Midnight in Austenland
By Shannon Hale
Published by Bloomsbury
Release date: Jan. 31, 2012
ISBN: 978-1608196258
Source: NetGalleyMaybe if she stood in the places where Austen wrote, where her characters lived, she could feel again as she had when reading her books--not like a girl who'd been wadded up and tossed aside, but like a woman with possibilities.
Who needs Calgon when you’ve got Jane Austen?
Charlotte has had enough of her life. Recently divorced, by a man who was not only cheated on her, but took her for all she was worth, Charlotte takes the opportunity to leave it all behind for greener, Austen pastures. And it’s no secret her kids need time away from her as well, especially after her daughter finds out Charlotte was following her boyfriend. In her defense, mom knows he’s up to no good, and wants to save her daughter a little heartache.
Thanks to the profitable sale of her landscaping website, Charlotte can afford a two week visit to Austenland, a place that provides an immersive Jane Austen experience meant to fulfill the most elaborate fantasy a woman could conjure. And in her case, enough drama to keep her mind off the problems back home. But leaving her problems behind is only part of the problem: can she find a way to leave the old Charlotte behind and become a worthy heroine?
Midnight in Austenland is the Hale’s follow up to Austenland, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Midnight, however fell a little short of my expectations. But it also surprised me in many ways: this book is more ambitious than the first. While Austenland was a complete escapist read, Midnight was an exploration of how the past and all its disappointments can cement us into this person that we no longer want to be. And for every chapter that reveals more of Charlotte’s character, we see a chapter rooted in the past, that explains a little more of why Charlotte is the way she is. Hale’s writing seemed markedly different, and better when explaining Charlotte’s past, than it did when she was writing about the Austen setting.
Towards the end, I did become a little frustrated with the twists and turns of Austenland, but I also didn’t see a lot of it coming. The end, of course, was a little sappy, but it wasn’t a huge disappointment.
Midnight in Austenland will appeal to fans of Jane Austen and the fan fiction genre, and for those who need a little Calgon-ish retreat.
