The Jane Austen Project

A Novel

De: Kathleen A. Flynn

Narrado por: Saskia Maarleveld

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and beloved authors: two researchers from the future are sent back in time to meet Jane and recover a suspected unpublished novel.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But diagnosing Jane’s fatal illness and obtaining an unpublished novel hinted at in her letters pose enough of a challenge without the continuous convolutions of living a lie.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.

Enjoyed, but

Overall, I enjoyed the book—it was fun and the reader is fantastic. I didn’t love it, but I liked it. The writing has some quirks. The time travel is believable enough, but I never understood why they needed Jane Austin’s writings. Even at the end of the book, it was never explained clearly. I had other unanswered questions as well, but don’t want to spoil anything. The oddest part was the awkward shifting between American and British accents for the main character. Why didn’t the author just make the character British? It wasn’t so bad that I didn’t want to finish the book, but sometimes the jump from one to the other, especially during sex scenes was abrupt and jolting. I will still recommend this as an easy, fun read, but don’t go into it thinking everything will be understood in the end.

Loved it!

Very entertaining and fun. Had me on the edge of my seat during the last third of the story, I was that invested on the story and characters. Not something that will blow your mind away, but you'll definetly will have a fun ride.

Why haven’t you fixed this?

To the editor and narrator: there are MANY glaring mispronunciations in this work and I am dismayed that this title, from 2017, has not been corrected! To name but a few: The famous author Anthony Trollope- his last name is pronounced trol’ up, accent on the first syllable. And the city Basingstoke: Long a, not short! Do you just think Americans (who haven’t lived in England) won’t notice? Shame!

Good Intentions

I liked the idea of going back in time and meeting Jane Austen and learning about her life. However, I didn’t really understand what the goal of the story line was suppose to be. It felt like this was a second or third book to a series and the ending suggests it should be a book in a series. The conclusion was incomplete and rushed

Excellence

I absolutely love time travel, Jane Austen and a romance. This book was beautifully written and I actually loved it way more than I thought I would. don't miss out on this book.