Washoe County Library System

Austen scholar Deresiewicz turns to the author's novels to reveal the remarkable life lessons hidden within. With humor and candor, Deresiewicz employs his own experiences to demonstrate the enduring power of Austen's teachings.

"May 1816: Jane Austen is feeling unwell, with an uneasy stomach, constant fatigue, rashes, fevers and aches. She attributes her poor condition to the stress of family burdens, which even the drafting of her latest manuscript-about a baronet's daughter nursing a broken heart for a daring naval captain-cannot alleviate. Her apothecary recommends a trial of the curative waters at Cheltenham Spa, in Gloucestershire. Jane decides to use some of the profits...

"A down-and-out so-and-so gets more than she bargained for when she wakes up trapped in a book and realizes that somethings cut deeper than paper...things like marriage...to a book...because it's a LOT of paper.."--

For every woman who's read Pride and Prejudice and sighed for Mr. Darcy: Austenland is a confection of a novel set at a Jane Austen fantasy camp for women, from New York Times–bestselling author and Newbery Honor Medalist Shannon Hale.

Jane is a young New York woman who never seems to find the right man—perhaps because of her secret obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation

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Jane Hayes's adoration of all things Jane Austen is complicating her love life. Determined to be the heroine of her own story, Jane spends her life savings on a trip to Austenland, an eccentric Austen-inspired resort, where she meets two very different gentlemen, but has a difficult time determining where fantasy ends and real life, and maybe even love, begins.

Describes the life and discusses the novels of the nineteenth century British author, Jane Austen, known for her vivid portrayals of middle and upper-class English society.