Writing Jane Austen by Elizabeth Aston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was quite on the fence about this book. I liked the main plot. It was cute, it was different and very easy to read. However, the main character was not very likable. At the beginning all I could think of was “how can a PhD recipient be so dumb?”, but then I realized that she was mostly shy and insecure. Throughout the story I found a few contradictions in her character that caused confusion and didn’t mesh with the overall main plot. These contradictions were also present in the subplots and supporting characters that broke the flow of the story.
The story also contained a great many red herrings and suggestions for further plot development that were never mentioned again further along in the story nor explained.
The book also ends very abruptly. I never have been of such an opinion before, but I actually thought the story needed to be longer in order to achieve the full impact of the narrative.
Another first is my mentioning of style and editing mistakes. As I said before, this is a very cute story, but I found myself at least every few chapters treading along the narrative and realizing that the last two paragraphs made absolutely no sense. The same can be said for spelling mistakes. The editing was kept to a minimum, which decreased my enjoyment of reading the story.
I have to say, though, overall, I don’t want to give it any less than three stars. Yes, the story still had unrealized potential that an experienced author should have utilized. But then again, I appreciated the simplicity of the story, the ease of writing and the relatively light subject matter addressed.
