Aside from that, the story is considerably different and surprisingly fresh, considering a setting that doesn’t seem to leave much room for imagination beyond a Darcy-entrenched plot. The sequel sees the return of a few characters, namely the flamboyant Colonel Andrews and hilariously dimwitted but, well, charming Miss Charming. After finding some solace in reading an abundance of Austen literature, Charlotte stumbles across the perfect, albeit silly, adventure provided at Pembrook Park, the same resort visited by Jane Hayes in the previous book. This story has a new heroine in Charlotte Kinder, a mother of two seeking escape from heartache caused by divorcing an unfaithful husband. So reads New York Times best-selling and local author Shannon Hale’s latest book, “Midnight in Austenland,” a sequel to “Austenland.” The new book brings the same modern twist to all things Jane Austen, with a dash of murder mystery for good measure. “It’s a universal truth that nothing spoils a postlunch game of croquet like suspecting other players of murder.” This review first appeared here on my blog.“MIDNIGHT IN AUSTENLAND,” by Shannon Hale, Bloomsbury, 288 pages, $22 (f) It did get a bit stale at parts with too much description and not enough talking or events but other than that, I really enjoyed it and I'm really looking forward to the second book, Midnight in Austenland!

I found a lot of the interactions of the characters really entertaining and overall, the book was a pleasure to read. She couldn't do the acting thing but kept forgetting that everybody else could. I found that even I was fooled several times over who was acting and who was real! I can't imagine how weird it would have felt to be Jane. I thought the idea was well executed and I really enjoyed Jane's stay at the resort. From the minute Jane steps in to this place, it's obvious that's it's not really her kind of thing and that she's not going to have such an easy time acting out the life she's been wishing for all these years. I loved this idea and was interested to see where it would go. Jane gets to visit a place that imitates Austen's time period and consists of actors roleplaying as various characters. When her aunt dies, she leaves Jane something rather unusual in her will. For Jane, nothing in the real world ever lives up to what she sees as the idyllic life of Elizabeth Bennet. She is obsessed with it to the point of it hindering her life. Jane Hayes has a secret obsession: Pride and Prejudice.

I think it managed to find its own unique style instead of trying to strive to be as Austen-like as possible. I think Austenland was definitely one of the better ones.

I will probably pick up anything with Austen's name on it and thankfully there are lots of spin offs out there! Some better than others, of course. I haven't even gotten around to reading all of her work yet (I will very soon!) but she's one of my favourites.

Austenland book 2