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The Jane Austen Project: A Novel
Până la Kathleen A. Flynn
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“The most brilliant Austen-adjacent book on the market…Flynn’s style makes this a quick, fun read, and since the story is Jane-related there’s even a romantic subplot.” — Vulture
“Kathleen Flynn spins an entertaining story of time travel, complicated romantic connections and Austenalia in her debut novel, The Jane Austen Project...Witty, well-researched and thought-provoking, Flynn’s debut is a fun and unusual addition to the canon of Austen tributes and pastiche.” — Shelf Awareness
“Written in an engaging Austen style, full of witty dialogue, a secret engagement, and a delightful clan of loving siblings." — Booklist
Perfect for fans of Jane Austen, this engrossing debut novel offers an unusual twist on the legacy of one of the world's most celebrated and beloved authors: two researchers from the future are sent back in time to meet Jane and recover a suspected unpublished novel.
London, 1815: Two travelers—Rachel Katzman and Liam Finucane—arrive in a field in rural England, disheveled and weighed down with hidden money. Turned away at a nearby inn, they are forced to travel by coach all night to London. They are not what they seem, but rather colleagues who have come back in time from a technologically advanced future, posing as wealthy West Indies planters—a doctor and his spinster sister. While Rachel and Liam aren’t the first team from the future to “go back,” their mission is by far the most audacious: meet, befriend, and steal from Jane Austen herself.
Carefully selected and rigorously trained by The Royal Institute for Special Topics in Physics, disaster-relief doctor Rachel and actor-turned-scholar Liam have little in common besides the extraordinary circumstances they find themselves in. Circumstances that call for Rachel to stifle her independent nature and let Liam take the lead as they infiltrate Austen’s circle via her favorite brother, Henry.
But diagnosing Jane’s fatal illness and obtaining an unpublished novel hinted at in her letters pose enough of a challenge without the continuous convolutions of living a lie. While her friendship with Jane deepens and her relationship with Liam grows complicated, Rachel fights to reconcile the woman she is with the proper lady nineteenth-century society expects her to be. As their portal to the future prepares to close, Rachel and Liam struggle with their directive to leave history intact and exactly as they found it…however heartbreaking that may prove.
Acțiuni carte
Începeți să citițiInformații despre carte
The Jane Austen Project: A Novel
Până la Kathleen A. Flynn
Descriere
“The most brilliant Austen-adjacent book on the market…Flynn’s style makes this a quick, fun read, and since the story is Jane-related there’s even a romantic subplot.” — Vulture
“Kathleen Flynn spins an entertaining story of time travel, complicated romantic connections and Austenalia in her debut novel, The Jane Austen Project...Witty, well-researched and thought-provoking, Flynn’s debut is a fun and unusual addition to the canon of Austen tributes and pastiche.” — Shelf Awareness
“Written in an engaging Austen style, full of witty dialogue, a secret engagement, and a delightful clan of loving siblings." — Booklist
Perfect for fans of Jane Austen, this engrossing debut novel offers an unusual twist on the legacy of one of the world's most celebrated and beloved authors: two researchers from the future are sent back in time to meet Jane and recover a suspected unpublished novel.
London, 1815: Two travelers—Rachel Katzman and Liam Finucane—arrive in a field in rural England, disheveled and weighed down with hidden money. Turned away at a nearby inn, they are forced to travel by coach all night to London. They are not what they seem, but rather colleagues who have come back in time from a technologically advanced future, posing as wealthy West Indies planters—a doctor and his spinster sister. While Rachel and Liam aren’t the first team from the future to “go back,” their mission is by far the most audacious: meet, befriend, and steal from Jane Austen herself.
Carefully selected and rigorously trained by The Royal Institute for Special Topics in Physics, disaster-relief doctor Rachel and actor-turned-scholar Liam have little in common besides the extraordinary circumstances they find themselves in. Circumstances that call for Rachel to stifle her independent nature and let Liam take the lead as they infiltrate Austen’s circle via her favorite brother, Henry.
But diagnosing Jane’s fatal illness and obtaining an unpublished novel hinted at in her letters pose enough of a challenge without the continuous convolutions of living a lie. While her friendship with Jane deepens and her relationship with Liam grows complicated, Rachel fights to reconcile the woman she is with the proper lady nineteenth-century society expects her to be. As their portal to the future prepares to close, Rachel and Liam struggle with their directive to leave history intact and exactly as they found it…however heartbreaking that may prove.
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Recenzii
As cute and fluffy as expected - Time traveler fangirl and fanboy are looking for a lost manuscript and flirt their way to Jane...
Rating: 3In a world not dissimilar to our own, there is but one large difference: time travel exists. Not Doctor Who time travel where you can manipulate time and space, but a possibility that for most characters in this world can do once and very rarely more than once in their lifetime but they can do it nonetheless. Time travel here is not quite fleshed out or really given even fake physics view from it other than they are traveling via wormholes, but no matter, the premise of the story is delightful enough to keep readingTrained at the Royal Institute for Special Topics in Physics, doctor Rachel Katzman and actor-turned-scholar Liam Finucane have a singular purpose: to steal the letters of Jane Austen to find out what happens to Jane's incomplete works and to see if they can cure and save Jane from her mysterious ailment that kills her at the age of 42 in 1817. They are to do all of this without changing the course of history (too much).Simple enough.We are dropped immediately into the story when Rachel and Liam land in Leatherhead, Surrey dressed in period garb and affecting mannerisms of 1815 England. Posing as brother and sister, Rachel and Liam must not only integrate themselves into Regency society but also become intimates of the Austen family. Educated in the whereabouts, personalities, and eventual deaths of the Austens as well as the time period itself, Rachel and Liam must skilfully navigate society as to a:keep up appearances of their assumed personalities, and b: do not disrupt anything in the timeline, specifically with the Austens, that could change the outcome of history.There is much that I love about this book. First and foremost, Flynn's characterization of Jane is brilliant and how I would have expected Jane to be —slightly sarcastic but without malice, fiercely protective of her family, and curious as hell about the world. Rachel's relationship with Jane is a bit sticky in the beginning: Both are independent and fierce in their own right, but watching Jane and Rachel become the most intimate of sisters felt real and not contrived. I was especially buoyed by Flynn's rendition of Jane as another novel I just finished with Jane as the main character drew Jane as slightly flighty and a bit too sweet, which clashed with everything we know from the meager number of letters on about Jane. Flynn drawing Jane from those personal accounts really set the tone of the story.As Rachel and Liam become more involved with their subjects, some conflicts appear. While having a secret engagement with Henry Austen, Jane's most beloved brother, Rachel finds herself in love with Liam which one can expect is most delicate as they are portraying themselves as brother and sister. Liam seems to return Rachel's affections but their affair, obviously kept in secret, seems one-sided as Rachel comes off as a teenager in the first throes of her first boyfriend while Liam remains steadfast and stoic. Perhaps that was the intent? It should be noted there is definitely nothing chaste in their joining which didn't put me off, I slightly adored it, but there is no next chaptering it in these love scenes. Fear not dear reader! The Rachel/Liam romance is very secondary in the book and it does not detain from the story.Jane eventually finds out Rachel and Liam's true purpose in their real reasons for becoming close to the Austen family and that they are also from the future. This wasn't too unexpected, Jane would have to find out after all, but Jane's near immediate acceptance of Rachel and Liam's objective was a bit disappointing. Flynn captures Jane as headstrong and independent through 90% of the book and drops it during these scenes— Jane's quick acceptance seems out of character.When Rachel and Liam return to present day, they discover their true purpose was not to just capture Jane's letters before they are destroyed but to prolong her life, which Rachel eventually does. Upon their return, not only have they changed world history—Jane lives, publishes over 20 novels, and lives a long full life, but Rachel and Liam's personal history have also been changed. In some ways, drastically such as Rachel's mother, who in her first time line is living when Rachel leaves for the past, but in her new current timeline, her mother had died when Rachel was young.The ending, I thought, was a bit clunky. We are left hanging of the "will they or won't they" in regards to Rachel and Liam and Flynn writes as if she's not too sure either on what's going to happen. I re-read the last chapter several times and I am still finding it a bit uneven.Nevertheless, Flynn's research is near immaculate and it really shows. She captures the period beautifully down to the wordplay, mannerisms, and period correct lifestyles. 90% of the characters are well thought out (oh, Cassandra! I would have loved to have seen more of you!) and vibrant. The story flows evenly despite the slight hiccups along the way and the clunky ending. While I would recommend this title to anyone looking for a fine read, I would most especially recommend it to those who are into Jane Austen paraliterature as it makes a fabulous addition to any collection.
Rating: 4Colleagues Rachel Katzman and Liam Finucane have been sent on the most ambitious mission of their time travel institute since its inception: travel back to 1815 and enmesh themselves in the lives of the Austens in order to rescue a copy of "The Watsons," which due to a recently discovered letter has been proven to be completed rather than a fragment. However, while working their way into the lives of the family they must grapple with the question of whether there are other things they could change and what the repercussions would be.I really enjoyed this historical science fiction novel. Flynn does an excellent job of creating a believable Jane Austen that is in line with the historical record we have. She also creates really compelling characters in Rachel and Liam although I found Liam too much of a Darcy-esque enigma and the ending a bit to quick, even if it is an homage to Austen's works. This is definitely light on the science fiction element - there isn't a lot of detail about the logistics of time travel but everything makes sense within the world. High appeal for Janeites, of course, but also for fans of historical fiction or time travel novels.
Rating: 4This is a mash-up of different genres that shouldn't work together at all, but debut novelist Kathleen A. Flynn manages to make it all work. Rachel is a doctor working in the crisis zones of a world where things have gone badly wrong. There's been a "die-off" of species and each new environmental disaster brings new hardships. She's an avid reader of Austen's novels, so when she hears about a project to time travel back and obtain a novel that Austen never published, she applies and is accepted to be part of the team traveling to Regency England. Rachel is an entirely modern woman, who has created an independent life for herself. It's an adjustment learning how a woman in the nineteenth conducts herself and it isn't helped by pairing her with a stand-offish British actor. They pose as a brother and sister newly arrived in London after selling their plantation in Jamaica, and intend to become friends with Jane Austen's favorite brother, as a way of being introduced to Jane and from there to steal her manuscript. Somehow this mix of modern chick-lit, dystopian time travel speculative fiction, historical novel about the life of Jane Austen and gentle romance all work wonderfully together. Flynn has done her research, on what life was like in early nineteenth century England, on Jane Austen's life and in thoroughly thinking through the time travel aspect of the tale. This isn't a story that hand-waves away the logistics and consequences of time travel, but wrestles with all of that in a very satisfying way. Rachel is an engaging narrator, being entirely modern and out-spoken in her thoughts, but careful to behave appropriately. My only minor quibble is the reverence with which Jane Austen is treated. I'm not sure any human being could be as relentlessly perfect as this version of Austen.
Rating: 4This was an imaginative and enjoyable book but at times I thought it was slow going. I also wanted to know more about thw world world that the main characters found when they came back from their time travel trip, and, in effect, rescuing Jane Austen. It just seemed an abrupt end to me. I was happy they found each other again but how were they going to settle back together ina world that was subtly different as a result of their actions with Austen and her family.
Rating: 4The Jane Austen Project is and is not a great work. Kathleen Flynn is really quite excellent at merging biography and science fiction in a way most who attempt it cannot pull off. Yet, as a romance writer she is either simply terrible... or else her editor made her add the romantic element of the story after it was complete, utterly tanking the work. Similar to how television can be written by a team where one person is responsible for the A plot and another for the B or C plot, the disparate elements may not necessarily coalesce. In any case, as a sci-fi biography The Jane Austen Project is really quite excellent. I guess the trendy term is "speculative fiction", but that feels inadequate here. Flynn's command of all the minutiae of Austenian characters, as well as their real-life counterparts and situations in life eclipses what most fiction writers are able to do with gathered research. Additionally Flynn rather expertly channels Austen's sardonic tone and dramatic irony in a delightfully uncanny fangirlism. The constant fish-out-of-water tension of her feminist physician protagonist kicking against the traces of Georgian sex roles is engaging, at times meta and reminiscent of second-wave writers; Flynn's many allusions to Rachel's corset work beautifully as a symbol for the way in which she's constantly being choked by the ill-fitting place of women in the society she now finds herself (which simultaneously highlights Austen's many triumphs under the bsame restraints).In complete contrast however, the primary romantic relationship in The Jane Austen Project is an epic fail. The post-modern Rachel who can't decide if she likes Liam, or if she simply needs to get laid yesterday is sad, and so too is Liam's inability to resemble anything like a love-interest. While Liam's "mysterious" and "smoldering" surface may seem adequate or promising, his complete lack of depth relative to all the other characters (not the least of which is Henry, Austen's brother whom Rachel's "Mary" persona is supposed to be courting) positions him as really little more than the only available outlet when Rachel needs to get off. In truth neither the coarse two-dimensional Liam, nor the naive, chauvinist Henry are up to the task of satisfying Rachel's feminist needs in a partner... while the character of Jane actually would, if she were gay. All-in-all this B plot is badly written and amusingly ends in an incomplete story--highly appropriate for the milquetoast Liam.
Rating: 4Our time travelers come from a future 'after the great dying off' when time travel is newly possible. They are sent back in time to befriend Jane Austen and her family, and to ostensibly recover a manuscript that Jane had destroyed. However, it's possible that those in charge of the team hope they will do a bit more.But of course, even the smallest of actions can drastically change the future. They return to find that other time traveling teams have eliminated problematic points in history and that their own lives have become virtually unrecognizable. They have the choice of reconciling their memories to the new historical events. This however, will leave them with no memories of their time travel and their time together.I think there are not many new ideas for either the Jane Austen or time travel aficionado, but altogether a fun, entertaining romp with an ending reminiscent of Jane Austen herself.
Rating: 4I am not one to normally read time travel books. But I am such a fan of any thing Jane Austen, I had to give it a go. The book was very well written. I found that it kept my interest until the last page. I was not disappointed.
Rating: 4This is Jane Austen fan-fic. It includes few travel back to Jane's time, to visit her and hopefully protect a manuscript she never finished. I enjoyed it though it had a couple sudden ill-placed expletives.
Rating: 4I received a copy of this book through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
I am a huge fan of Jane Austen and I love reimaginings of her books and pretty much anything that has to do with her so when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it! Add in the time traveling factor and you have the makings of a really fascinating book! The two main characters, Rachel and Liam travel back in time to England in 1815 with the mission of infiltrating Jane Austen's circle, diagnosing her fatal illness and obtaining an unpublished novel. I loved the majority of this book. While they are in the past, the author does a fantastic job at recreating the time and setting. It's really interesting to see two modern people attempt to fit in a time where things are so much different. I enjoyed seeing Rachel and Liam really struggle with not altering the past and leaving history unaltered. I feel like if I was to ever time travel, that would be something I would have a hard time leaving alone. The only part of this book I really struggled with was the author's portrayal of the futuristic world where Rachel and Liam traveled from. It was really hard to get a clear image of what the world was like and how it got to be that way. But overall, I really enjoyed this book and will be interested to read any future books by this author.
Rating: 4I am a huge fan of Jane Austen and I love reimaginings of her books and pretty much anything that has to do with her so when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it! Add in the time traveling factor and you have the makings of a really fascinating book! The two main characters, Rachel and Liam travel back in time to England in 1815 with the mission of infiltrating Jane Austen's circle, diagnosing her fatal illness and obtaining an unpublished novel. I loved the majority of this book. While they are in the past, the author does a fantastic job at recreating the time and setting. It's really interesting to see two modern people attempt to fit in a time where things are so much different. I enjoyed seeing Rachel and Liam really struggle with not altering the past and leaving history unaltered. I feel like if I was to ever time travel, that would be something I would have a hard time leaving alone. The only part of this book I really struggled with was the author's portrayal of the futuristic world where Rachel and Liam traveled from. It was really hard to get a clear image of what the world was like and how it got to be that way. But overall, I really enjoyed this book and will be interested to read any future books by this author.
A surprisingly good book. I always like to read Austen-inspired novels, but don't often expect much from them but this was good and smart. The author did her research well and was able to convey many details about Austen's life while also creating a compelling story.
Rating: 4From a future that follows a "Die-off," and when time travel is newly possible, Rachel and Liam are sent back to England in the year 1815 in order to obtain the manuscript of a lost novel by Jane Austen. While they are both Austen fans and scholars, their personalities are quite different, so as they struggle to live in a different world their approaches are quite different. The descriptions of 19th century London and English country living are vivid and fascinating. As Liam and Rachel assume their new identities and connive to get close to the Austen family, readers will be eager to see if their impersonation can work. The time travel conundrum of how and whether history can or should be altered by time travelers is hinted at throughout the novel, and then ultimately dominates the climax. A sequel would surely be welcome.
Rating: 4I honestly didn't expect that this story would grab my imagination as much as it did. I'm a fan of Jane Austen and her amazing stories and am really glad to have read this mind boggling tale.There's so much I loved about this book, from an impeccable research to complexity of the plot and characterization, I thought the author did a magnificent job in catapulting me into Jane Austen world.If you're a fan of Jane Austen, SyFy and if you like reads that would make you wonder "what if ..." this is a must for you. Highly recommend it!Melanie for b2bComplimentary copy provided by the publisher
Rating: 5Time travel, Jane Austen, and romance makes for a fun read. In the future, time travel has been perfected and a team of two has been sent back to recover Jane Austen's lost novel. I enjoyed the alternative history aspects of this novel, as well as the subtle romance that develops among the two time travels. Good for anyone after a fun read!
Rating: 4
LOVE
So interesting having a look into Jane Austen’s life with a modern perspective and view. HIGHLY RECOMMEND it to history and historical romance lovers
Rating: 5So interesting having a look into Jane Austen’s life with a modern perspective and view. HIGHLY RECOMMEND it to history and historical romance lovers
It is 1815 when Rachel and Liam come through the time portal in a field in Surrey; their purpose in the early 19th century is to insinuate themselves into Jane Austen's life, in hopes of retrieving the entire manuscript of The Watsons. It is an audacious plan, one for which they have extensive training. Rachel's years as an emergency medical doctor also proves crucial. Posing as brother and sister recently departed from their plantation in Jamaica, they have more than sufficient funds to set themselves up in London as people of wealth. Armed with a formal letter of introduction, they become acquaintances, then friends with the Austen family, so much so that they are invited to stay with the family in Chawton, where Jane Austen lived until the end of her life.This is a wonderful book. It is obviously a work of love, written by someone whose admiration of Jane spills over into wanting to know about life in England in the author's time period. The amount and fluency of detail in the novel was fascinating and satisfying. The amount and types of food served at a dinner given by the wealthy floored me: I admit to wanting no part of rabbit smothered with onions, beetroot, boiled beef, and some sort of pudding called drowned baby. The details of clothing I found particularly interesting, and the author had everything correct, right down to the vocabulary: pelisse, spencer, fichu, mantua.I really liked the Jane Austen that the author conjured up for this book. She fits my daydreams. Sardonic, witty, intelligent, fragile in health, a warm and loving sister and friend. I wished many times that I were Rachel, sitting at the bedside of an ailing Jane, or whispering remarks to each other at an evening's gathering.I have much more to say but I don't want to spoil the book, to give away secrets. It is so thoroughly worth reading if you are a fan of Jane Austen, and if you enjoy extremely well-written historical fiction. This is the first time I've ever read dystopian time-travel historical fiction, and I so much approved the mash-up of genres. It was perfectly done. This book has already made its way onto my list of favourites, and I look forward to the re-reads that are sure to happen.
Rating: 5The Jane Austen Project is the perfect mix of sci-fi, Austen tribute and historical fiction. It’s unique in that I’ve never come across an Austen sci-fi (if there are others out there, point me in their direction!) – I’ve read modern adaptations and paranormal ones, but nothing that comes close to this!In a future where meat is non-existent after some sort of disaster referred to as The Collapse, most things are 3-d printed, and time travel is a fairly common occurrence, there’s a group of people who are desperate to get Austen’s letters to her sister Cassandra (most of which were actually burned after Austen’s death) and her last, unfinished manuscript, The Watsons. At first I was highly confused as to why this mission was a priority – don’t get me wrong, I love Austen and would love to read anything and everything by her, yet this seemed a bit frivolous. However, towards the end of the book and after some wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey happenings, it makes sense. Actually, maybe it makes sense before then and I just missed it.All the characters are well done. Liam and Rachel have been extensively trained in order to successfully blend in during 1815, yet, understandably there are some tough times. No amount of acting classes and training scenarios can compare you for spontaneous human interaction. They are both doing their best to complete their mission while also internally fan-girling (or guy-ing) at being surrounded by Austen and her family. There’s also the added layer of their personalities being subtly similar to those of Lizzy and Darcy.Jane Austen herself is just what I’d imagine she’d be like, from my limited readings about her life. Her brother Henry was my favorite of the Austen clan, however. He’s a gentleman, but unlike those in Austen’s novels, we get to see his more, realistic…er, manly side. Basically, he’s horny and flirty, ok? I was loving it! He falls somewhere in between the practiced manners of Bingley (or maybe even Tilney because of his sense of humor) and the saucy, flirtatiousness of Wickham and Willoughby.Speaking of flirtatiousness, this book had more steamy scenes than I expected. In fact, I didn’t expect any steamy scenes! Henry isn’t the only one trying to heat things up. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few sexy times thrown in. You guys might be familiar with how I always harp on about Austen not letting her characters kiss. Little did I know how satisfying scenes that go beyond that would be! Scandalous!The plot had me guessing what would happen up until the actual last page of the book. I was practically jumping out of my skin because the ending was going to decide whether I was going to give the book five stars or toss it out the window while swearing. Granted, I still would have recommended the book, had the ending gone differently, but it really would have dampened my satisfaction with the story up until that point.If you like Austen adaptations, historical fiction and time travel then I highly recommend The Jane Austen Project! It gives off low key Austenland vibes (except way more intense because the characters are living the real damn deal) with a hint of Dark Matter (multiple realities) and I’m now declaring historical sci-fi to be my new favorite totally made up genre. I sincerely hope Flynn puts out another book soon (and I hope it’s in the same universe – I have ideas!)
Rating: 5Haven’t we all wished that we could go back in time, and where would you pick, family, historical event, famous. Guess it would be hard to choose, although some might find it very easy. In this book we are going back to Jane Austen, and her time in England, the year 1815.We take a lot for granted, and can you imagine being thrown so far back in time, well our main characters are really in for a rude awakening. Had to chuckle as Liam embraced his new identity and went about choosing a wonderful new wardrobe. Of course Rachel is also has to get more clothing, but she isn’t as excited as her brother, they couldn’t bring a lot, only what they have on their back.Now how would you feel if you were able to meet someone that had died so many years before you were born? These two are on a mission to find and take an unpublished manuscript. How they go about completing this, and the extent they are will to go to, will both frighten and make you chuckle.Are there going to be ramifications to changing history? We are about to find out, but while we are in England enjoy your view of what the time was like, and it didn’t take me long to know I wouldn’t like so much of what they had to endure.This is a book that is going to make you think and wonder, and all the while turning pages to find the answers and see if they will even be able to return to their lives in present time.I received this book through Edelweiss and the Publisher Harper Perennial, and was not required to give a positive review.
Rating: 4In a world not dissimilar to our own, there is but one large difference: time travel exists. Not Doctor Who time travel where you can manipulate time and space, but a possibility that for most characters in this world can do once and very rarely more than once in their lifetime but they can do it nonetheless. Time travel here is not quite fleshed out or really given even fake physics view from it other than they are traveling via wormholes, but no matter, the premise of the story is delightful enough to keep readingTrained at the Royal Institute for Special Topics in Physics, doctor Rachel Katzman and actor-turned-scholar Liam Finucane have a singular purpose: to steal the letters of Jane Austen to find out what happens to Jane's incomplete works and to see if they can cure and save Jane from her mysterious ailment that kills her at the age of 42 in 1817. They are to do all of this without changing the course of history (too much).Simple enough.We are dropped immediately into the story when Rachel and Liam land in Leatherhead, Surrey dressed in period garb and affecting mannerisms of 1815 England. Posing as brother and sister, Rachel and Liam must not only integrate themselves into Regency society but also become intimates of the Austen family. Educated in the whereabouts, personalities, and eventual deaths of the Austens as well as the time period itself, Rachel and Liam must skilfully navigate society as to a:keep up appearances of their assumed personalities, and b: do not disrupt anything in the timeline, specifically with the Austens, that could change the outcome of history.There is much that I love about this book. First and foremost, Flynn's characterization of Jane is brilliant and how I would have expected Jane to be —slightly sarcastic but without malice, fiercely protective of her family, and curious as hell about the world. Rachel's relationship with Jane is a bit sticky in the beginning: Both are independent and fierce in their own right, but watching Jane and Rachel become the most intimate of sisters felt real and not contrived. I was especially buoyed by Flynn's rendition of Jane as another novel I just finished with Jane as the main character drew Jane as slightly flighty and a bit too sweet, which clashed with everything we know from the meager number of letters on about Jane. Flynn drawing Jane from those personal accounts really set the tone of the story.As Rachel and Liam become more involved with their subjects, some conflicts appear. While having a secret engagement with Henry Austen, Jane's most beloved brother, Rachel finds herself in love with Liam which one can expect is most delicate as they are portraying themselves as brother and sister. Liam seems to return Rachel's affections but their affair, obviously kept in secret, seems one-sided as Rachel comes off as a teenager in the first throes of her first boyfriend while Liam remains steadfast and stoic. Perhaps that was the intent? It should be noted there is definitely nothing chaste in their joining which didn't put me off, I slightly adored it, but there is no next chaptering it in these love scenes. Fear not dear reader! The Rachel/Liam romance is very secondary in the book and it does not detain from the story.Jane eventually finds out Rachel and Liam's true purpose in their real reasons for becoming close to the Austen family and that they are also from the future. This wasn't too unexpected, Jane would have to find out after all, but Jane's near immediate acceptance of Rachel and Liam's objective was a bit disappointing. Flynn captures Jane as headstrong and independent through 90% of the book and drops it during these scenes— Jane's quick acceptance seems out of character.When Rachel and Liam return to present day, they discover their true purpose was not to just capture Jane's letters before they are destroyed but to prolong her life, which Rachel eventually does. Upon their return, not only have they changed world history—Jane lives, publishes over 20 novels, and lives a long full life, but Rachel and Liam's personal history have also been changed. In some ways, drastically such as Rachel's mother, who in her first time line is living when Rachel leaves for the past, but in her new current timeline, her mother had died when Rachel was young.The ending, I thought, was a bit clunky. We are left hanging of the "will they or won't they" in regards to Rachel and Liam and Flynn writes as if she's not too sure either on what's going to happen. I re-read the last chapter several times and I am still finding it a bit uneven.Nevertheless, Flynn's research is near immaculate and it really shows. She captures the period beautifully down to the wordplay, mannerisms, and period correct lifestyles. 90% of the characters are well thought out (oh, Cassandra! I would have loved to have seen more of you!) and vibrant. The story flows evenly despite the slight hiccups along the way and the clunky ending. While I would recommend this title to anyone looking for a fine read, I would most especially recommend it to those who are into Jane Austen paraliterature as it makes a fabulous addition to any collection.
Rating: 4Some time in the future, when time travel has become possible, it is discovered that Jane Austen’s novel, The Watsons, which people have always believed had been abandoned when only partially finished, may have actually been completed. However, for some reason lost to time, she chose not to have it published but rather may have destroyed it. Dr Rachel Katzman and actor Liam Finucane are sent back to 1815 to try to retrieve the novel while, if possible, diagnosing the disease that would eventually kill Jane. While insinuating themselves into the Austen household, they must try to do as little as possible to change history. But things get difficult when Rachel’s flirtation with Henry, Jane’s favourite brother, leads to a marriage proposal, further complicated by her growing attraction to Liam especially as they are pretending to be siblings.The Jane Austen Project, the debut novel by writer Kathleen A. Flynn shows a real understanding of the culture of the Regency Period as well as containing a wealth of information about the Austens. However, despite this and the scifi aspect of the novel, the story quickly evolves into a conventional romance which sidetracks these, to me, much more interesting threads.Thing is, I’m a Jane Austen fan but I read her for her wit and her sly sendup of the cultural and literary norms of the day and not for the romance. Not to say I didn’t enjoy the book for what it was but I wouldn’t recommend it to scifi fans or those who, like me, love her books for the same reasons that I do. However, I suspect those who do love Austen for her romances will find it a perfect summer read.Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review
Rating: 3