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According to Jane

by Marilyn Brant (Goodreads Author)

3.37 of 5 stars 3.37 · rating details · 1,032 ratings · 230 reviews

It begins one day in sophomore English class, just as Ellie Barnett's teacher is assigning Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". From nowhere comes a quiet 'tsk' of displeasure. The target: Sam Blaine, the cute bad boy who's teasing Ellie mercilessly, just as he has since kindergarten. Entirely unbidden, as Jane might say, the author's ghost has taken up residence in Ellie'...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published October 1st 2009 by Kensington (first published September 21st 2009)

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Jul 10, 2011 Meredith (Austenesque Reviews) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: austen-inspired, jane-austen

Wouldn't it be fantastic to have a Jane Austen's voice in your head? Wouldn't you just love to have Jane Austen in your subconscious, speaking to you, being your secret friend? I know I would! Going through my adolescent years would have been infinitely more bearable! But alas, we cannot all be as fortunate as Ellie Barnett, who from the age of fifteen has had Jane Austen's voice in her head.

Ever since Ellie's teacher assigned Pride and Prejudice as their next reading assignment, Jane Austen ha...more

6 likes · like · see review

Oct 19, 2009 Lexi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, fiction

A clever premise, beautifully executed. This book flew by, and I was sorry when it had to end; this was a book I did not want to put down. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes Jane Austen or who just enjoys a well-written novel.

Edit: I agree with the other reviewers who have noted that this book is much more explicit than you'd expect. I definitely would not categorize this as a young adult novel.

4 likes · like · see review

Nov 18, 2011 Monica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Part of me really thinks that Brant's novel is actually a look into my future. The similarities between her book and my life are almost eery, but I couldn't put it down, nor could my friend who I gave a copy of this to for her birthday. I love Jane Austen, so that's immediately what sucked me in.

And then there was more. The protagonist Ellie studied English in college (like me) and then went to graduate school at a university a few hours south of Chicago so she could study to be a librarian (als...more

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Jul 24, 2011 Pam rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, chick-lit-favourites

Told in first-person, this book jumps between the past and present. After being assigned to read Pride and Prejudice in high school, Ellie suddenly hears a voice in her head. The voice belongs to the one and only Jane Austin. Jane soon becomes Ellie's best friend and confidant and stays with her into adulthood. Jane comments on daily life and dispenses advice just as she chronically does in her novels. She also tries to help Ellie steer clear of romantic pitfalls of the men she meets over the ye...more

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Jan 08, 2010 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-lendables

I had to continue my Jane Austen alternative literature spree. Since I had "According to Jane" on my iPod Touch through the Kindle app, it was easy. When I first spied this book I thought it was a YA book due to the description. The book surprised me as it was not. It was an adult book with adult scenes and situations. Ellie merely has Jane Austen helping her along as a very opinionated spirit guide. As you view Ellie's life you actually travel back and forth in time. Yes, occasionally, I would...more

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Mar 27, 2010 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit, romance

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 06, 2010 jo mo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, dramarama, reviews, 4-stars, over-the-years-narration, school-life, stories-or-books-in-books, re-reads, new-adult, 2010-faves

The story switches back and forth the whole book through. It's told in 1st person from Ellie's point of view.

At the beginning, Ellie is 15. And this is where she gets in touch with Pride & Prejudice and thus Jane Austen, with whom she gets a good friend and companion ... so to speak.

Ellie is pretty much an average girl. She gets good grades. She loves books. She thinks about boys. If only she could get that bad boy Sam out of her head.

Then we see her, a few years later with her disastrous r...more

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Aug 18, 2009 Marilyn Brant rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author)

Since I'm the author, I'm wildly biased on this one, of course. :)
I truly hope those who read it will enjoy the story. And I hope Jane Austen would've been pleased by her place in the novel. I like to think so...

Many thanks to everyone interested in my debut book!

14 likes · like · see review

Feb 20, 2010 Yvette (hooked on the nook) rated it 2 of 5 stars

This has to be one of the best books I have read in a very, very long time!! I could totally relate to the characters and I just LOVED the story. This is a MUST READ!!

1 like · like · see review

Jun 02, 2010 kari rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, 5-star

Perfection!
This book has a plot that moves from Ellie's teen years to her early thirties as she attempts to make sense of her romantic life or lack of it, while having conversations in her head with Jane Austen.
The story starts with Ellie as a sophomore in high school, but this book is definitely NOT a young adult book and is more mature in content than YA books, so be aware of that.
Ellie is a very likable character as she argues with or listens to Jane's opinions about the various boys/men she...more

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Nov 19, 2009 Michelle rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one

Recommended to Michelle by: library reviews/ YA reviews

Shelves: first-reads, adult-non-ya

When I received this book from the author to read for first reads, I was excited, but that excitement soon disappeared. According To Jane is sexually explicit to a point that I had to skim through much of it completely skipping huge sections in order to escape reading the multitudinous bedroom scenes.

As a English teacher and a fan of Jane Austen, I loved the idea of this book--that the famed author would guide a women in her romantic life--however, I dare say that Ms Austen would not approve of...more

7 likes · like · see review

Jan 11, 2010 Cristina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

Thanks to Goodreads First Reads for giving me this book for free in one of their book giveways!!!!!! I'll keep signing up for them and you keep 'em coming :)

"According to Jane" is an intriguing spin on a typical piece of chick-lit. For those hard-core Austen fans, like myself, it will cause you to instantly be jealous of Ellie, the lucky protagonist who has the honor of being the vessel in which Austen's spirit decides to reside. Austen is depicted as I would have imagined; sharp-witted, slight...more

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Mar 10, 2010 April rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very, very cute! I liked that despite the character's naivete and her guardian angel Jane Austen's blind opinions, it was clear to me who the hero would be. I loved that the heroine loves Jane Austen (obviously a girl after my own heart) but doesn't necessarily follow her advice or agree with her. I'm not sure why the heroine hears Jane Austen, though -- it wasn't easy to suspend my disbelief on that point -- but the rest of the novel was fun to read.

Freebie Kindle, and I'm glad I got to downloa...more

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Aug 06, 2012 Angie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I just finished a book called According to Jane written by Marilyn Brant.

Premise: One day in high school English, Ellie Barnett's class is assigned Pride and Prejudice and Ellie's world is never the same. A peculiar thing happens to Ellie: she starts to hear Jane Austen's voice in her head, and grows to love the author's 'company'. Jane Austen guides Ellie through her life and remains a constant companion through life's decisions, boyfriends coming and going, etc. Will Ellie ever find her Mr. Da...more I just finished a book called According to Jane written by Marilyn Brant.

Premise: One day in high school English, Ellie Barnett's class is assigned Pride and Prejudice and Ellie's world is never the same. A peculiar thing happens to Ellie: she starts to hear Jane Austen's voice in her head, and grows to love the author's 'company'. Jane Austen guides Ellie through her life and remains a constant companion through life's decisions, boyfriends coming and going, etc. Will Ellie ever find her Mr. Darcy? What about the infuriating Sam Blaine, who Jane refers to as a "Wickham"?

I thought the premise of the book was fresh and interesting, especially since I like Jane Austen. The book is told in the first person, which I also like. It jumps between the past and present, following Ellie's life from her teens into her early 30s, another technique that I thought worked. I loved the references to 80s music and fashion. Basically, good premise, promising beginning.

I really wanted to like Ellie, the novel's protagonist, and it seemed like I would at the start of the book: smart, a reader, independent, a little nerdy but liked by her friends. Unfortunately she becomes a frustrating, annoying character as the book progresses. It seems like she doesn't change at all in almost 20 years. Every time she meets a guy she immediately starts picturing a future with them, fantasizing about committment, marriage and babies. Not only that, she consistently goes for guys who obviously don't want this at all and gets surprised every time a guy doesn't fall in love with her and want to be with her forever just because they've slept together. She holds a torch for this guy Sam, who snapped her bra straps in high school English and ignored her after she had sex with him in the backseat of a car. Hmmmm... As a reader I think we're meant to realize that people change when they grow up, but since Ellie carries on like she's in high school throughout the novel this is difficult.

There is lots of sex in the book, which I usually don't mind, but in this case I found it cringeworthy because of the writing style and the depiction. I almost had to double check that this book was written by a woman because of Ellie's extreme reaction to being touched in any way, and the dialogue, which read a lot like a porno film. I'm not interested in some Russian guy telling Ellie "Come for me now!" (And she does! Right on command!) and if I had to hear about the "folds between her legs" one more time I would have chucked the book. Oh, and I hate it when it's called "making love". Ew. But that's just me.

I know I'm sounding negative. There are elements of the book that I did enjoy. It was a good idea, and I liked the amusing dialogue between Jane and Ellie, and of course the references to Pride and Prejudice. I just wish that Ellie's happy ending would have been to grow up a little! She was supposed to be a strong, capable woman, but instead, her poor choices and obsession with 'landing' a man just make the reader question how much has really changed since Austen's time. (less)

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Jul 27, 2012 Johanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

According to Jane
by Marilyn Brant

Rating: 4.5
Genre: Contemporary Fiction | Romance

In Marilyn Brant's smart, wildly inventive debut, one woman in search of herself receives advice from the ultimate expert in matters of the heart...

It begins one day in sophomore English class, just as Ellie Barnett's teacher is assigning Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. From nowhere comes a quiet "tsk" of displeasure. The target: Sam Blaine, the cute bad boy who's teasing Ellie mercilessly, just as he has since k...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 07, 2011 Caroline rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was creatively written-It was about a girl in High School(at first where you "meet" her) and she has to read Pride and Prejudice. There is also this guy in her class who is difficult and smug and a few other characters who resemble characters from Pride and Predjudice and she fumbles her way throughout her days managing friendships and upsets and academics like many girls, the difference is Jane austen appears in her head as a voice of reason, conscience and scolding because Jane austen is fr...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Just finished... still mopping up. This was an eight-tissue ending for me-- as much for Jane's revelations as for the resolution of Ellie's life issues.

Lots of people revere the romantic wisdom of Jane Austen, and use her books as a patterncard for their own relationships. None have heard Jane's advice in quite the way Ellie Barnett does. From the time she was assigned Austen's _Pride and Prejudice_ in sophomore English class, she's been hearing Jane's voice in her head. Not in her imagination--...more Just finished... still mopping up. This was an eight-tissue ending for me-- as much for Jane's revelations as for the resolution of Ellie's life issues.

Lots of people revere the romantic wisdom of Jane Austen, and use her books as a patterncard for their own relationships. None have heard Jane's advice in quite the way Ellie Barnett does. From the time she was assigned Austen's _Pride and Prejudice_ in sophomore English class, she's been hearing Jane's voice in her head. Not in her imagination-- Jane's actual voice, the real Jane, who's been dead nearly 200 years. (Jane continually refuses to tell her *why* she's speaking to Ellie, although she assures her there is a reason and she'll learn it eventually.) From that day in high school English and into her mid-thirties, when the book begins, Jane is Ellie's constant companion, advisor, confidant, and friend. Jane offers advice (and occasional wry commentary) through Ellie's relationships, break-ups, family trials, and personal soul-searching. It's a coming-of-age story, a contemplation of modern love, and a bit of a romantic fairy tale all in one.

This book reminded me of nothing so much a mash-up of Austen (_Emma_ more than P&P, honestly) with almost every John Cusack romantic movie I've ever seen (High Fidelity, Serendipity, and Say Anything topping the list)-- the constant relationship testing and reviewing, the missed and mismatched connections, the verbal sparring, and most especially the *soundtracks.* (Honestly, if I weren't a child of the eighties myself I might not have enjoyed this book as much as I did.)

It shares "High Fidelity"'s structure in that, after a hat-tip to the present, it cycles through increasingly later relationship cruxes in Ellie's life, until we once again reach her present day. Unlike High Fidelity, though, it wasn't as clear about the purpose of the structure, and the timeline got a bit confused at times. This distracted me a lot from the plot for the first half of the book, but by the second half things were a lot more linear. The ending is fairly easy to guess-- in a way, I think Ellie and Jane were only hiding it from themselves-- but the author gives us an enjoyable (though *SNIFF* weepy) ride getting there.(less)

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Jun 01, 2011 noisy penguin rated it 2 of 5 stars

I basically hated Ellie and all her terrible decisions. I hated her belief that she would be nothing without a dude - it seemed kind of the opposite of Elizabeth Bennet. And I found Jane to be pretty annoying; most of the time she wasn't saying anything that wasn't totally, painfully obvious to the reader. And the times when I *was* interested in hearing what Jane had to say, Ellie blocked her out. And when we finally find out the reason Jane was hanging out in her brain it felt pretty lame and...more

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Apr 17, 2011 Tracy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, non-series-stand-alone-novels

A Bit of Pride, A Bit of Prejudice, A Lot of Fun
As a sophomore in high school, Ellie Barnett is tormented by Sam Blaine. He makes her life miserable with all his teasing and taunting. What makes it worse is she's crazy about him. She's known him since kindergarten but lately he just keeps prodding and poking at her, always goading her. It's driving her crazy. Then her English teacher passes out the book for the semester's reading assignment and as she picks up her copy of Pride and Prejudice, sh...more A Bit of Pride, A Bit of Prejudice, A Lot of Fun
As a sophomore in high school, Ellie Barnett is tormented by Sam Blaine. He makes her life miserable with all his teasing and taunting. What makes it worse is she's crazy about him. She's known him since kindergarten but lately he just keeps prodding and poking at her, always goading her. It's driving her crazy. Then her English teacher passes out the book for the semester's reading assignment and as she picks up her copy of Pride and Prejudice, she hears a sound of derision. A scoff. Then words. In her head. Jane Austin, in fact, expressing dire warnings about Sam and general bits of wisdom about life, love, and propriety. And Ellie Barnett will never be the same again.

Having the ghost of a famous author rattling around in her head acting as confidant and best friend isn't a free ticket to fun and happiness, however, and as the years pass, no amount of advice and insight into human character helps Ellie with years of disappointment in relationships and what's looking more and more like ultimate failure in the romance department.

This quirky, odd book is difficult to classify. Technically, having a lead character who converses with the dead author of classic literature would start pushing it towards a paranormal...or denote insanity, but nothing in According To Jane would seem to indicate Ellie is suffering from a mental illness, and yet, the style of the writing and the plot lean more heavily towards contemporary woman's fiction. Maybe contemporary romance, though even that is more of a stretch for a couple of reasons that would be spoilers if I listed them here. Regardless of genre, Marilyn Brant has put together a cute jaunt through the romantic psychosis of a woman whose biological clock started ticking when she was about sixteen. Since then, with Jane's help, she's navigated the unfriendly waters of love with an overly optimistic and fanciful hope for happily ever after with a modern prince charming. Needless to say, it hasn't been going well.

With a narrative that flows seamlessly through Ellie's past and present, transitioning randomly, and peppered with various heartbreaks and romantic tribulations, the story unfolds and is layered with a hopefulness and yearning for happiness that isn't dulled even during Ellie's darkest days. I have to give Brant credit for this imaginative, original book and the dedication and research put into Jane as a character. Her dialogue and her personality felt very authentic and was vital to the success of the story.

I do think the plot was a little limited and seemed one dimensional. While I understand that the span of time in the book covered years, the glimpses of various stages of Ellie's life were so focused on her yearning for true love and family that it seemed almost pathological in intensity and there was little else to define and enhance her character beyond that. It got a bit tiresome for me in a few places. I also found Jane's vehemence against Sam to be poorly supported by the explanation given. It seemed too much vitriol, especially later in the book. I also thought Jane's explanation came a little late and I would've figured Ellie would've asked Jane sooner why she was so unflinching in her abhorrence.

I loved Sam, though, and thought Brant did a really good job subtly defining him and showing his interests in the few scenes that he was in. My favorite parts of the book included him and Ellie and I wish there had been a few more - but that's not a complaint. It's me being greedy.

According To Jane is a quirky, cute book and other than those few issues, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found the concept of Jane Austin as a cross between a guardian angel, sounding board, and best friend was intelligent and original and added an odd but definitely unique aspect to this read. I may have gotten a little tired of Ellie now and then, but overall I wanted her to have that happily ever after for which she so desperately yearned.

~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another. (less)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 05, 2011 Katie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-book, second-chance

I was really disappointed in According To Jane. The only reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 was because I really liked Ellie, the main character. She was a very likable chick with humor and personality in abundance.

The problem I had was I am a romance reader, I thoroughly dislike chick-lit. There is a big difference between the two (at least in my mind there is). Though it may not be completely fair of me to dis According To Jane based on the romance tags and discussion boards it was recomme...more

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Nov 18, 2010 Lielabell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Triple A+ book. I picked it up today and didn't put it down until I finished it. Okay, so that's a lie. I had to put it down to get my son from school and to make dinner and to do all that stuff, but my head was still firmly between the pages of this book all the while.

This is a life long romance done right. There is the heartbreak and insecurity of the teen years, the anger and bitterness of the early twenties and the forgiveness and ultimate reconciliation of the early thirties. And through it...more

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Oct 07, 2010 Elizabeth Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars

Super, super cute! I'd heard a lot about this book, and I'm glad I finally picked it up. It starts when Ellie is in high school, being teased by super-cute-and-natch!-bad-boy Sam, and their English teacher assigns them Pride and Prejudice.

And Ellie starts to hear Jane--yep, *that* Jane--talking to her. Jane keeps Ellie, who is a self-described "geek" company, and assures her that life will get better.

And that she needs to stay away from Sam. (Jane says he's Ellie's Mr. Wickham)

The story runs thr...more

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Jul 06, 2010 Madelyne rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Possibly

Shelves: arc, soon-forgotten

According to Jane is about Ellie Barnett who suddenly finds herself in tow of an extra voice inside her head during her sophomore year of highschool. That voice just happens to be Jane Austen. The story follows Ellie (and Jane) through her highschool, college, and post college life. Jane talks to Ellie, advising her, lecturing her, and ultimately becoming her friend.
It wasn’t exactly what I expected. I thought for sure Jane would push her Regency Era lifestyle on Ellie more. Insisting she be a...more

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Apr 18, 2010 Anya rated it 2 of 5 stars

I generally love all things Austen, but I found myself frequently frustrated with this book. First off, the whole gimmick that the spirit of Jane Austen decides to take up residence in the mind of a teenage American girl and impart advice did not work for me. At times, when Jane's voice would be absent for a while, I forgot that was even the concept of the book and didn't miss it at all. The point of Ellie's internal debates with Jane could have just as easily been achieved by Ellie having an in...more

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Jan 04, 2010 Laurel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: austen-inspired, contemporary-fiction

What young lady would not want romantic advise from Jane Austen?

Here's a new novel that tugged at my heart strings and validated my belief that if the world was run according to Jane Austen, we would be much smarter and happier. Enuff said!

Fifteen-year old Ellie Barnett is a bookish geek. She excels at academics, but according to her caustic older sister, she is digging herself into a hole of permanent unpopularity with her scraggly hair, lack of make-up, and inattention to fashion. There is ho...more What young lady would not want romantic advise from Jane Austen?

Here's a new novel that tugged at my heart strings and validated my belief that if the world was run according to Jane Austen, we would be much smarter and happier. Enuff said!

Fifteen-year old Ellie Barnett is a bookish geek. She excels at academics, but according to her caustic older sister, she is digging herself into a hole of permanent unpopularity with her scraggly hair, lack of make-up, and inattention to fashion. There is however, one boy who since kindergarten has paid her a bit more attention than she is comfortable with. Sam Blaine may be good-looking, athletic, brainy, and popular - but he is trouble - and just happens to sit behind her in English class taunting her with pokes in the back with his pencil and sexual innuendo. When she cracks open her next reading assignment, a copy of Pride and Prejudice, she begins to hear voices. Jane Austen's British voice to be exact, interjecting observations and advice, specifically warning Ellie to beware of Sam Blaine. He is her Wickham, that charming scoundrel that wooed Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and then eloped with her younger sister Lydia. Ellie does not doubt the advice, just the whole hearing voices thing really freaks her out her out. Jane Austen's spirit has somehow inhabited her mind, commenting in her acerbic early ninteenth-century sensibility on Ellie's 1980's life and romances and she does not know why.

Over the course of twenty years, we follow Ellie through her life challenges as a single women looking for love and happiness in what Jane Austen deems to be a morally confusing world. Who of us could ever forget their own first love, the painful realization that you are being used, or the first time you were dumped? As Jane offers Ellie witty and wise advice on family conflicts, career choices, and a barrage of bad boyfriends that come and go, Ellie slowly realizes that she must learn some life lesson before she can move on. For Ellie, one painful lesson was bad-boy Sam who Jane advises to stay clear of yet she is still drawn too. As their lives keep crossing paths over the course of the years, they never seem to be at the right place at the right time to work it out. Ellie trusts and values Jane's opinion. Who better to advise her than an author who is valued for her keen judgment of human nature and romantic insights? But with Sam, she holds strong prejudices. Could she be wrong? Is he really her Wickham, or could he be her Mr. Darcy?

What an unexpected, uplifting, and urbane debut novel! To paraphrase Jane Austen's character Lady Catherine, Marilyn Brant has given us a treasure. Granted that there are hundreds of Jane Austen inspired novels written over the years, this totally unique and original concept of Austen's ghost inhabiting and advising a modern young woman is brilliant. The play of early nineteenth-century social mores against twentieth-century culture is so droll that I laughed-out-loud several times in total recognition. Like Austen, Brant excels at characterization offering a heroine in Ellie Barnett that I could totally identify with, and a hero in Sam Blaine that is so endearingly flawed that any woman worthy of her worn out VHS copy of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries will be happy to swoon over. Subtly powerful and amusingly acerbic, you will be gently reproved into agreeing in the power of love to transform us all.

Laurel Ann, Austenprose(less)

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Nov 28, 2009 Jane Hoppe rated it 2 of 5 stars

Despite the cover copy’s statement that Jane Austen’s “wise and witty advice guides Ellie through the hell of adolescence and beyond, serving as the voice she trusts …” this story is more an affront to Jane Austen’s wise and witty advice, since Ellie ignores most of it. Readers expecting any kind of Victorian propriety in this story will be dismayed by its sexually explicit scenes. Belief in the sexual-freedom myth is alive and well in this story. It saddens me to see so many of this novel’s cha...more

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Nov 26, 2009 Andrea marked it as to-read

came across this review in a blog i follow:
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Review: According to Jane
Summary: In Marilyn Brant’s smart, wildly inventive debut, one woman in search of herself receives advice from the ultimate expert in matters of the heart…

It begins one day in sophomore English class, just as Ellie Barnett’s teacher is assigning Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. From nowhere comes a quiet “tsk” of displeasure. The target: Sam Blaine, the cute bad boy who’s teasing Ellie mercilessly, ju...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 06, 2009 Atlantis rated it 2 of 5 stars

Okay, this book was a free download on Amazon for the kindle or iphone app and that's why I risked it-I recommend that if you read this book please check it out of the library or download it for free as that's about what it is worth. It's not badly written, but it's a little weird. It is a first person narrative of Ellie, the main character, who suddenly in the middle of one of her high school classes, begins hearing the voice of Jane Austen herself. This continues throughout the book and is qui...more

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Oct 22, 2009 Sophie rated it 2 of 5 stars

One of the benefits of the Kindle is knowing exactly what percentage of a book is left to read. But that benefit becomes a drawback when a book drags as much as According to Jane does. While reading it, I found myself checking the percentage every few pages and rolling my eyes over how slowly the number changed.

The premise of this book is intriguing, even amusing--Jane Austen as romance guru--but it's a premise that is better suited to a short story, or at least a short story arc. This book, ho...more

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Oct 12, 2009 Kristi (Books and Needlepoint) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arcs

I had the pleasure of meeting Marilyn at an Eloisa James author signing at our public library. It was my first author visit and I got 2 authors out of it! When she found out that I had a book blog, she offered to send me a copy of According to Jane. I have to admit that I have never made it through Pride and Prejudice - more of a time thing rather than a lack of not wanting to - and still it languishes on my shelf. But no worries, you do not have to have read Pride and Prejudice to enjoy Accordi...more I had the pleasure of meeting Marilyn at an Eloisa James author signing at our public library. It was my first author visit and I got 2 authors out of it! When she found out that I had a book blog, she offered to send me a copy of According to Jane. I have to admit that I have never made it through Pride and Prejudice - more of a time thing rather than a lack of not wanting to - and still it languishes on my shelf. But no worries, you do not have to have read Pride and Prejudice to enjoy According to Jane. With all the different Jane Austen books out there right now I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one. That and not having actually read Pride and Prejudice (and having met the author in person) made me a little worried about this one - I shouldn't have been. This was a delightful book to read.

I have been finished with this book for a couple of days now, and actually started writing this review yesterday morning - but it seems like the more I enjoy a book, the harder it is for me to write the review. I don't feel like I will be able to do the book or the author justice - but I will try.

We meet Ellie in the beginning of the book in her high school English class (in the mid 80's). Jane has just tsked, tsked her way into Ellie's head - It was so real to her that she actually looked around the room to see who was tsking. But fear not, Ellie is not portrayed as a "crazy" lady. Jane becomes a part of her life like a sister or a best friend would. Their conversations are humorous, thought provoking, and emotional - even though they all take place in Ellie's head.

I loved all the 80's references as that is when I was in high school and college. Talk about remembering all the teenage angst and crushes, and how easily one could get their feelings hurt or misunderstandings could start. What happens to Ellie in high school continues to shape her on her romantic journey through college and young adulthood. All the while, Jane keeps a running commentary going on as she lets Ellie know when she is disappointed or when the current beau is a Darcy or a Wickham.

You really must join Ellie on her journey to discovering the love of her life, and experience all of her romantic entanglements along the way. It would be nice if we all had our own Jane to keep us company when our romantic world seems to be in flux - even if she is not always right. . .

Excellent debut novel - can't wait to see what other books this author will bring!(less)

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Jane Austen Sequels: According to Jane, by Marilyn Brant	1	3	Oct 06, 2012 05:42pm

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About Marilyn Brant

Marilyn Brant is the national bestselling and award-winning women's fiction author of ACCORDING TO JANE, the story of a modern woman who receives dating advice from the spirit of Jane Austen (October 2009), FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE, a contemporary tale about three suburban moms who shake up their lives and their marriages when each begins to question whether she married the right man (October 2010)...more Marilyn Brant is the national bestselling and award-winning women's fiction author of ACCORDING TO JANE, the story of a modern woman who receives dating advice from the spirit of Jane Austen (October 2009), FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE, a contemporary tale about three suburban moms who shake up their lives and their marriages when each begins to question whether she married the right man (October 2010), and A SUMMER IN EUROPE (December 2011), which is in the vein of "A Room with a View" and "Before Sunrise," about a woman discovering who she is and who she wants to be while on a grand travel adventure. All are published by Kensington Books.

She's also a #1 Kindle bestseller and has written a series of fun and flirty contemporary romantic comedies, available exclusively as original ebooks. The first of these, ON ANY GIVEN SUNDAE, was released in June 2011. It's hit both the B&N and the Amazon Top 100 Bestseller Lists. DOUBLE DIPPING, her second ebook, came out in September 2011 and was a 2012 finalist in the International Digital Awards. HOLIDAY MAN was released in November 2012 and PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MAN -- a Kindle bestselling title in "Humor" -- came out in January 2013.

As a former teacher, library staff member, freelance magazine writer and national book reviewer for Romantic Times, Marilyn has spent much of her life lost in literature. She received her M.A. in educational psychology from Loyola University Chicago, dabbled in both fiction and art at Northwestern University, studied the works of Austen at Oxford University and is an active member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Her debut novel won RWA's prestigious Golden Heart Award in 2007, as well as the Booksellers' Best, Aspen Gold Reader's Choice and Single Title Reviewers' Choice Awards. Her most recent women's fiction story was a Literary Guild and BOMC2 pick and a Barnes & Noble General Fiction Book Club read, in addition to being a Rhapsody Book Club Top 20 Bestseller in Fiction & Literature during 2012.

Marilyn lives in the northern Chicago suburbs with her family, but she also hangs out online at her blog "Brant Flakes." When she isn't rereading Jane's books or enjoying the latest releases by her writer friends, she's working on her next novel, eating chocolate indiscriminately and hiding from the laundry. (less)

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Quotes from According to Jane

“But here I am at this moment, a thirty-four-year-old geek, and against my will and against my reason (although, okay, not against my character), I still want that fucking Cinderella story for myself.
More than an amazing, no-one-else-on-the-planet-knows-this secret.
More than anything else.
I want that happily-ever-after ending I imagined, as a teen, I’d get someday. That daydream I held on to as my prize for surviving those sucky years of adolescence.
Dammit, I deserve that ending.
It’s just that, if I’m truly honest with myself, I can no longer tell if it’s Sam, specifically, I want or if it’s the nearly two-decade-old fantasy featuring him as the heroic lead.
So, at the last second, I cop out.” — 9 people liked it

“This was the dangerous line women had to walk. Curiosity versus consequences.” — 6 people liked it

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