Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining on a rainy weekend!, 22 May 2009
If you are a Regency purist this isn't the book for you!
The dialogue of the supposed English upper-class characters is distinctly modern American, peppered with British slang. This includes such shockers as the host of the house party referring to his titled male guest as "old sod"!! This reference is derived from the word "sodomite" - and would have resulted in great offence being taken, if not a challenge to a duel issued! One of the upper class ladies also uses the reference "not a lick of sense" in speaking of a fellow guest - definitely a no-no for a gently-bred lady of the times. Scattered throughout, are some slang terms which are distinctly British lower-class, and unlikely to be used by "gentlemen" of the period.
Having said all that, I don't wish to be too harsh, as the authoress has taken pains to provide some authentic details too. I picked up a bit of interesting knowledge of the bathing practises of the time ... which quite amazingly, for all the elegance required of the higher society, occured as little as possible! (Yuck!)Also, as our heroine Eleanor is concerned with the fashions of the time, there is quite a bit of description of gowns & etc., too.
If you can deal with the clashing mixture of Americanised/British upper/lower class dialogue, the story itself is an interesting one, and ends happily for all the likeable parties... plus the ghosts!
So - if you're looking for a light,interesting, romantic "read" this is the one for you.
Also containing a few references to Jane Austen herself, her works,the terrific value of collectible items of hers nowadays, and a bit of dialogue (including advice for our heroine) from Miss Austen herself.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting time-travel Regency, 6 May 2009
What would Jane Austen do? Do I actually care? She's hardly a great prophet, leader or guru; she's an excellent novelist who died relatively young nearly two hundred years ago.
However the author Laurie Brown seems to think Jane Austen's guidance is worthwhile and the theme 'What would Jane Austen do' runs through the book. In this story our heroine, Eleanor Pottinger, a Jane Austen fan, finds herself thrust back in time by two ghosts to try to prevent a duel after a seduction. Eleanor looks like their cousin, a woman who had been living in America, and Eleanor of course knows a great deal about the Regency time - she's a Regency costume maker, for example - so manages to fit in fairly well.
She finds herself at a house party where the young women, eventually to become the two ghosts, look after Eleanor but show their youth in their rather carefree manners - Eleanor can see how one of them was seduced. She knows the seducer, too - Lord Shermont, a rather mysterious but very handsome man who is part of the house party. We also follow events from Shermont's point of view and the reader learns that he works for the government and is on the track of a Napoleonic spy who also has an accomplice - who might just be Eleanor.
Eleanor occasionally repeats the refrain "What would Jane Austen do?" when trying to overcome a problem in her situation; she gets the chance to meet the author in person, although this is a fairly minor part of the story; most of the action is Eleanor trying to keep the two young women out of mischief, coping with life in the Regency and being attracted to Shermont. I didn't feel that the Jane Austen aspect added anything to the book, in fact for me it was slightly obsequiously overdone, but that might be my British sensibilities showing through there.
The author has clearly researched much of the content of the book very well, specifially mealtimes, bathing and clothing, and there were some interesting vignettes into life at a country house gathering. However there were also some jarring elements, such as American words and phrasing issuing from the mouths of the English Regency characters and the feeling that the behaviour of several of the characters was rather more 21st century than 19th.
The book was well plotted and all the threads were tied up at the end. It was overall an enjoyable read but even when I had finished it and my eye caught the title again, "What would Jane Austen do?", I found myself saying "Who cares?"
Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008
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