Book Review: Jane Austen Ruined My Life

My friend Mary recently watched an episode of Hoarders, which ultimately resulted in my inheritance of three boxes of books. After taking several days to sort them into three piles, I now I have a good supply of "to read" books on my list. And Jane Austen Ruined My Life was one of them. {Thanks, Mary!}

Written by Beth Patillo, Jane Austen Ruined My Life is one of three similar books about smart, modern-day women who are obsessed with Austen books and characters. I have read two of them now, and prefer the first one I read (Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart, which I will review for you soon). The most recent one, The Dashwood Sisters Tell All, came out in April of this year and was not in Mary's treasure trove. And I am not sure I will buy it. "Why," you ask? Because, although I liked Jane Austen, I did not love it. I found myself skimming rather than reading, and have little desire to reread sections of it.

My main issue with this book is the ending. ***WARNING: Skip the rest of this paragraph if you want to keep the end of the book a secret.*** The main character cries early on when thinking about her broken marriage and her unfulfilled dream of having children. But in the end, instead of commitment and the life she has dreamed of, she chooses another road. I am probably giving away too much of the ending here, so I won't say anything more--but this did not make sense to me.

To be honest, the cover of this book is great. I love the photograph, the red dress in particular, and the contrasting font color in the title. The cover alone sucked me into reading this book.

From the back of the book: English professor Emma Grant has always done everything just the way her minister father told her she should -- a respectable marriage, a teaching job at a good college, and plans for the requisite two children. Life was prodigiously good, as her favorite author Jane Austen might say, until the day Emma finds her husband in bed with another woman. Suddenly, all her romantic notions a la Austen are exposed for the foolish dreams they are.

Denied tenure in the wake of the scandal and left penniless by the ensuing divorce, Emma packs up what few worldly possessions she has left and heads to England on a quest to find the missing letters of Jane Austen. Locating the elusive letters, however, isn't as straightforward as Emma hoped. The owner of the letters proves coy about her prize possessions, sending Emma on a series of Austen-related tasks that bring her closer and closer to the truth, but the sudden reappearance of Emma's first love makes everything more complicated.

Read additional reviews on Goodreads here. Jenny has a review there, too.

Scripture of the Day: Proverbs 29:18