I bought the movie Pride and Prejudice years ago, and much to the
chagrin of my daughter, I watched it often. With this said, I still wouldn’t
be admitted into the Austen fan club.
I still thoroughly enjoyed Austenland.
Since Mr. Darcy is mentioned often, and with a spirit of
admiration or awe, it might be important for a reader to have at least watched
the movie once, or read the book, in order to relate.
But who hasn’t?
Poor Jane Hayes. She hadn’t meant to fall in love with Mr.
Darcy. She did realize he was a fictional character, and all. It’s just that
none of the real-live men that she’d known could hold a candle to him. Why
bother, if one can’t have perfection?
Jane’s love life is laughable – and we get a glimpse into
her dysfunctional idea of a boyfriend at the beginning of each chapter.
When Aunt Carolyn comes to town, Mom brings her to Jane’s
apartment with the idea of sweetening Aunt Carolyn to Jane so she’ll bequeath
Jane some of her money when the time arrives.
Aunt Carolyn sees the hidden Pride and Prejudice DVD and knows
exactly why Jane is still single. Later, as Mom had hoped, Jane was included in
Aunt Carolyn’s will. She is bequeathed a three-week vacation to England’s Pembrook
Park.
It’s a place where Austen-obsessed wealthy women go. Most of
them are tired of their real lives, and of their real husbands. They’re given
new, Austen-y names, and even get to pick their age.
There are plenty of handsome men around—the handsome yet
brooding Mr. Nobley, the charming Colonel Andrews, and the newly promoted Captain
East – are all actors hired to play their parts and keep the clients happy.
They’re actors, they’re actors, they’re actors. This is what
Jane keeps reminding herself, and it’s hard to keep real emotions away from
pretend situations, and it appears that with the exception of the well manicured
landscape, nothing in this amusement park is genuine.
In a desperate attempt at finding something real that she
can put her emotions to, Jane escapes into the arms of Martin, one of the
gardeners. But then she realizes that in order to rid herself of her Mr. Darcy obsession
she must face it head on.
Jane dons her bloomers and corset, she walks the walk and
talks the talk of the proper Austen character, and finds herself in danger of
falling in love with the real-live fictional character, Mr. Nobley. However,
when he offers the scripted proposal, Jane is finally able to put Mr. Darcy
behind her.
Austenland is a fun read – all the awkward moments when Jane
is teetering on the edge of make-believe and reality made me laugh out loud. The
whole time I was reading it, I kept wondering how Hale would get a proper
ending. I needn’t have worried. All questions were answered, and it was a
romping good time from beginning to end.
