Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict

Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict
By Laurie Viera Rigler
Dutton, 2009. 293 pgs. Fiction

Jane Mansfield, a gentleman’s daughter from Regency England, inexplicably awakens in Courtney Stone's body in present day L.A. Although her apartment may be smaller than a dressing closet, she is enthralled by the lights that burn without candles, machines that wash clothes, and that glossy rectangle in which tiny people perform scenes from her favorite book: Pride & Prejudice. As Jane tries to piece together her past - both Courtney's of which she knows very little, and her own back in Regency England, she finds they share some remarkable similarities, especially in regards to a friend named Wes - who is as attractive and confusing as the man who broke Jane's heart back home.

This is a sequel to Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, and I liked this much better than the first book. It still has some flaws - the book doesn't really explain the time-traveling well enough, the reasons and characteristics of the experience are just too vague. But I did enjoy the culture-shock this regency woman experienced in modern-day L.A., plus I was more sympathetic to her personal dilemmas and found her soul-searching more meaningful than the character in the first book (plus her observations on some aspects of present-day culture are remarkably adept).

BHG