Laurie Viera Rigler is the author of the novel Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
(hardcover: Dutton, August 2, 2007; paperback: Plume, April 29, 2008)
and Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict
(hardcover: Dutton, June 25, 2009)
About Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict:
After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up and finds herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy?
Not only is Courtney stuck in another woman’s life, she is forced to pretend she actually is that woman; and despite knowing nothing about her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. But not even her level of Austen mania has prepared Courtney for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condom-less seducers, and marriages of convenience.
This looking-glass Austen world is not without its charms, however. There are journeys to Bath and London, balls in the Assembly Rooms, and the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, who may not be a familiar species of philanderer after all. But when Courtney’s borrowed brain serves up memories that are not her own, the ultimate identity crisis ensues. Will she ever get her real life back, and does she even want to?
“A devotee of all things Austen… discovers the reality of life in Regency England: rampant body odor, sexual and class repression and a style of medical care involving bloodletting.… Little in <her> current lifestyle—including most of the men—can compete with the erotic charge of dancing in a candlelit ballroom.”
—USA Today
“…who among us hasn't nurtured a desire to leap into our favorite books? …a delightful comic romp… Jane Austen makes a cameo appearance that is pure pleasure.”
—The Times-Picayune
About Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict:
Laurie Viera Rigler’s debut novel, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, the story of modern girl Courtney Stone caught within the social confines of Jane Austen’s era, was a national bestseller that received rave reviews from both fans and critics alike. This summer, Rigler returns with RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT (Dutton, June 25, 2009).
RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT tells the parallel story of Jane Mansfield, a gentleman’s daughter from 19th century Regency England who, after a nasty fall, wakes up in Courtney’s complicated and confusing (not to mention overly wired) LA life.
Though she can’t begin to fathom what her boss means by “syncing a blackberry,” what this strange contraption called an Ipod is, and how people can flirt without expectations of marriage, Jane finds herself intrigued by this new world. She is comforted by the machine called a television where she can watch scenes from her favorite book Pride and Prejudice, and by Courtney’s friend, Wes, a handsome, young gentleman. As Jane struggles to adjust, and begins falling for Wes, she is forced to decide which life is truly better–and wonder if going “home” to her past life is even an option.
