Publish date: January 2012
Source: Library
"When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a two-week vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his delightful new wife, her ever-grateful children, and all the rest of her real life in America. She dons a bonnet and stays at a country manor house that provides an immersive Austen experience, complete with gentleman actors who cater to the guests' Austen fantasies.
Everyone at Pembrook Park is playing a role, but increasingly, Charlotte isn't sure where roles end and reality begins. And as the parlor games turn a little bit menacing, she finds she needs more than a good corset to keep herself safe. Is the brooding Mr. Mallery as sinister as he seems? What is Miss Gardenside's mysterious ailment? Was that an actual dead body in the secret attic room? And-perhaps of the most lasting importance-could the stirrings in Charlotte's heart be a sign of real-life love? " (Goodreads)
So it appears that I've been on a Shannon Hale kick lately (see my review of The Goose Girl here). No worries: this is a good thing! I read Austenland a while ago and found it to be refreshingly fun and different. Midnight in Austenland was also fun, but quite different from Austenland.
One thing that Midnight had that Austenland didn't was a mystery added to the plot. The mystery aspect of it makes Midnight a lot darker than its predecessor and I'm not sure that I enjoyed it as much. I went into this one thinking it would be another Austenland, I guess, and while it was, it was so much different that I think I liked Austenland better. That said, I enjoyed the actual plot and most of the characters.
Another reason that I didn't like Midnight in Austenland as much is because I couldn't sympathize with or relate to the main character. Yes, she is a mom and middle aged, that's all fine and dandy and not a problem, but she was also the creator of a million dollar company. My ability to relate AT ALL just flew out the window. How many of us create million dollar companies? I couldn't get that fact out of my mind for the book and it really affected my enjoyment of it.
Have you read Midnight in Austenland? Thoughts?
Author: Shannon Hale
Publish date: 2005
Source: purchased ebook
"She can whisper to horses and communicate with birds, but the crown princess Ani has a difficult time finding her place in the royal family and measuring up to her imperial mother. When she is shipped off to a neighboring kingdom as a bride, her scheming entourage mounts a bloody mutiny to replace her with a jealous lady-in-waiting, Selia, and to allow an inner circle of guards more power in the new land. Barely escaping with her life, Ani disguises herself as a goose girl and wanders on the royal estate. Does she have the pluck to reclaim her rightful place? Get ready for a fine adventure tale full of danger, suspense, surprising twists, and a satisfying conclusion. The engaging plot can certainly carry the tale, but Hale's likable, introspective heroine makes this also a book about courage and justice in the face of overwhelming odds. The richly rendered, medieval folkloric setting adds to the charm." (Goodreads)
The only previous Shannon Hale book that I'd read was Austenland, which I liked. The Goose Girl was 1.99 (I think) for the Kindle a while ago and at the urging of Christina at BookTasty, I bought it and read it while on vacation last week. It took me a little while to get into it but I ended up loving it! Shannon Hales wins again!
Like I said, I'd only read Hale's Austenland before and holy wow, are these books different, but awesome. The first thing I really noticed about The Goose Girl was the writing style. It is very fairy tale-esque and really set the scene for the story. It was simple, but not too simple, if that makes sense. I liked all the descriptions of the setting and felt like I was able to picture Ani's world.
I didn't know this particular fairy tale, but was able to become invested in it after a few chapters. I think it started slow for me because the first chapter takes place when Ani is a child. As soon as it jumped to the present time of the story, I was sucked in. I liked Ani as a character and was rooting for her the whole time. She was a strong girl and I felt so frustrated for her when things went wrong. When a book can make you feel as angry as the characters are...it's good.
If you haven't read Shannon Hale, I would definitely recommend this (and Austenland!). I believe there are three other books in the Books of Bayern series, and I plan on reading them soon. Who knew I liked fairy tale retellings?
Author: Shannon Hale
Publish date: 2007
Source: Library
"Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.
Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen;or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It's all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?"
I had no idea what to expect going into this book. It was a lot shorter than I imagined (only 197 pages!), so I knew there had to be a lot of goodness packed into a small book. It ended up being a lot of fun and the perfect kind of read for spring break.
If you've ever read Jane Austen or even seen adaptations of her novels, you know that she concocts some crazy stories with generally handsome leading men. The main character of Austenland, Jane, knows this all too well and she essentially gets to experience it firsthand when she spends 3 weeks in England at a type of regency resort. How fun does that sound?!?!?! I'll be honest, at first it was vaguely creepy (to me, at least). Everyone there is an actor; you are playing the role of a person from 1816, all the way down to manner of speaking, undergarments, and food. After a few of Jane's days there, I got into it and had some fun with the characters.
Like I said, I didn't know what I was getting into before reading Austenland, and when I finished, I knew I would classify this as a fun book. Shannon Hale is not trying to emulate Austen at all here; she is just taking a female's fantasy of Mr. Darcy (sound familiar to anyone?) and creating a delightfully fun book out of it. The book was fairly predictable, but not in a bad way, although I was slightly surprised by the ending. I'll definitely be reading the sequel, Midnight in Austenland, and will be looking into more of Ms. Hale's work!
