If the early 90s sci-fi show "Quantum Leap" and PBS's "Masterpiece Theatre" had a passionate affair, "Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict" by Laurie Viera Rigler would be their love child.
After an unexpected break with her fiance, Courtney Stone, the novel's Jane Austen-loving protagonist, finds herself trapped in another woman's body during Victorian-era England. Courtney has the looks and voice of Jane Mansfield and, without any other option, resorts to living her life as an upper-class lady. She finds, however, that the life she so prized in Austen's novels is more tricky and oppressive than she imagined. But our heroine artfully navigates the challenges of formal dances, chaperones and marriage proposals, sometimes more artfully than others.
A cameo from Jane Austen herself also provides an indulgent delight.
While "Confessions" points out the vulgar reality of life for women in the 19th century, Rigler also manages to keep the pragmatic romanticism that has become associated with the works of Jane Austen. The book's strength is Courtney's struggle with her new found life. While she enjoys the servants who cater to her every whim, she wants to unionize them, though she continues to accept their backbreaking work.
As Courtney becomes further enveloped in the life of Jane, she begins to learn small truths about herself, commenting that "they say the truth will set you free, but what nobody tells you is that sometimes the truth will also make you miserable."
The biggest hitch in Rigler's novel is not in the plot or setting; it is in the writing. In general, the book moves quickly and seamlessly from one situation to another, but then the narrator starts asking questions.
Whole paragraphs of open-ended questions leave the reader feeling as if he or she should somehow answer them.
"If I'm such a good person, or if Jane is, for that matter, then why do we get our hearts bashed in by men like Frank or Edgeworth?" she muses, channeling Carrie Bradshaw and the damsel-in-distress cliché.
Halfway into the book, it gets tiresome, and Rigler is lucky her story is charming enough to entice the reader to keep turning pages.
"Confessions" is without a doubt chick lit, though it is of a different pedigree than the $4 romantic paperbacks with windswept male models and quivering women occupying the covers. Rigler serves up a quick and satisfying read with a unique plot, funny banter and a love story that might make you longingly sigh out loud.
