Jane Austen Made Me Do It: Book Review

Average rating: ★★★★½/★★★★★

Original Stories Inspired by Literature's Most Astute Observer of the Human Heart is the subtitle of Laurel Ann Nattress' first enterprise into writing Austen-themed books whereby she acts as the editor and creator of this anthology of short stories. When it was first announced in May 2010 on her Austenprose blog post, I definitely cannot wait to own and read it. As I have been following her blog for many years now, I knew the resulting book will be filled with interesting, amusing and whimsical anecdotes that are inspired by Jane Austen's life, her family and her novels. Besides I have read some of the contributing authors such as Amanda Grange, Stephanie Barron, Pamela Aidan, Jane Odiwe, Elizabeth Aston, Janet Mullany, Beth Pattillo, Alexandra Potter, Laurie Viera Rigler, Margaret Sullivan and Maya Slater and recognised their Austenesque stories to be of the highest quality.

It is with great pleasure that I quickly purchased this book when it arrived in the bookstore. Another bonus is the beautiful cover that is a stand-out and I commend the designer for doing a fabulous job. The anthology contains a total of 22 short stories with a minimum length of fifteen pages each and written by 23 established authors in the Austenesque genre with the inclusion of Brenna Aubrey, winner of the Jane Austen Made Me Do It contest held at The Republic of Pemberley website early this year. With these thoughts, I settled down and immersed myself into the wonderful world of Jane Austen again.

The book contains a delightful mix of genres from prequels to sequels, historical settings to modern interpretations and the fantastical to the believable. My experience can be compared to enjoying a sumptuous buffet with delicious food served in abundance topped with sweet desserts. However as in choosing which dishes to partake based on their names, there were a few that were not as satisfiable as it should have been especially the Northanger Abbey-inspired tales; hence the dropping of half a star from the overall rating. The two stories are a little bland for my taste and lack substance which is a shame because I have heard glowing praises from that particular author. Similarly, I recall reading Jane and the Mistletoe Kiss penned by Jo Beverley online though she has expanded to give us a different ending in this anthology. Nonetheless I shall not dwell into the slightly negative aspects but concentrate on the good points.

The introduction brilliantly captures the mood, spirit and sentiment of a Janeite within me. At times I find myself nodding at how perceptive Laurel Ann is and it was wonderful that she shared her experience of encountering Jane Austen's oeuvre and editing her debut book. I really do not know how she arranges her stories in order nor the formula she use but it is a stroke of genius for starting and ending it with a bang. Jane Austen's Nightmare by Syrie James and Laurie Viera Rigler's Intolerable Stupidity are some of my favourites in this collection. I shall now mention several that caught my fancy and one in particular that completely surprises me with its humour and wittiness.

Jane Austen's Nightmare (★★★★½/★★★★★)
A great opening act to prepare us for what is to come. This is a fictional story about Jane Austen where she encounters her characters in her dreams. Some heroines in her five novels complain that they are too perfect (Fanny Price and Elinor Dashwood), two are very dissatisfied with their portrayal (Emma Woodhouse and Marianne Dashwood) and one is in her element but fear she will never be published (Susan who is later renamed as Catherine Morland). Only the two lovable couples from Pride and Prejudice express their sincere gratitude to her. However the real nightmare begins when a mob of villains, cads and other unlikeable characters show up. This is when our authoress wakes up and vows to create a good but flawed character in her next novel which is now known as Persuasion. Overall, I have a pleasant time reading it but my sharp eyes detected a hole in the story. If her nightmare occurred before she started composing her final novel, why does Ms James refer to several antagonists in Persuasion who participated in the mob before they even exist in Jane's mind? This is the only weakness in an otherwise perfect tale but it still managed to achieve a near excellent score.

Waiting: A Story Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion & Heard of You (★★★★★/★★★★★)
Both tales are a prequel and sequel of sorts to one of my favourite Jane Austen's novel, Persuasion. The former is written by Jane Odiwe while Margaret C. Sullivan created the latter. I have previously read their works and immensely love them. If you are curious to know how Captain Wentworth gain Sir Walter Elliot's approval to marry his daughter Anne, you will be delighted to learn that Ms Odiwe has portrayed a moving and fulfilling tale. She has also included a backstory of how Wentworth met Anne all those years ago. Likewise, Ms Sullivan tells about a little-known love story between Admiral Croft and the former Miss Wentworth in which Frederick Wentworth unknowingly matchmake them. I love both of these stories as it touched my heart reading their sweet and endearing romances.

Jane and the Gentleman Rogue: Being a Fragment of a Jane Austen Mystery (★★★★★/★★★★★)
After reading Stephanie Barron's Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor (review), the first novel in her Being a Jane Austen Mystery series, I crave to discover more of Lord Harold Trowbridge's adventures. This time Lord Harold becomes embroiled with a French courtesan who has been secretly passing sensitive information to Buonaparte's French government. We get to witness a duel fought between Lord Harold and the courtesan's protector before all is put right again with the help of Jane Austen. This piece lives up to my expectations and I hope there will be more vignettes in store for us.

Mr Bennet Meets His Match (★★★★★/★★★★★)
Have you ever wondered how Mr Bennet decides to marry Mrs Bennet? Could it be due to Mr Collin's vulgar and greedy parents that prompt him to propose to her? In this Pride and Prejudice prequel, learn how Amanda Grange spins the tale of John Bennet who may have recklessly chosen a life partner that is unsuitable for him. As I have not read any stories which concerns a young Mr Bennet, it was interesting to learn another side of him that has never been develop before.

What Would Jane Austen Do? (★★★★★/★★★★★)
Written by the mother-and-daughter team, Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, their story amaze me with their depth and understanding on what goes on in a young teenager's mind. James Austen is a fourteen year old high school boy who decides to enroll in a country dance class during his summer holidays, little knowing what he has signed up for. He assumes that it will be about spaghetti Western dances. Imagine his astonishment when he turns out wearing a cowboy outfit when the class is actually teaching popular Regency country dances popular during Jane Austen's days. I had a great time reading this fun and pleasing narrative.

In my humble opinion, the book could have benefited from a well-rounded selection of one or two stories based on Mansfield Park. It is understandable that most people rate Mansfield Park as the least favourite among Jane Austen's masterpieces. Therefore it is not unexpected that not one of the contributing writers has attempted it although it was briefly mentioned in Diana Birchall's Jane Austen's Cat but that does not count because Miss Austen is telling the story to her nieces.

Nevertheless, Jane Austen Made Me Do It comes highly recommended for Janeites who can't get enough of our beloved authoress' works. Laurel Ann has certainly gathered the best minds out there and mesh together a collection of stories worth buying, keeping and displaying on the bookshelf. However, there is still room for another short stories anthology with a different set of authors. My fondest wish is for her to continue with this type of project in the near future. I will surely not hesitate to pick up another book if she has a hand in it.