Sunday, February 13, 2011

My Jane Austen Summer by Cindy Jones

Three losses in her life....the loss of her mother, the loss of her job, and the loss of her boyfriend. What else could happen, hopefully something good?  And something good did happen....Lily was going to London for the summer to participate in Literature Live.  How would she afford it?  She wasn't sure, but she had to attend and would think of some creative way to make the money she needed for the plane fare.

When Lily arrived at Newton Priors, she had no place to stay since she wasn't in the elite group so she seized one of the actresses's rooms that hadn't shown up....what a mistake that was to have to share the room with Bets.   Bets turned out to be one of the stars, unreliable, and also a thief. 
Bets's unreliability helped Lily get on the stage for one brief moment, but then Lily was relegated to be the tea-theater host.  Lily also found someone to replace her old boyfriend, but there were contingencies and pain attached to him...just like all aspects of her life had always been.  
Lily was glad she had "Jane Austen" around to help her solve some of the problems.  She did wonder about Jane, though - "Jane Austen had secrets.........And she never told me.  I would have told her something that important.  I told her everything.  Perhaps we weren't as close as I thought.  Perhaps the person in my peripheral vision wasn't Jane Austen at all."  Page 289
The book was not bad….the ending was memorable, but the book didn't have much action. Lily’s flashbacks and memories of her mother were very touching, and her enthusiasm about Jane Austen was contagious, but I guess you really have to be a true Jane Austen fan to pick up on all the little nuances and the excitement.    Rating 3/5.

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