Part Austenland, part Agatha Christie, this follow up novel centers around Charlotte Kinder, a successful business woman and mother of two. After going through a rough divorce, she finds herself reading voraciously and falling in love with Jane Austen, eventually reading all her novels. When she decides to take a much needed vacation, she tells her travel agent that she would like to visit some Austen-ian places...Bath for example, since Jane Austen had done some of her writing there...which is how she finds out about Austenland. The chance to take a break from real life - the cheating ex-husband/new wife Justice, her broken heart, constant wondering what she did wrong and if she is just unlovable - is enough to talk her into taking a chance on two weeks in Austenland.
The cast of characters has some repeats - Mrs. Wattlesbrook (the proprietress), Colonel Andrews (cast member) and Miss Charming (a returning guest). Like Jane in the previous novel, Charlotte has a tough time dealing with the fantasy vs reality of Austenland. One of the other visiting ladies - Miss Lydia Gardenside - turns out to be a pop star in disguise, which adds to the difficulty of maintaining the Regency era illusion. Mr. Mallery, the gentleman clearly chosen to be Charlotte's love interest for the retreat, "was born smoldering" and had never stopped. But was there more to his intensity than just being tall, dark and brooding? She eventually finds it helps to confide in her "brother," Edmund Grey, though in very Regency terms, such as worrying about her children not "corresponding," ie, picking up the damn phone.
To provide some entertainment one dark and stormy evening, Colonel Andrews suggests playing "bloody murder," a form of hide-and-seek where the murderer hides and, once found, is unleashed upon the "seekers." The last person tagged is declared the next murderer. Charlotte is a bit uncomfortable wandering around a large, dark house at night...even more so once she is declared the murderer. She stumbles upon a secret room where she find a dead body. She rushes out screaming and is then unable to find the hidden panel again once she locates the rest of the party. When she does find it the next morning, there's no sigh of a body. Could the darkness of night, strange lighting from the storm and subject of their game have caused her to overreact when her hand touched a rubber glove that was half sticking out from beneath a couch? Or...
After reading the book, I noticed that the movie Austenland was sort of a compilation of the two books, though I wish they hadn't done that so Midnight in Austenland could be made into a movie as well. It turns out that the estate is in real financial trouble, so near the end of the book, Miss Charming offers to bank roll Mrs. Wattlesbrook in order to maintain the Regency era dream. Unlike the end of Austenland (the movie), there are no sweeping changes, like everything painted pink and modernizing the place. The main thing Miss Charming suggests changing is the food, because "Are sheep eyeballs ever necessary?" I would have to agree that level of authenticity is a bit much.
If I were to cast Midnight in Austenland, I'd pick Jude Law as Edmund Grey and Gerard Butler as Mr. Mallery...or perhaps Christian Bale, since he does the brooding thing pretty well. Casting Charlotte would be harder, since she's more "ordinary" than the rest of the cast of characters on the estate. Perhaps Kate Winslet, Amy Adams, Rachel McAdams or Kate Hudson since, while they are beautiful women, they are also capable of playing "everyday" versions of themselves. This particular group would push the general age range into their 40s. While older than I pictured them in the book, would just make it like the Emma Thompson version of Sense and Sensibility, where they aged everyone up about 10-15 years (presumably in order to achieve that amazing cast).
Back down in the 30s range, Chris Hemsworth could play Edmund Grey, though he's more muscly than I picture Edmund. His co-star from Cabin in the Woods, Jesse Williams, could also make for an interesting Edmund...and if he could bring the proper intensity, a good Mallery too. Taylor Kinney or Josh Duhamel would also be on my short list for Edmund, while Josh Harnett and Wentworth Miller would be on the Mallery list. Oooh....if only Jensen Ackles were a good movie actor (as opposed to TV), he would make a great Mallery!!
Keri Russell would be perfect for the role of (younger) Charlotte, since the character is so similar to Jane...but since that wouldn't work, Emily Blunt, Eliza Dushku or Anne Hathaway would do very nicely as younger-version Charlotte. In either age-version Emma Stone could play Miss Lydia Gardenside, since I love her and want her in everything. If she were somehow unavailable, then Carey Mulligan, Jennifer Lawrence or Anna Kendrick would be on that short list.
Wishful thinking aside, Midnight in Austenland (like Austenland) was a fun read and definitely worth your time if you're looking for a book that is not only a rom-com, but a mystery as well.
Enjoy and happy Tuesday!
~ Katie
You'd cast Christian Bale in just about everything if you had your way.
ReplyDeleteYou...are not wrong. :) Although I will say he wouldn't make a good Edmund. Not sweet and thoughtful enough.
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