He smelled of gardens, tricked her brain into believing she was irresistible, and made the idea of falling in love seem possible again. … Also, he turned out to be a jackass.”
I’m having a slight difficulty writing this review because I saw the movie after I read the book (as is universally accepted practice), but I disliked the movie so much that I’m finding it’s clouding my impressions of the book somewhat. So I’m going to do my best to keep that bias out of this, but it might sneak in here or there, and I thought I should give you a head’s up.
If Austenland were an actual place, in the actual world, where people (let’s be honest – mostly women_ could flit around all decked out in Austen-era costumes and attend balls and dinner parties, complete with corsets and servants and more etiquette than any of us have forgotten in our lifetimes, then there would surely be a market for it. Most likely a huge market. And since it DOES exist in Shannon Hale’s novel Austenland, Jane Hayes is going to take full advantage of it.
So what if her aunt’s bequest had only managed to book her the lowest-tier package? So what if her best friend thinks it might possibly be the worst idea she’s ever had? The tickets are hers they’re non-refundable, and she’s on her way. Once there, she meets more than the ordinary cast of characters, to populate the ultra-exciting Pembrooke Park – their driver (who’s very good at flirting); the woman who owns the estate and sets the rules (and tries very hard to enforce those rules, as well as people’s social standings); her horrible, handsy, often-drunk husband; the three gentlemen who are available for the length of their house party, and – among the non-actors, her compatriots: a bit of ditz with a great big heart and an awful English accent, and the perfect English Rose, straight out of the books and set in the sitting room.
And here’s where the movie goes from ‘slightly annoying’ to ‘You’re getting this all wrong’: in the book, Miss Charming (the ditzy friend) is brash and a bit annoying, but manages to remain endearing, sweet, and vulnerable – in the movie, as portrayed by the very talented Jennifer Coolidge, she’s got the brash and annoying down, even the sweet, but the vulnerable and endearing just don’t come through. Same goes for some of the gentlemen – The book version of Colonel Andrews is much less a player than his film counterpart, and much more likeable as a result. Even Nobley, another of the gentlemen, comes across too arch and forbidding in the film, whereas his book-version self is both of those things, but somehow also manages to portray a sense of humor and snark that I felt was missing from the movie, and made him so unlikeable that I didn’t care for him at all, come the end. (Which is kind of important, since he turns out to be a main character.)
All in all, the plot contains no huge surprises – Enjoying her time in the Regency, while still feeling out of place and trying to figure out what it is about her that makes her feel that way, Jane manages to have fun, spoil some other people’s fun, act in a play (was that in the book… I’ll have to double check), lie to the house mistress, evade the house’s master, find someone whose company she enjoys, decide who it is worthwhile to spend her time with, and wander along in period costume presumably missing Twitter, wifi and all things modern day (I inferred that last part). It’s a fast moving story, with plenty of whimsy, and I enjoyed it enough to check out the movie, which I do not recommend. (Some people liked the movie. I probably might have it I didn’t have the far superior book to compare it to? I don’t know: maybe it was ok, but not for me.)
But the book – give that a go, particularly if you are an Austen fan (or a Shannon Hale fan: Luckily I fit into both categories).
PS: Two things (thanks Amazon!): Apparently, there is a now the movie-book cover (which: boo!) and a sequel (which: Yay!)
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