I'd rather be in Austenland

There has been a recent debate over romance and chivalry between me and a friend. I can tell you that I actually am creeped out by romance. I once had a guy attempt to serenade me and I was just uncomfortable...and I had a creepy French guy try being uber romantic to me and I considered what would happen if I asked the cops we passed to help me. To me, romance is the guy who doesn't treat you like the rest of the world does. I have had to deal with a lot of crap from men in some of the jobs I have had - breast staring, butt smacking, proposals, requests to spank someone with a stir stick, and numerous other creepy things. We don't want a guy who is going to treat us like crap when we get home. We want one that is going to make us feel special and treat us more kindly than the rest of the jerks we have to deal with. To be honest - if I had to deal with the same kind of guy that I had to deal with on a daily basis, I'd much prefer watching Mr. Darcy or Colonel Brandon or ... you name it.



That brings me to the book that I read. I listened to Austenland by Shannon Hale. The story follows a 30 something year old woman, Jane, who is single and looking for a Mr. Darcy. She feels the pathetic-ness of her life sink in as she sinks more and more into the dream of a Darcy. A rich great aunt finds her stash of Austen based movies and decides to help her out of her rut. She leaves Jane a trip to Austenland in her will - hoping it will cure her of her delusions (well that is what Jane assumes this trip is for). Jane goes to Auestenland for a full three weeks of sauntering around in all the glory of Austen's Britain. She discovers that the snoody who typically afford this type of trip are all into the characters that they portray. She has a little trouble letting go and slipping into character - she sees hope for a cure in the arms of a tall drink of water gardener. He attempts to break things off and she begins to through herself more into character as a chance to get over her obsession - treating the whole experience as some sort of therapy. She still has some hard times excepting the surreal nature of the experience - breaking character occasionally, she tries to break through to Mr. Nobly (the Mr. Darcy of Austenland). There are twists and turns and juicy drama that happens. Then - Jane meets the perfect man on the plane home! It is such a good book and so fits for any Austen fan.