Laurie Viera Rigler

Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict is the complementary story to Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. In that first book, Courtney Stone, a 32 year old from the year 2009, wakes up in 1813 Somerset, England in the body of Jane Mansfield, daughter of a gentleman. Rude Awakenings tells what happens to Jane, who wakes up in Courtney’s body in 2009. The books can be read independently but probably flow better in order.

Both young ladies, rabid fans of Jane Austen, wished for different show more lives, and both hit their heads at the same time. Thus, we presume, some sort of cosmic Karma has enabled this switch. Like the movie “Back to the Future,” these books focus on the humorous confusions that result from dislocations in time. Coming to 2009 from 1813, there is plenty to astound a person, from televisions, computers, telephones, cars, and airplanes to the astonishing change in manners and morality, especially for a young woman. And there is no shortage of opportunity for satire either. One uproarious passage has Courtney’s friends take her to a therapist; after Jane/Courtney goes on about how she is really someone else from the year 1813, lost in the future, and doesn't know how to get back, the therapist says: “Soooo… how do you feel about that?”

Courtney, ostensibly recovering from a severe concussion, finds herself attended to by Wes (the best friend of her ex-fiance), old girlfriends Paula and Anna, and a new girlfriend Deepa (who speaks with a reassuring English accent). She also finds herself reluctantly feeling responsive to the importunings of the ex, Frank, whom everyone (including Courtney) now recognizes as a scumbag.

It is Anna, who is into “new-age crap” as Paula calls it, who gives Courtney the most to think about when she says:

"I believe that each of us has the power to create heaven or hell, right here, right now.”

Reflecting on this later, Courtney, always the Austenophile, says:

"Each of us has the power to create heaven or hell, right here, right now. I do not know how I have come to be in this time, in this place, in this body. But I do know that any place where there are six novels by the author of Pride and Prejudice must be a very special sort of heaven.”

When Courtney expresses angst about how to understand what has happened to her, her friend Deepa takes her to see a fortune teller, who turns out to be the same one she saw as Jane back in 1813. The woman tries to teach her that knowledge about ourselves and others is structured by preconceptions. To truly know someone, you need to be open to fresh perspectives. That is to say, like Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, one must let go of ones' pride and discard ones' prejudices, not only to know others truly, but also to know ourselves and our true desires.

She also teaches Courtney not to be intimidated by the nature of 21st Century relationships. Even if someone has loved before, it doesn’t preclude loving again:

"When you unite with your true love, it will be as if he is your first, and you his. In the eyes of love, there is no past.”

But can Jane/Courtney somehow reconcile her knowledge of who she really is with her new persona, and overcome the mistakes of both of those lives to make a new beginning? Or will she get cold feet and go back, with the help of the fortune teller? In short, will she create a hell, or can she create a heaven?

Evaluation: I liked this book much better than Confessions, in part because this story tended to tie up the lose ends left by the first story (and I do like all the ends tied!). It was also fun to see Jane/Courtney’s reaction to all the modern conveniences (such as toilets!) and watch her figure out how to use them. And looking at such modern wonders (electricity!) through Jane’s eyes helps you appreciate them so much more!

I envied Jane for having the opportunity to create a new life as Courtney, combining their personalities to make a kinder, better Courtney and a looser, more compromising Jane. It's sort of like having a rewind button but with an editing capability. What a lovely premise! show less

Several years ago, while working at $corporate_bookstore, I came across Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler which promised a fresh perspective in the Jane Austen paraliterature canon. I had been burned before by authors who use Austenmania as the foundation for their work, usually bogging themselves down by trying too hard to emulate Austen instead of just using her or her work as inspiration. What I really adored about Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict was that it show more didn't seem to fall into the same tangles and missteps as other Austenesque inspired novels - the writing was contemporary and not fake-Georgian/Regency era, the story was well paced, the background was well researched, the comedic errors were indeed funny and above all else, I really liked the heroine Courtney Stone.

I could also, which is hugely important when writing chick-lit, relate to the heroine's experiences and I could identify with her. This is really where Rigler excelled: She wrote chick-lit without making the heroine vacuous or implausible and she stayed (more or less) true to Austenesque style, which is where 90% of Austen regenerators fail.

One of the advantages of working in a bookstore is that you usually have your finger on what is going in the world of books and publishing much sooner then the general public, which was fantastic for me since I could keep atop on my Austenesque paraliterature better than the Austen blogging world. But not having worked at $corporate_bookstore since January of 2009, I've not been as diligent as finding new authors and books as I used to, in any genre. Thus when finding out Rigler had written a parallel novel, Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, to tell Jane Fairfax's side of the story, I was intrigued and hopeful: If Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict was fabulous, how much more awesome would be Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict?

The answer is: Not so much.

If you haven't read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, here is a quick recap: Courtney Stone, 21st century Angeleno, finds out her fiance is cheating on her and breaks up with him. Stone's passion is everything Austen (natch) and after days of obsessive reading/watching/listening, she smacks her head while drunk in a pool and wakes up in Georgian era England (Austen's period) in the body of Jane Fairfax. Courtney has her own personality/memories, she also must contend with the memories of Jane Fairfax. Hilarity, anachronisms, misunderstandings and love ensues (obvs). While Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict concentrated on 21st Courtney's story, Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict would tell of 19th century Jane Fairfax in the wilds of L.A. The premise then, is that while Courtney fixes Jane's "life," Jane too must fix Courtney's "life."

Supposedly hilarity, anachronisms, missteps and love ensues. Everyone goes home happy.

While I liked the idea and the concept, the executiion was not as well done as Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. Rigler tries too hard to bridge the misunderstandings of a 19th century girl in a 21st century, but the whole thing fell apart for me.

I thought Rigler could have had a lot of fun with this, but the situations and problems she throws Jane in seem to be too conceptualized and trite. (Jane stumbling about as she learns about electricity/modern living for. everything. little. thing was stifling at best.) What I wanted, and what the premise foreshadowed, was a young woman who had been oppressed for years, finds her own voice and freedom. Instead, she falls into the same trap as every other damned heroine in chick-lit in the end; SHE MARRIES THE FUCKING MAN! What would have worked is having Jane/Courtney come into her own, find her own footing, become a 21st century woman, make her passion (drawing) into a career. She doesn't - she flounders for a few weeks, has everything taken care of for her by a man (just as in her past "life") and learns nothing about freedom or independence. Wasn't the point for Jane to fix Courtney's life, thus by ensuring "Courtney's" ability to stand on her own two feet and becoming her own person?

I was also confused as to what moral message Rigler was attempting to give here, because surely if she is attempting to project that Jane/Courtney is understand that things are different in the 21st century (as such Courtney/Jane discovers about 19th century in the first book), so are the mores of women. But Rigler doesn't do that, instead she just throws in some proto-feminist crap, makes weak arguments for/to about the sexual life of today's woman and then drops it. What the hell?

I adored Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict because of all the reasons I stated at the beginning of this review, but the Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict was nothing more than a huge mess. Rigler could have a had a lot of fun with this book by using Jane/Courtney to give a fresh perspective of 21st century life via a 19th century set of eyes and instead, it's a muddled piece of vacuousness with unbelievable and creepy characters1. Also, the leading man? Wes? Man has no balls or spine. But he DOES come from money, so obviously this fixes everything.

If you want fun, read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and forget that the second book exists. I think Rigler has a lot of talent, so I'm hoping Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict is not indicative of her future works. If so, well, she needs to find another shtick because this 21st century girl won't be buying.

1. Deepa creeped me out -- I didn't find her to be "helpful" or "guiding" Jane towards the answers, for surely, that is what she was supposed to have been doing. Again, another character whose life was made simpler by a divorce from a man with money - how fitting. Rigler seems to be saying here, then, that the only way to true happiness is to marry a man with money. Because obviously, our sister suffragettes struggle for over 200 years means shit. show less

Maybe I read to many fantasy novels and watched too many Sci-fi shows, but while this was a fun book with a great premise, I found the lack of details regarding the “hows” of time travel disappointing. I’m not sure how Courtney ended up in Jane’s body… Or what happened to Jane during that time – especially since it was Jane who wished she was someone else. The final chapter didn’t really wrap things up for me, and if anything, it left me with more questions.

It would have been show more great if we could see Jane’s experiences during our time as well. And all that self-discovery about Wes – where did that go? I just felt like I was left hanging… show less

First I have to confess that I can't count myself among the millions of Jane Austen fans. It's not that I don't like her stories, it's that I don't remember reading them! So given the book's title, I wondered how much I would relate when my book club chose it as the April selection.

Turns out I needn't have worried. There's plenty in this book for any woman to relate to, Jane Austen fan or not. Ms. Rigler does a terrific job of taking us back in time to (at least her perception of) the show more realities of Regency England...the good, the bad and the really ugly. She does a wonderful job as well in giving us a taste of society where women of the upper classes had luxuries beyond our present-day comprehension, but none of the freedoms we in the Western world take for granted.

It would be easy to use a heavy tone in writing about those jarring contrasts, but she doesn't. She conveys the message in a fun, lighthearted manner that delivers a punch just the same.

We're reading the companion story, "Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austin Addict," for our May selection. I can't wait! I might even have to pick up a Jane Austen novel when I'm done! show less