I'm normally not a fast reader, Jane Austen Ruined my Life by Beth Patillo only took me about a day and a half to read - taking into consideration work and home responsibilities - which is pretty good for me. ;)
First of all, it's classified as 'inspirational fiction', which might normally have turned me off, but it came recommended to me by one of the librarians I work with. She'd seen Beth Patillo at the Southern Festival of Books and liked her; she thought the book was 'cute'. Though it's classified as inspirational fiction, there weren't many overt mentions of God or faith that didn't correspond with the story, it was subtle and upbeat, and a fast read. All in all, it was entertaining, and that's what I liked about it.
It's the story of Emma, a college professor and scholar of Jane Austen's work who finds her professor husband in flagrante delicto with his teaching assistant. She divorces him, he has her professionally discredited, she's invited abroad to study some alleged unseen Austen letters with the aim of disproving the claims surrounding Austen's life, exposing her as 'a fraud', publishing the letters and regaining her lost professional credibility. The premise of the book works, although it's a little far-fetched and silly with it's Da Vinci Code-esque plot. I would've preferred a different ending, too - I found the ending, as compared to most chick-lit and even Austen books, disappointing and a little bit on the unbelievable side.
Still, this is a cute book, and Patillo has a new book coming out this month entitled Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart. There are a lot of books out there capitalizing on the popularity of Jane Austen, and this is, in my opinion, on of the better and more original of the lot.
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