The Austen Escape

What's summer without a fun contemporary read, right? I don't tend to read contemporaries much, especially not romance. But I've been wanting to read Katherine Reay's books since the first one came out. Because 1- the covers are THE CUTEST I've ever seen, and 2- they seemed literary enough for me to enjoy them. This is the first of Katherine Reay's that I've read, and I was not disappointed!

I was expecting a light, breezy story, with an interesting story line, some humor, and some heart. That was all true. What I was not expecting was how much I RELATED to the characters, in so many aspects! It was like reading a book about my life, with a little Jane Austen vacation thrown in. As I was reading, I was constantly thinking, “Wow. That has happened to me. I've lived with that. I have said that.” That may not always be a good thing in a book, but I appreciated it this time.

Mary is an engineer (one aspect I did not relate to), who enjoys her practical, predictable life. She reluctantly agrees to accompany her childhood best friend and English doctoral student Isabel to an Austen-themed vacation in Bath, England. Isabel basically grew up at Mary's house because her father was emotionally abusive and negligent. While in Bath, Isabel receives a cruel email from her father, which sends her into an anxious, dissociative state where she cannot remember who or where she is. She believes she is really living in the Regency time period. This leaves Mary in a difficult spot, but she takes care of Isabel and learns valuable lessons along the way, such as confidence, forgiveness, and trust.

The characters were very real to me, probably in part because I related to their stories so much, but also because Katherine Reay did a fantastic job of writing realistic characters. Even though the story was a tad larger-than-life, it was so REAL. I really felt both Mary and Isabel's hearts during the whole book. We see everything from Mary's perspective, and I really understood where she was coming from. I also understood where Isabel was coming from, and felt for her too. Nathan, the love interest, was the perfect compliment to Mary, and I thought he was a great character too.

The redemptive message in this book was also wonderful, although there was no mention of God or faith. I found this book to be deeper than some contemporaries tend to be, without feeling like a soap opera like other contemporaries. If you're looking for a good summer read, I highly recommend this one.