It’s hard being a young woman in today’s world – just imagine what it would be like for a gentleman’s daughter from Regency England who is thrust into the technologically-driven, “loose” world of the twenty-first century.
This is the initial setup of Laurie Viera Rigler’s novel Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, a novel I highly enjoyed for its great main character, solid storytelling, and social commentary on women, independence, and love.
Rigler does an excellent job keeping the main character Jane Mansfield within her time and culture’s speech, a difficult task when placed around the contemporary setting, people, and things that are 21st century L.A. It was that ability of Rigler’s that kept me throughout the story, seeing little things like Jane marvel at the TV thinking it to be a window. I believed the main character, and I was willing to follow her throughout the story.
And this was a strong story, a coming-of-age (albeit, in another’s body) story that explores the world in which a woman lives in and how she is to find her place in that world. No matter the time period, no matter the language barrier, a woman still needs to find her place, and Rigler does a fine job showing us that this idea crosses time and space.
I don’t know how Rigler will top this novel, but I do look forward to seeing where her creative mind wanders next.