Books like Jane Austen Ruined My Life
Jane Austen Ruined My Life
Before a proper review begins...I must rant about something that really bothered me about this book. It's a tiny flaw, but it really gets to me.If one says "I love Jane Austen, I will write a book about her life and novels..." then one should ensure that every tiny detail is correct. At one point in the novel, the main character (Emma) is talking to Adam about a home in a park and they say it possibly inspired the great homes in Austen's novels. Emma then says that the family in Mansfield Park did not appreciate the beauty of homes because they were too self-involved. That's all fine...but she calls the family the Rushworths. "But I can't imagine a family like the Rushworths living in someplace this elegant." Really?! You love Jane Austen and her novels, but you say that the main family in Mansfield Park is called Rushworth? Seriously?! You write a book about an academic who has dedicated her life to studying Austen's works and you have her say that the family in Mansfield Park is called Rushworth?! AND NO ONE EVER CAUGHT THIS TO CORRECT IT?! What?! The family that LIVES at Mansfield Park is the BERTRAMS! Rushworth is the doofus that marries Maria Bertram!Ok...beyond that:The book is like a lightweight Da Vinci Code for Austen fans. I also find it very difficult to understand how this woman can keep blaming Jane Austen for her sad love life when Austen wrote everyone of her leading male characters with flaws. Darcy his pride (and his prejudice against those with lesser means), Wentworth his inability to forgive Anne, and Knightley his constant need to correct Emma and treat her like a child. Yes...they overcome these flaws, but they exist! And...by the end, I was just over the main characters blindness to what she has right in front of her. Ugh.Cute story...but it could definitely use some work.