Midnight in Austenland: A Novel

Have you ever loved a book so much that you wanted to live in it? Austenland is the chance for the contemporary woman to experience living in the regency period like in a Jane Austen novel. The first novel and movie are a lot of fun, but this second novel takes things to another level by introducing a murder mystery.Charlotte Kinder has built up a successful business and has two lovely children. Her world comes crashing down when her husband leaves her for another woman. She decides a break is needed and heads to England for a stay at Pembroke Park, a Jane Austen-themed retreat. While trying to solve a fun party mystery, Charlotte stumbles across a real murder mystery. Who was killed and why?I enjoyed trying to figure out the mystery. I was surprised by the mystery as I thought this book was making fun of Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey and her ability to think everything is a Gothic mystery when it was indeed not. Charlotte is a bit like Catherine at first, but it does turn out to be a real mystery. I liked seeing favorites like Miss Charming reappear and get a real happy ending for herself. I enjoyed that we got Charlotte’s backstory in flashbacks at the end of each chapter. Charlotte has a mid-life coming of age story where she has to figure out for herself what she wanted moving forward. I wasn’t feeling the romance as much as I should have in this one, but I did enjoy the story.Midnight in Austenland was one of the March selections for the JASNA Northwoods Book Club. It was agreed that it was a fun, lighthearted book.Book Source: Purchased from Amazon.com

This was the first story I've read by Shannon Hale. I only picked it for the title. It was a very believable story and very relatable meaning the heroine is a divorced mother of two trying to repair her life and heart after her ex-husband ripped through there marriage like a tornado leaving damage and chaos in his wake. This story is pretty funny with its witty banter between the characters and all of the shenanigans going on within the story line. Great book definitely worth a second read in my opinion.Charlotte is a recently divorced, mother of two and entrepreneur looking for a relaxing vacation. She decides to call her travel agent to book a trip to England. She finds out about Austenland from one of the travel agents. After reading the trip details from the booking agent that it's a regency style period trip that includes regency food, clothing, afternoon tea's, walks in the park, characters (actors) and bonus a ball she decides to give it a go. She decides to make a three week trip out of it with a week in London before she heads off for her two week stay at Pembrook Park in Kent, England.This story surrounds three women who have paid to be guest at Pembrook Park. There are three gentleman actors to pay these women court during their stay. The mistress of the house Mrs. Wattlesbrook has matched up each lady to a gentleman (aka Calvin Klein models) that matches their questionnaire they filled out before their stay. Sounds like match.com to me put I digress. Charlotte is able to pick any name she wishes to go by while staying at Pembrook Park basically be anyone you want to be and live another life while you're at it. The first day starts off easy enough everyone meeting other guest and characters. On day two things start to get interesting everyone goes on an excursion to an old abbey that's in ruins and one of the characters Colonel Andrews tells a story about a mysterious mass death at the old abbey where there were only two survivors the abbess and another nun named Mary Frances. Apparently one night the nuns prepared dinner and tea like they always did. The abbess retires for the evening an hour later she wakes up to discover that all the nuns are dead and lying on the floor there's no signs of foul play. She finds Sister Mary Frances alive and huddled under a bench in the chapel. The abbess faints dead away and awakens the next morning to find that Mary Frances has moved and laid out all the bodies and covered them up with blankets and bonus cleaned up the scene of the crime. The Colonel mentions that no one ever hung for the deaths in Grey Cloak Abbey. He said the bodies were buried in the churchyard and the abbey was then abandoned. The Colonel allows people to speculate about what happened then ends the story saying that he will continue the story over the period of the stay at Pembrook Park.From that point forward its crazy shenanigan's. The Colonel sets the stage for solving the Grey Cloak Abbey murder mystery which last throughout the story. Mrs. Pembrooks husband John makes an appearance and sets the house in a tizzy. Mr. Wattlesbrook manages to nearly burn down the guest cottage that sets on the property and was later forcibly removed after his erratic behavior by the gentlemen actors. Then Mr. Wattlesbrook isn't scene again he's basically MIA. All the guest just think it's part of the story except the burning down the cottage part. More scary stories are told by the colonel who by the way is stirring up the scare factor for the guest. The grown adults decide to play a game called "Bloody Murder" one night after dinner when the main power supply goes out due to a thunder storm. Apparently this period setting comes with some 21 century power sources. The power's out so why not play a scary game in a big dark scary mansion in the middle of gods nowhere, where everyone splits up, runs and hides in the dark from the games killer.

Charlotte wasn't born to be a heroine. She was a nice child who grew into a nice woman who married a nice man and had two nice kids -- in other words, she was the proud possessor of a nice, safe life. That safety net, the surety of what has always been, is traded for the fear of the unknown when her nice husband drops a bombshell -- he's in love with another and wants a divorce. Cast adrift in the sea of newly-acquired singleness, Charlotte is bereft of all anchors, uncertain of the future and most importantly, of who she is stripped of the identity marriage provided. In the throes of emotional numbness Charlotte discovers the works of Jane Austen, and a most unorthodox, unconventional idea takes root -- she'll vacation in Austenland. Living in Regency England for two weeks, free to assume a new identity, Charlotte can perhaps rediscover the heartbeat of her life, her sense of self and worth. But her desire for a simple vacation turns into much more when Charlotte arrives and discovers the manor house and its inhabitants hide their own share of secrets beneath the veneer of 19th-century respectability. With death stalking Pembrook Park's stately doors, Charlotte must untangle the blurry threads of reality vs. fantasy before she becomes a victim, and along the way just might discover that while the life she knew has ended, the life she didn't dare dream of is waiting in the wings -- if she can find the courage to cross the threshold into the unknown.Austenland, Hale's first tribute to Janeites, is one of my favorite Austen pastiches, a delightful, frothy confection of a novel. It speaks to the secret wish I'm convinced most Austen fans, if they're honest with themselves, has entertained or exclaimed when revisiting a novel or watching one of the many film adaptations -- the desire to to live our very own Austenesque romance. Austenland is the perfect wish-fulfillment vehicle, a loving send-up created by an Austen fan as a gift to her peers, peppered with inside jokes, references, and character types that fans of the books and films are sure to appreciate. Austenland's only drawback was that it was too short -- and time has proven that Hale's first foray into the realms of Austen-flavored chick-lit was merely a dry run for her return to the delightful conceit that is Austenland. Midnight in Austenland takes everything that worked about its predecessor -- the charm, the humor, a dash of romance -- and builds on it, delivering a more substantial, well-developed, and funnier homage to Jane Austen and her inimitable fans.Taking most of her cues from Northanger Abbey, Hale's return to the halls of Austenland is shaded with darker tones, the suggestion of menace, the hint of danger in keeping with the storyline's Gothic inspiration. Coupled with Charlotte's hilarious dialogue with her Inner Thoughts, I have to think that Hale has crafted a story and a heroine, both of which Catherine Morland would heartily approve. I loved how Hale interspersed the narrative with brief scenes from Charlotte's past, giving welcome insight into the circumstances that made her the woman she is today, and underscoring the critical importance of what she hopes to achieve at Austenland. Hale isn't just about escaping reality either; rather, through her unconventional foray into Regency England Charlotte transforms herself, recognizing and embracing her unique strengths and characteristics and in doing so becomes her best self.The romance Charlotte discovers at Austenland is to DIE for. Without revealing too much, Charlotte's Mr. Tilney, if you will, is positively swoon-worthy. :) The sweet romance Hale is known for penning is spiced with a period-flavored sizzle that any fan of Austen's films is sure to appreciate. With greater character development (particularly welcome as regards some of the Austenland cast members and fellow vacationers!) and a healthy dose of mystery and peril, Midnight in Austenland is a winner. I desperately hope that Hale will one day favor readers with third return to Austenland's halls -- this brand of escapism never gets old.

I didn't know what I was getting myself into with this, but it was quite good. It kept me guessing, the characters were all interesting, and even juggling two "worlds" it was very immersive.

As previous reviewers have said, I thought this book was better by far than the first, it's as if she's totally immersed herself in the feel of the world she has created and you are there too. Obviously, light, casual reading which does not take itself too seriously, unlike some Austen would-be's. For the record, nobody does Austen like Austen so all give up and if you must write Austen follow-ons and might have beens, write in your own style, it's more honest, don't pretend to be Jane Austen - you're not and you can't be.

I enjoyed this book very much. In fact I watched and enjoyed Austenland, the movie made from Austenland 1 (the novel) and actually bought the DVD, then I bought Midnight in Austenland to stay in this theme. Now I just bought Austenland 1 !!So I can testify that you don't have to read the first then the second novel by Shannon Hall, they are quite independent.Midninght in Austenland is funny and very pleasant to read, it's a real detective story, you never get bored and can't find out the outcome till the very end.

After reading the first Austenland novel, I expected another cute romance story with a minor twist to spice things up. I guess this is still true but the twist was huge and because I am a scaredy cat I couldn't sleep after finding it out. Don't read Midnight in Austenland at midnight! However, I still really enjoyed the story and it is a nice romance to read on holiday.

This was a delightful, fun book, light hearted murder mystery and fast paced. Best read after reading Austenland first, although not a direct sequel, in order to get a better feel for the setting and some of the characters.

Love this book, no matter how many times I read it...........funny, romantic and with a happy ending. I enjoyed this book more than Austenland (though I loved the film version) as this book actually had me laughing out loud