife”)  it’s not one to be missed.

Book Review: Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

“Each of us has a private Austen.”- Karen Joy Fowler (page 1, Prologue)

The Jane Austen Book Club is one of the few books I’ve seen the film version of first. I have been hesitant to read it, as I had heard that it was distinctly different from the film, but when I saw it on the shelves of Basement Books (yet again) for $5.95, I couldn’t help but buy it for the train. It surprised me, in a number of ways. Firstly, it’s chick lit but it manages to include those subtle Janeite jokes, and secondly, the different storylines blend seamlessly into a delicious little read.