I’m participating today in "Waiting On" Wednesday. It is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, and its purpose is to spotlight eagerly anticipated upcoming releases.
I was introduced to Jane Austen and her wonderful books in high school. My English and Journalism teachers teamed up to invite the senior girls to their houses to watch the BBC five-hour version of Pride and Prejudice (yes, that sort of thing happened at my teeny-tiny private school). This started a long love affair with Austen, but also with Austen re-tellings and riffs. A couple of years ago I read Austenland by Shannon Hale (who also writes Grade A YA fantasy), and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I was thrilled to hear that it was being made into a film, and ecstatic to find that a sequel/companion novel is on its way! Midnight in Austenland will be published by Bloomsbury USA, and releases on January 31, 2012.
I was introduced to Jane Austen and her wonderful books in high school. My English and Journalism teachers teamed up to invite the senior girls to their houses to watch the BBC five-hour version of Pride and Prejudice (yes, that sort of thing happened at my teeny-tiny private school). This started a long love affair with Austen, but also with Austen re-tellings and riffs. A couple of years ago I read Austenland by Shannon Hale (who also writes Grade A YA fantasy), and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I was thrilled to hear that it was being made into a film, and ecstatic to find that a sequel/companion novel is on its way! Midnight in Austenland will be published by Bloomsbury USA, and releases on January 31, 2012.
When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a two-week vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his delightful new wife, her ever-grateful children, and all the rest of her real life in America. She dons a bonnet and stays at a country manor house that provides an immersive Austen experience, complete with gentleman actors who cater to the guests' Austen fantasies.
Everyone at Pembrook Park is playing a role, but increasingly, Charlotte isn't sure where roles end and reality begins. And as the parlor games turn a little bit menacing, she finds she needs more than a good corset to keep herself safe. Is the brooding Mr. Mallery as sinister as he seems? What is Miss Gardenside's mysterious ailment? Was that an actual dead body in the secret attic room? And-perhaps of the most lasting importance-could the stirrings in Charlotte's heart be a sign of real-life love?
The follow-up to reader favorite Austenland provides the same perfectly plotted pleasures, with a feisty new heroine, plenty of fresh and frightening twists, and the possibility of a romance that might just go beyond the proper bounds of Austen's world. How could it not turn out right in the end?
What books are you waiting on?
