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    My Jane Austen Summer: A Season in Mansfield Park
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    My Jane Austen Summer: A Season in Mansfield Park
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    My Jane Austen Summer: A Season in Mansfield Park
    Ebook366 pages5 hours

    My Jane Austen Summer: A Season in Mansfield Park

    By Cindy Jones

    3/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “When one has read the six great Austen novels…and then reread and then reread the six again, one’s only recourse is the company of others equally bereft. Cindy Jones’s My Jane Austen Summer fills the gap with a nourishing Austen-soaked setting, a wonderfully surprising plot, and Lily, a delightfully peculiar heroine.”
    —Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club

    Author Cindy Jones has a gift for the millions of readers everywhere who have been enchanted by Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and the other wondrous works of the inimitable Austen—not to mention fans of more contemporary delights such as The Jane Austen Book Club. Jones’s My Jane Austen Summer is a delightful, funny, poignant novel in which a contemporary woman—an obsessed Austenphile—learns much about life, love, and herself during one magical summer in England spent re-enacting Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 29, 2011
    ISBN9780062078803
    Unavailable
    My Jane Austen Summer: A Season in Mansfield Park

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    Reviews for My Jane Austen Summer

    3/5

    43 ratings12 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Three losses in her life....the loss of her mother, the loss of her job, and the loss of her boyfriend. What else could happen, hopefully something good? And something good did happen....Lily was going to London for the summer to participate in Literature Live. How would she afford it? She wasn't sure, but she had to attend and would think of some creative way to make the money she needed for the plane fare.When Lily arrived at Newton Priors, she had no place to stay since she wasn't in the elite group so she seized one of the actresses's rooms that hadn't shown up....what a mistake that was to have to share the room with Bets. Bets turned out to be one of the stars, unreliable, and also a thief. Bets's unreliability helped Lily get on the stage for one brief moment, but then Lily was relegated to be the tea-theater host. Lily also found someone to replace her old boyfriend, but there were contingencies and pain attached to him...just like all aspects of her life had always been. Lily was glad she had "Jane Austen" around to help her solve some of the problems. She did wonder about Jane, though - "Jane Austen had secrets.........And she never told me. I would have told her something that important. I told her everything. Perhaps we weren't as close as I thought. Perhaps the person in my peripheral vision wasn't Jane Austen at all." Page 289The book was not bad….the ending was memorable, but the book didn't have much action. Lily’s flashbacks and memories of her mother were very touching, and her enthusiasm about Jane Austen was contagious, but I guess you really have to be a true Jane Austen fan to pick up on all the little nuances and the excitement. Rating 3/5.
    • 4/5
      Lily has squeezed herself into undersized relationships all her life, hoping one might grow as large as those found in the Jane Austen novels she loves. But lately her world is running out of places for her to fit. So when her bookish friend invites her to spend the summer at a Jane Austen literary festival in England, she jumps at the chance to reinvent herself.There, among the rich, promising world of Mansfield Park reenactments, Lily finds people whose longing to live in a novel equals her own. But real-life problems have a way of following you wherever you go, and Lily's accompany her to England. Unless she can change her ways, she could face the fate of so many of Miss Austen's characters, destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.My Jane Austen Summer explores how we fall in love, how we come to know ourselves better, and how it might be possible to change and be happier in the real world.
    • 5/5
      The protagonist, Lily, is patterned on Fanny Price in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. It's about her journey, musings, and what she was searching for in life.

      Lily gets fired from her job and winds up in England at a literature festival. The characters seem a little odd until you realize they are well-done modern day Austen characters.

      This is a excellent read for anyone interested in Jane Austen.

    • 2/5
      Kind of boring. Skimmed the last third.
    • 4/5
      Reading the Author's notes and reading guide gave me an appreciation for what Ms. Jones was doing in this novel. Nevertheless I had a hard time liking Lily and I didn't understand what she was trying to do - it all felt so hazy. I suppose that was deliberate - Lily didn't like her reality and wanted to escape - but I didn't enjoy the experience as a reader. I did find the idea of "My Jane Austen" interesting.
    • 2/5
      My Jane Austen Summer started out like a great, yummy read. Lily Berry has just broken up with her boyfriend, is feeling completely out of sorts, and turns to an opportunity to travel to England to participate in a Jane Austen festival to save her from her mess of a life. What's not to love about that kind of premise? I know I'd love to run off to England to find myself and to revel in Jane Austen a bit more! Although I thought she was kind of a weepy, pathetic mess at the beginning, I could see that it was a good set up for us to watch the evolution of a character from nauseating sap to a confident woman. Somehow, I can't really say that happened. Even now, I'm not sure that Lily Berry is a changed woman, with more confidence. In fact, once she left the U.S. and we establish the core group of people she is around in England and get to know their stories, it all started to run in way too many directions without resolutions that I was looking for.One thing that really confused me was the introduction of a Jane Austen-like ghost that often showed up when Lily was doing certain things? It took me awhile to realize that she really was talking about a non-speaking ghost-like figure, and not just an internal, "What would Jane Austen do" sort of query. It just felt strange, and I'm not sure that we needed a ghost Austen to propel the story in any way. Also, there were too many odd conflicts. Had we focused on two or three of them, the story might have felt much more driven by a compelling character story. As it stands, having the money issues, ex-boyfriend/lacking esteem issue, crazy roommate issue, ghost Austen issue, dead mother and lousy dad issue, quiet new guy she liked issue, wanting to act issue, the festival losing money and wanting to help issue, and so on and so forth were just too many to follow. You would just get into one of these, and the story would switch gears. It was just a bit too much, and I genuinely wanted to see how one or two of these were resolved, but not all at once. In fact, I don't know that any of these were resolved, but just lived through. Let's be honest, if you introduce love interests, you generally like to see the heroine of the book either completely get over them or find someone else who is better than the first guy. At the end of the book, I had to flip back to make sure I read things correctly, because I wasn't sure what happened.In the end, the book seemed to be more about character development than resolution. We're all a work in progress, but I suppose I just wanted more resolved and settled by the end. I really loved the premise and even liked the subtlety of the writing, which reminded me a bit of Austen's tone, but with the idea of an Austen themed novel or even Mansfield Park take, I expected a stronger connection to the main character and a romantic resolution that felt satisfying. Overall, with the Austen themes and personal issues of the main character, I wanted it to work, but it somehow lost me by the end.
    • 3/5
      Mansfield Park is my least favorite Jane Austen book. I've never been a fan of Fanny because out of all of Austen's heroines I felt her to be the weakest. Except for the mention of pugs and James D'Arcy starring in the most recent television version, I honestly would skip over this read. Therefore for the focus of this book to be put on Mansfield Park put it at a slight disadvantage right from the start.I don't know if I was expecting something more from the story but I just never really felt like I got into the story. To me, Lily was not a good heroine. She's actually quite like Fanny and maybe it's because of that that I didn't like her. I really hated how she allowed her roommate to keep taking advantage of her and didn't put up much of a fight when her necklace kept getting stolen. I mean if the necklace meant so much to her, why didn't she do something more drastic about getting it back? Also her imaginary Jane Austen friend kinda bothered me. She doesn't really do anything and it just makes Lily seem really weird.I'm a big Austen fan so I felt like this book didn't really do her enough justice. The characters in the book are Austen fans but they seem to care more about the feel of Austen as opposed to the actual person. They all seem very preoccupied with their own lives and thus felt very self absorbed. The romance in this book seems like it's trying too hard to be like one out of the story. That's actually pretty much like how I felt the whole book to be. A not so good imitation of trying to recreate everything Austen into a modern day tale. Other Jane Austen fans might enjoy this book more than I did. This one just wasn't my cup of tea.
    • 1/5
      I don't want to be negative, but this book is not delightful. It is 'trying' - as in, it tried my patience. Generally, I like to read books that are Austen inspired - such as Austenland by Shannon Hale (such a fun read!) - however, this particular book did not have any of the charm or wit that I expected it to have. Instead, I found myself reading a book that was lacking in everything. The writing was okay, the characters were dull and the plot was rather messy. The story is basically about Lily, who has been dumped by both her boyfriend and job. She is desperate to rekindle her romance with her ex, but he has moved on and wants her to stop driving by his house every night to spy on him. As far as work goes, she decides to ask Vera, the owner of her favorite bookstore, for a job - apparently there is this literary festival that she is ready for (whatever that means). And so, we find Lily en route to work in England (after having paid for her own flight); once there, well things get a bit confusing. Does Lily even have a job with Vera? More importantly, does Vera even know what is going on with the literary festival? Its all rather confusing. Of course, Lily always manages to find ways to stick around England, while at the same time seems to be finding herself (which was the whole point of going to England). Scattered throughout the book are literary references, which is always a bright spot (probably the only bright spot in this case). Oh, and did I mention the imaginary Jane Austen? Yeah, Lily has an imaginary friend, who happens to be Jane Austen - I'm not even going to touch that one. Overall, I just did not connect with this book. I had to force myself to finish it and am just happy to be done with it. This is a book that I think only Austen fanatics might possibly enjoy, but even then I'm sceptical about recommending it. However, I will mention that I have read loads of positively glowing reviews about this book, so who knows - maybe, I'm just one of the few people who didn't get it.
    • 3/5
      Do you consider yourself a Janeite? Have you read every Jane Austen novel so many times that you know Lizzy, Emma and Maryanne almost as well as your real life friends? Perhaps you feel more connected to the author than her characters?Well, for Lily Berry, Jane Austen is more of an imaginary friend who offers advice about life and romance. Lily is guided by her friend as she gets to spend a summer in England re-enacting Mansfield Park, a great opportunity to escape the reality of her recent losses- mom, boyfriend and job. I admit to being a bit of a Janeite- I have read all her novels and have also enjoyed reading a couple of the new Austen inspired books. Surprisingly, My Jane Austen Summer seems to share some similarities with the two . In According to Jane by Marilyn Brandt, the protagonist hears Jane speaking to her in her head giving her advice and warnings about the men in her life. The protagonist in Shannon Hale's Austenland spends her vacation in an estate where guests get to live out their Austen fantasies. Yes, there are similarities but there also differences that sets it apart and makes it a very different read from the two novels I mentioned. I enjoyed the drama of setting up the re-enactment and imagining how much fun it would be to experience that. I also have to admit to really liking Fanny Price as does Lily. She doesn't get as much love as the other Austen heroines.
    • 4/5
      I was completely intrigued by the title of this book: My Jane Austen Summer: A Season in Mansfield Park. I love Jane Austen and this sounded like the book for me. This isn't your typical Jane Austen inspired fiction though. I have to say it wasn't quite what I expected either. Not that that's a bad thing. The main character in this novel is Lily Berry. She has recently lost her job, boyfriend and her mother. All of these events in her life turn her world upside down. She becomes a bit stalkerish towards her boyfriend. Her friends and family try to convince her to get help for her erratic behavior. Lily keeps up the premise that all is well when she decides to sell everything she owns to go to England for the summer to participate in a festival that reenacts Jane Austen novels. Lily's character was very frustrating in the beginning. She had a lot of issues going on. She acted out a lot and her friends and family urged her to get help. I was in total agreement with them. However I was sympathetic to the reasons behind her reactions. Lily also has a love for all things Jane. Lily feels connected to Jane in a way I think all Jane Austen lovers or Janites can relate. Jane Austen novels have a way of connecting with people of all ages. We all have our own favorite novel by Jane. Our own favorite heroes and heroines from these novels. I don't think the Jane Austen experience is the same for everybody either. She means something different to each of us. Lily views Jane this way. Jane Austen is real to her, actually she's more real to Lily than to most. Jane Austen is a ghost like figure in Lily's life. She's always there approving and disapproving of Lily's actions. She flutters around, sits in corners while making lists. I love the lists. Jane is as much a character as Lily is. In fact I would venture to say Jane is Lily's conscious and she needs one. Lily desperately wants her life to be like a novel. So much so that it's not good for her. Her trip to England promises to be a new beginning for her far away from her troubles. Lily leaps from the frying pan into the fire. Her time in England is not what she expected it to be. She is forced to deal with some of the issues she left back home and new ones that pop up. This book's theme seems to be 'you can't run away from your problems'. Although Lily's character kind of bugged me in the beginning, I enjoyed watching her character change and develop over the course of this book. There were no easy fixes and Lily had a lot of things to learn. I liked that this book didn't focus on romance but on the life journey we all take. This was an enjoyable read. This is not your average Austen inspired novel but it's worth reading.I can't really blame her for wanting to slip away into a novel. I've often thought it would be great to visit Mr. Darcy at Pemberly at times.
    • 4/5
      I absolutely adored this charming novel! I still have yet to read an actual Jane Austen novel, but LOVE these books that include her like this along with her characters. Cindy Jones' writing and creation of this unique novel is great and captivating. It was full of characters there were both likable and, of course, some that were not so likable. But, all together, this plot line was quirky and engaging! Now, I'll admit. The first chapter of Lily's story, and her stalking her ex boyfriend, well, it was a little slow for me. But, it definitely picked up in chapter 2, as Lily had to start coming face to face with her troubles and accept them to over come them. Running away from your troubles is sometimes the best way to take them full on! The book flew by for me and before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Mansfield Park, Lily, Fanny Price and all the other AMAZING characters the Cindy Jones wove into the story. I loved being able to travel to England with Lily and become a part of Mansfield Park for just a little while. I felt a true part of the story and love it when that happens! Lily's aspiration to take the stage during Mansfield Park at LitFest was both addictive, and charming! I know that if I had read Jane Austen's actual novel, Mansfield Park, I would have known more about some of the characters that were portrayed in My Jane Austen Summer, but, honestly, I believe I would have enjoyed it no matter what. The feeling of England and tender characters, and facing your troubles no matter what they are, is just awesome! Whether you're a Jane Austen fan, new or old, or simply want a fun, fast, engaging read, then I highly recommend this book. Four stars and two thumbs up to an author who has amazing talent and allows her readers to travel with her characters and feel apart of Jane Austen's era through this sweet, quirky, enjoyable read!
    • 3/5
      Three losses in her life....the loss of her mother, the loss of her job, and the loss of her boyfriend. What else could happen, hopefully something good? And something good did happen....Lily was going to London for the summer to participate in Literature Live. How would she afford it? She wasn't sure, but she had to attend and would think of some creative way to make the money she needed for the plane fare.When Lily arrived at Newton Priors, she had no place to stay since she wasn't in the elite group so she seized one of the actresses's rooms that hadn't shown up....what a mistake that was to have to share the room with Bets. Bets turned out to be one of the stars, unreliable, and also a thief. Bets's unreliability helped Lily get on the stage for one brief moment, but then Lily was relegated to be the tea-theater host. Lily also found someone to replace her old boyfriend, but there were contingencies and pain attached to him...just like all aspects of her life had always been. Lily was glad she had "Jane Austen" around to help her solve some of the problems. She did wonder about Jane, though - "Jane Austen had secrets.........And she never told me. I would have told her something that important. I told her everything. Perhaps we weren't as close as I thought. Perhaps the person in my peripheral vision wasn't Jane Austen at all." Page 289The book was not bad….the ending was memorable, but the book didn't have much action. Lily’s flashbacks and memories of her mother were very touching, and her enthusiasm about Jane Austen was contagious, but I guess you really have to be a true Jane Austen fan to pick up on all the little nuances and the excitement. Rating 3/5.