MIDNIGHT IN AUSTENLAND, by Shannen Hale

In Midnight in Austenland, Shannon Hale once again proves her stuff as a master storyteller. Hale took the same setting and many of the same characters from her first Austenland novel, and spun it into a completely different tale. Good job.

I got to meet Shannon Hale at the library here. Now that we’re friends, I just have one thing to say. Shannon, can I be you? Minus the twins. My sister has twins, and besides I don’t want to start with having young children again. I really, really wouldn’t want the Abraham’s Sarah experience, from the bible. Whoa there! I just want to spin a tale that readers rave about. One that makes readers marvel and sigh, and say, “I want to write like her!”

Midnight in Austenland:

Charlotte Kinder is nice. She’d been nice all of her life. She married a nice man, James, and had two nice children, Lu and Beckett. After the kids got old enough that they didn’t think Mom was all that interesting, Charlotte grew a simple idea into a prosperous Internet business and discovered she was also cleaver.

Unfortunately, Charlotte wasn’t cleaver enough to keep her husband interested. She blamed his cheating on herself. Of course she did. All nice people do. When Charlotte and James divorced, and he got half of all her money, Charlotte realized that he’d been cheating on her for a while.

Enough of that though. This story is about a middle-aged woman tainted by life. Beaten by the betrayal of the very man who was supposed to love and protect her. Betrayed by the two children who were supposed to adore her forever. The audacity. They grew up, and didn’t.

It’s a universal fact that toddlers and children adore their parents with a hero-worship love. It’s also a universal fact that once they hit middle-school that adoration melts into something less discernible as love. Mom is a swear word, and swear words are cool.

Let it be said; Her previously perfect life was stomped into the dust of nothingness.

After she found a long-lost “bucket list,” that she’d written as a kid, and discovered the bottom item, read Jane Austen, Charlotte did. And loved it.

But a person cannot live vicariously though novels of the 19th century forever. When Lu got angry with Charlotte for spying on her boyfriend, and swore she hated her mother, Charlotte realized one thing: she needed a vacation.

You got it. She booked a vacation at Pembrook Park, vacation destination for all Austen enthusiasts.

This is not the ordinary Austenland, however. Charlotte and the other guests/employees become involved in a story of the nearly disintegrated Abby nearby, and how all of the nuns were found dead with no reasonable explanation. Everyone suspected young Mary Frances, who was the sole survivor and who always refused to talk about the incident.

During an innocent game of Murder in the Dark, Charlotte comes across what she believes is a real, dead, body. When she takes the others to see it, Charlotte can’t even find the room, and of course everyone thinks it’s part of the script.

Colonel Andrews is an expert at entertaining and he is thrilled that Charlotte is “into” his game.

In a land where nothing is as it seems, it’s easy for Charlotte to convince herself that the “murder” is all part of the entertainment. Especially since each visitor’s story is written to their specifications, and as with all Austen novels, Pembrook Park visitors can expect a little love story mingled in.

Charlotte continues investigating the pretend dead body as part of the Abby Mystery. As she gains more clues, things start looking more real and it’s hard to separate fact from fiction.

In the second homage to Jane Austen, Pembrook Park is the same, many of the actors are the same and they still have their duty to entertain the guests. Miss Charming is there. Seems she’s adopted Pembrook Park as her new home. The grumpy Mrs. Waddlesbrook is there as is her husband.

 

This is where the story similarities to Hale’s previous book, Austenland, end. I won’t give away the story. Just know it’s a good one.

 

The Actor and the Housewife, by Shannon Hale

It was exciting for me to hear about The Actor and the Housewife, by Shannon Hale—a story about a Mormon housewife, mainly because I had been told repeatedly that national publishers will not publish novels with LDS main characters.


Shannon Hale busted the myth and has laid the groundwork for us all. Thank you!

Although The Actor and the Housewife is a comedy, it’s more than fluff, and it comes with my WARNING: there are several poignant moments. (Meaning you may cry. I did.)

Hale delves quite expertly into LDS family relationships and encourages the reader to question what is truth. Is it okay for married people to have best friends of the opposite sex? Can it even happen without one or the other falling in love with that friend? What kinds of activities are acceptable for this type of friendship without putting the marriage in jeopardy?

We can feel nonreligious Felix’s pain when he attends a ward dinner with the Jack family. We can sympathize with Becky when she’s feeling oh-so-awkward at a cast party. We can understand handsome-movie-star-Felix’s confusion as he becomes increasingly attracted to Becky, a Utah-Mormon-mother-of-four.

There are plenty of times when this friendship works as easy as breathing, but there are numerous times when we as readers worry, worry, worry about the depth of their friendship—Will Becky cross the lines and allow it to turn into something more?

So, how does a sexy-supermodel-wife cope with (or even process) her husband’s growing attraction and emotional connection to a poorly dressed, frumpy Mormon mother—especially when this actor refuses to have children of his own? The answer is sometimes quite graciously and other times not so well at all.

And, how does even the most secure husband deal with his wife becoming LIVER (Love-like Intensity Via Emotional Rapport) to a sexy-heartthrob movie star? The answer to that is also: sometimes quite graciously, and other times not so well at all. After time, he accepts his wife’s friendship but this is only because of his ironclad belief in his wife’s ultimate fidelity.

Becky’s meeting Felix (the actor that she’s drooled over for several years) is purely coincidence, as is their second and third meeting—and due to the fact that they’re both staying at the same hotel. Although he’s wary of meeting anyone (apparently he’s tired of all the adoring fans, and would like a little privacy), Becky is quick-witted and keeps up with his banter, never once fawning over his celebrity.

So, although she’s big with child, he’s intrigued. Becky becomes his link to reality. She keeps him grounded and loves to poke fun at his looks, stardom, accent—you name it. This is something that his sexy-supermodel-wife couldn’t do for him or even understand. Becky fills a void in his life.

The void that Felix fills for Becky is that of her high school chum, Augie. She missed the free flowing banter they had—until Felix. He is able to draw Becky away from all things mundane and makes her feel special in a way that neither her husband nor her children can.

This is a book full of serendipity and what-ifs, and Hale takes us on an amazing roller coaster ride while answering each question with sensitivity and wit. Although the book would be rated PG at most, the subject matter: will two LIVER’s keep their friendship without becoming lovers, might make some readers nervous.

As for me? I’m going to find her other books at the library and read them all. I’ve included a link to her blog so that if you’d like, you can see her cute new twins. http://oinks.squeetus.com/ Congrats Shannon Hale on their safe arrival!