The Austen Escape is the fourth Katherine Reay book I've read, and unfortunately I did not find it as enjoyable as previous books.Mary goes on a Jane Austen–inspired trip to England with her friend Isabel to stayin Bath, acting and dressing as though they belonged in one of Jane Austen's novels. However, while there, Isabel has a sort of mental break after some cruel words from her father and believes she is actually the character she's playing. Mary's frustration at her friend's backstabing man-stealing ways get pushed aside as she must wait until Isabel remembers who she is before confronting her.
This novel had a fun, easy to read writing style. Mary was shown to be a strong woman, engineer, and loyal to her family and friends. However, her relationship with the love interest of the story, Nathan, made her seem immature and lacking in social skills. For example, she overhears half a phone conversation and instead of talking about it, takes several drastic actions including buying a plane ticket to leave the country and attempting to leave without telling Nathan.
It's an interesting concept that you could vacation in a place where you could live out your favorite stories, but Isabel's memory problem interfered with my enjoyment of that aspect of the story too much. I'd recommend reading this book only if you really enjoyed Dear Mr. Knightley, Lizzy & Jane, and The Brontë Plot as I did. Even still, I was not as captivated by this story.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.
