I finished Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler (my third item for the Everything Austen challenge) this week. Here is the blurb from the publisher:
After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up to find herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy?
Not only is Courtney stuck inside another woman’s life, she is forced to pretend she actually is that woman; and despite knowing nothing about her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. For her borrowed body knows how to speak without slaying the King’s English, dance without maiming her partner, and embroider as if possessed by actual domestic skill.
But not even Courtney’s level of Austen mania has prepared her for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condom-less seducers, and marriages of convenience. Enter the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, a suitor who may turn out not to be a familiar species of philanderer after all.
Confessions was a nice, quick read. I didn’t love it, but I did enjoy it (I really wanted to love it since I planned on doing a giveaway, but it is what it is). The first-person narrator took a long time to get used to (I don’t like being stuck in people’s heads), but the idea is interesting. How many of us Austen fans have not dreamed of living in Regency England and attending balls, being courted by rich suitors, and traveling to Bath. But in these fantasies, have any of us considered the harsg realities – how do you bathe? what happens when you get your period? how are you treated when you are sick? These are the things Courtney experiences (along with the balls and the suitors and Bath). It made me glad that I can sit in my 21st century apartment reading about Jane Austen’s era instead of actually experiencing it.
And now for the giveaway!
Since Everything Austen is all about the giveaways, I will be giving away my copy of Confessions of a Jane Austen addict to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave a comment below saying one thing you would do (or dread doing) if you woke up in Regency England. For an extra entry, tweet about it or mention it in a blog post and let me know. The contest will be open until the end of the month (Midnight EDT November 30) and is open to international readers. I will announce the winner in my November Books post. Good luck!
my books. my life. 
Great giveaway Michelle!
If I woke up in Regency England, I would go for a walk in the beautiful countryside. 🙂 I always envy the walks Jane Austen’s characters go on.
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Forgot to include in my last comment: I tweeted. 🙂
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I would love to go shopping!
I’ll also retweet your giveaway!
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I retweeted the giveaway. I don’t think I’d like being alive then; I’m really happy about things like getting to vote and go places without a chaperone. 🙂 But I would love to read the book and see what happens when a modern woman is forced to confront those challenges.
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Oh yay, a giveaway! 🙂
In Regency England I´d want to go to a ball!
I blogged http://fruitflieslikeabanana.vox.com/library/post/austen-addicts.html
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If I woke-up in Regency England I would definitely try to befriend Jane Austen and Mary Shelly and several others! Thanks for the giveaway!
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Great giveaway Michelle! I’d love to wake up in regency England… I think I’d really want to wear my finest muslin and go to a ball!
I tweeted about the giveaway, but I don’t know how to post a link to a specific tweet…
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Horray for giveaways!
If I woke up in Regency England I think I’d behave scandalously and give everyone something to gossip about.
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I would dread having tea every afternoon because I am an espresso drinker. Maybe I should wake up in Italy or some place like that.
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The story looks quite interesting! Mr.Edgeworth seems to be an interesting character too! I am not sure what I would like to do if I woke up in Regency England – maybe I would like to be in the house during a the stormy, rainy night and hear Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley and Lord Byron reading their respective attempts at writing horror stories 🙂 It will also be nice to see the romantic Percy Shelley in person 🙂
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If I woke up in Regency England I’d love to go out horse riding! But I would definitely dread bath time afterward 😦 Simple hot showers we get nowadays will definitely be a luxury.
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Tweeted: http://twitter.com/bunnyb/status/5737336949
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What a fun giveaway! Thaanks
I would only agree to visit the past if armed with a decent supply of antibiotics.
That sorted I would spend my time trying on all the clothes.
I’m not a big fan of modern fashion and my favourite outfit is jeans with a plain cotton top. But I love costumes.
And having a maid help me fix my hair might mean that it was tidy for once!
After that I would walk to the nearest village. Mud doesn’t phase me and I love English country villages. To see one before it was affected by the Industrial Revolution would be breathtaking.
And to round off the experience I would like a trip to London completed with a ball. The smell would probably be appalling but all that Regency architecture would make my heart flutter even before the beaus asked me to dance :0)
BTW I tweeted https://twitter.com/eshchory/status/5819200889
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Thanks for asking! If I awoke in Regency England, I would call on Jane Austen (as she was real and her characters were fictional and trust it would be before 1817), go to a country ball (better workout with the dances), and hope to be invited for an elegant dinner at a fine estate (as I am a married woman, I trust this would allow me entry into this society).
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Regency England – I would love to try the dancing, buy a bonnet and muslin gown
…..but I would hate brushing my teeth, using the toilet and curling my hair everyday!
Thanks for offering comp to international readers. Much appreciated!
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Yay 🙂 a giveaway! Thanks Michelle!
If I woke up in Regency England I’d like to learn to write with a quill pen and fold letters. I’d also love to have a look around, of course 😉
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Thank you to Dominique at Coffee Stained Pages for letting me know about this fantastic contest!
Re-posted your contest at http://contests-freebies.blogspot.com/2009/11/win-confessions-of-jane-austen-addict.html
If I wake up in regency England, I probably would not cope at all!
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If I woke up in Regency England, I’d probably not like the idea of having to catch a husband, but I’d love to dress up and go to a ball, and I’d write long letters to my already married older sister.
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Thanks for the opportunity!
I would buy many beautiful dresses 🙂
szaboszilvia(at)gmail(dot)com
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