jane austen ruined my life

Liked it. Absolutely love the cover - isn't that just the way you feel some days? I want her dress (with a few modifications).

It was just a fun, quick read that made you think more about the Jane Austen that the world doesn't know. Here's a little summary of the book:

English professor and devoted Jane Austen scholar Emma Grant has just had her life shattered when she caught her husband sleeping with her assistant. He further humiliates her by ruining her career claiming that she plagiarized her assistant's paper (which is false my friends). Her life in tatters she sells everything she has, cashes out her 401 K and follows a lead that could redeem her entire career. A woman in England has written her claiming that she has several missing letters written by Jane Austen that her sister Cassandra supposedly burned upon her death; letters that would reveal mysteries in Jane Austen's life that fans and devotees have been curious about for centuries. Upon her arrival she finds that a former best friend and possible flame is staying at the same flat as she is (of course that could only mean a love story will ensue).

In a DaVinci Code meets Jane Austen race she travels through England visiting the places where Jane Austen lived and worked trying to get the next letter, hoping to redeem her career. Along the way she finds out more about herself and what she's been blind to for so many years.

I'm a big fan of Jane Austen so this book was a fun way to guess at what her life might have been like if only we could have known more about her. And of course I'm a sucker for a love story. I do have to say that I was a tad unsatisfied with the ending but it leaves you with hope that everything turns out as it should, eventually. I loved the old English feel of the book, it made me really want to visit Enlgand and yell 'cherrio!' to someone in a British accent.