A novel within a novel. A J Austen lover comes across a letter written Austen hinting at a manuscript she misplaced while visiting the Greenbriar estate. She then looks into the mystery and finds the estate and its new owner. They then discover the manuscript and proceed to read it-thus the novel inside. A delightful story.

I'm not a rabid everything-Austen person but I do enjoy her books and learning about her life. If you're the same, you'll most likely enjoy this fun novel.

The premise is that a librarian who is a deep student of Austen's works stumbles upon a mysterious work of author's while on a visit to England. An Austen-like story unfolds as she investigates it with the handsome owner of the house where it is found. Together, they read the discovered novel. So, you have a novel within a novel playing out. The "Austen" novel is very engaging. And, of course, the modern-day storyline has an Austen-like arc to it and somewhat predictable ending. But it's a fun read and made me want to go re-read some real Austen as well. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book but I wasn't Jane Austen. The "book within a book" idea was good, the Jane Austen manuscript was a good story and definitely in the style of Jane. Syrie James uses the story to explain the missing years of Austen, a time when little survives of her letters and little is known of what when on in her life.

I will read more of James' Austen stories. ( )

I'm a fan of Jane Austen pastiches so naturally I had to read this book. Did I enjoy it? I'd rate it between 2.5 to 3 stars and I upped it to 3 on good behaviour.

The plot was well set up - special archives librarian goes on trip to England and discovers a lost manuscript of Jane Austen's while simultaneously falling in love with someone not her boyfriend. Love that is not her boyfriend is prickly and can't stand her. She can't stand him. Does this sound familiar? (It should. It's the set up to Pride and Prejudice.)

But the character's background and coincidences became a little too perfect. Obviously her best friend owns a bookstore. Obviously she likes book so she's a librarian. Obviously she once started a degree at Oxford and had to leave and lo and behold, one of her mentors is one of the most renowned Jane Austen experts. Obviously the boyfriend that is not her boyfriend does benevolent works that redeems him in her eyes (Hello obvious Mr. Darcy!).

When things started to get a little perfect and the only conflict seemed to be with the character and her erstwhile boyfriend -- you know, the one she didn't fall in love with? -- I start to get bored. C'mon author, gives us more of the character's flaws and paint us a character who has difficulty whatever but don't bore your readers with your Mary Sues!

The meat of the book is the book within the book, the "missing" Jane Austen manuscript, is the byproduct of James' imagination. The thing is that it's almost always impossible to write as if you were another author. Sure, I could see the setup of the "missing manuscript" be something that Austen would crank out but something was off about that story. The explanation we're given is that it's one of Austen's earlier works and hence why the story struggles on a bit. But eh. Something doesn't feel right.

Would I recommend this book? It's an Austen pastiche and even with the clunky "missing manuscript" story, with the whole of the book wrapped around like a Pride and Prejudice retelling, I would add it to a "you might want to but don't necessarily need to" list.
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Thoroughly enjoyed and how fun if a missing Austen manuscript had been found. Present day story of a Samantha, who is an Austen aficionado who stumbles across a letter that may lead to a missing manuscript. The letter itself was tucked into the pocket pages of an old book of poetry that Samantha purchases in a bookstore of rare books while she is visiting London with her boyfriend Stephen who is a doctor.

I loved how the author incorporates the missing manuscript into the story for the reader and all of the references to Austen's other stories. I look forward to reading the author's other works. What a great concept for a novel.

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