📚💛💚An author whose second book, The Austen Escape I picked immediately after reading the first one, The Bronte Plot that was an equally enjoyable read. Though this review is a long time coming. Hope to keep the reviews coming.
📚💚💛 I first read The Bronte Plot by Katherine Reay a couple of years ago and enjoyed the different, layered, realistic story. When I saw The Austen Escape, I knew I had to read and requested a copy from NetGalley.
📚💚💛 Mary Davies is devoted to her work and is an electric engineer who is loved at her workplace. Yet her current project is shelved and she needs to rethink her choices.
📚💚💛 Isabel is her childhood friend and she convinces her to go on a vacation with her to experience an ‘Austen holiday’ at Bath. Despite her reservations, she agrees, but things unspool when Isabel starts forgetting who she is and Mary needs to step in.
📚💚💛 Nathan is a consultant at Mary’s office and is unaware that Mary is crushing on him. She also is so unsure during their interactions that he thinks she isn’t interested in him.
📚💚💛 Though like the smart man he is, he is patient and managed to win the girl and floor the fellow vacationers as well.
📚💚💛For me, the moment when Mary solves the technical issue at work while out for her run was the cherry on the cake! I loved the connection it made with her work and her personal life.
📚💚💛 The book ties in the conflict and grudges and makes the characters human and real.
📚💚💛 I enjoyed The Austen Escape with the beautiful house at Bath and classic references, the mix of the modern and Victorian eras.
📚💚💛 Modern-day science and technology mingling with the English countryside made for a layered read.
I love the images she creates, the peep into an era of rich culture and depth.
📚💚💛 Visiting Bath is on my bucket list. Paris is done so UK and Ireland are next. Just waiting for the world to heal and open up.
📚💚💛 The Austen Escape is a love story unfolding under the classic grey English skies and resplendent countryside. The beautiful indoors and outdoors described added to the experience of reading.
📚💚💛 I look forward to reading her other books soon.
📚💚💛 If you are a fan of the Victorian era and Jane Austen then her books are perfect for a visit to the times and life of Jane Austen.
📚💚💛 #KatherineReay books transport me to the time I was studying English Literature and bring it all alive with so much vibrancy.
📚💚💛 A glimpse into the #classicfiction in a modern setting.
📚💚💛 The Austen Escape with its sweet ending and realistic issues made for a good read, a different read.
BLURB:
The Austen Escape by Katherine Reay
For two friends, falling into Jane Austen’s past will change their futures forever.
Mary Davies finds safety in her ordered and productive life. Working as an engineer, she genuinely enjoys her job and her colleagues—particularly a certain adorable and intelligent consultant. But something is missing. When Mary’s estranged childhood friend, Isabel Dwyer, offers her a two-week stay in a gorgeous manor house in England, she reluctantly agrees in hopes that the holiday will shake up her quiet life in just the right ways.
But Mary gets more than she bargained for when Isabel loses her memory and fully believes she lives in Jane Austen’s Bath. While Isabel rests and delights in the leisure of a Regency lady, attended by other costume-clad guests, Mary uncovers startling truths about their shared past, who Isabel was, who she seems to be, and the man who now stands between them. Outings are undertaken, misunderstandings arise, and dancing ensues as this company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation, work out their lives and hearts.
About the Author
Katherine Reay is the national bestselling and award-winning author of Dear Mr. Knightley, Lizzy and Jane, The Bronte Plot, A Portrait of Emily Price, The Austen Escape, and The Printed Letter Bookshop. All Katherine’s novels are contemporary stories with a bit of classical flair. Katherine holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and is a wife, mother, former marketer, and avid chocolate consumer. After living all across the country and a few stops in Europe, Katherine now happily resides outside Chicago, IL.
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