Book #7

I'm a big Jane Austen fan and Pride and Prejudice will forever be one of my favorite novel!! I don't remember who first told me about this book, but I knew that I wanted to read it! I have some friends that are part of a book club and the book for April was this:

"Emma Douglas has always done everying just the way her minister father said she should-a respectable marriage, a teaching job, and plans for the requisite two children. Life was prodigiously good, as her favorite author might say, until the day Emma finds her husband in bed with another woman. Suddenly all her romatic notaions a la Austen are exposed for just foolish dreams.

Dnied tenure in the wake of the scandal, Emma goes to Englad to find the missing letters of Jane Austen. A reclusive widow claims to have the author's correspondence, but she allows Emma to see the letters only if she promised never to tell anyone about them. Emma reluctantly agrees and sets off across Auten's England on a series of tasks that bring her closer and closer to the secrets Jane Austen hoped to bury.

As Emma incovers the legendary author's innermost thoughts, she beings to understand the reason for her idol's secrecy and Austen's own struggle as a woman of faith. Laced with excerpts from the mising letters, Jane Austen Ruined My Life is the story of a woman betrayed who convers the true meaning of loyaly."

 I decided to read it this month so that I could be part of the discussion that was held yesterday! It was my first book club meeting ever and it was very interesting! It was a very mixed bag when it came to peoples opinions on the book! Some people loved it and others really hated it!! I'm sure it's that way with every book though!!

I, for one, really liked the book, probably because I loved reading about London and Bath and all of the places Jane Austen lived and went! I did a lot of Google image searches too for the places the character visits, like:

{Kenwood House. The characters go here for a picnic on that beautiful lawn!!}

{The Bath Assembly Rooms! I can just picture the Recency Era dances going on in this room!}

{The Lyme Regis! Wouldnt it be great to walk to the end of The Cobb and read Persuasion for a few hours?!}

{Chawton House! One of Jane Austen's final homes!!}

A lot of the story is about our quest for a happily ever after! My favorite quote from the book was this:

"The thing about obsessing about a happy ending, Emma, is that you forget to enjoy the journey along the way. Your forget to appreciate the people alongside you."

I admit it... I am VERY guilty of this! I somehow need to get better about enjoying the here and now and not worrying about what may lie ahead!!

I should probably warn you, in case you plan to read this book, it is a very simple read! There is not a lot of character development and hardly any physical descriptions for any of the characters! BUT, one of the girls did describe it as Jane Austen meets The Da Vinci Code!! Haha! I don't know if I'd go quite that far, but it is a good mystery story!