Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

It's easy listening to this funny, clever story about Courtney Stone, a woman with only her Jane Austen novels to keep her company as she wallows over a broken engagement--until she wakes up in the nineteenth century in the body of Jane Mansfield, an English woman looking for a husband. Courtney's sarcastic nature is brought to life by Orlagh Cassidy, who is spot-on in her portrayal of the confusion and detached amusement Courtney feels in the body of someone living nearly 200 years ago. Likewise, Cassidy expertly distinguishes the other characters, immersing listeners in the time period while still maintaining the perspective of her 21st-century character. Though it's difficult to hear this wonderful production come to a close, this time-bending story ends just as it should. B.H. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

June 4, 2007
A
clever time-travel setup functions as the prime attraction for this breezy debut novel. Courtney Stone, a single Los Angeles woman recovering from the double whammy of a broken engagement and a failed friendship, wakes up after a night of self-medicating with her “drug of choice,” Jane Austen novels, to find herself in 1813 England. She's inhabiting the body of Jane Mansfield, a manor-born Englishwoman who, at 30, has yet to find a husband, confounding her humorless, “Miss Bossy-corset” stand-in mother. While still haunted by “real-life” memories, Courtney, as Jane, soon gets swept up in this Austenesque world of decadent meals and grand balls, gentlemen in “form-fitting knee breeches” and traveling with her friend Mary, whose brother, Charles Edgeworth, appears to have an interest in Jane that Courtney struggles to understand. As her identity starts to meld with Jane's, Courtney rethinks who she wants to be (and to be with) in any time period. While her 21st-century anachronisms can be comical, Courtney, for such an Austen “addict,” is unconvincingly naïve about Regency norms. Fans of the ever-expanding inspired-by-Austen-lit garden party will find a winner here; it doesn't hurt that Austen has a brief, comical cameo.

November 26, 2007
Orlagh Cassidy is delightfully fun as Courtney Stone, a modern Los Angeles girl nursing a heartbreak who wakes up to find herself inhabiting the body and life of a Jane Austenesque Regency girl. Cassidy is spot-on with Courtney's California accent, modern-day moaning about men, self-analysis and doubt, and sarcasm—and then, without missing a beat, flips easily into the proper, upper-class English tones of Jane (the Regency girl Courtney has replaced, whose accent came with the body), her pompous, controlling mother, her desperate suitor and her sympathetic best friend. Orlagh's lively narration makes Courtney even more endearing and brings the colorful story to life. Fans of Austen, chick lit, and romantic comedies should definitely put this one on their listening list. Simultaneous release with the Dutton hardcover (Reviews, June 4).