Melissa Senate

There are a few books I reread every year, usually around Christmastime, which is my very favorite time of year. Pride and Prejudice is one of those novels. I recently watched the Keira Knightley film version and it was gorgeous and I loved her as Elizabeth, but there just is no other Darcy for me than Colin Firth in the BBC version. Anyway, I love all things Pride and Prejudice and can't wait to read this delightful-sounding debut novel by fellow Girlfriend Cyber Circuit member Marilyn Brant.

ACCORDING TO JANE by Marilyn Brant

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's mind, and seems determined to stay there.

 Jane's wise and witty advice guides Ellie through the hell of adolescence and beyond, serving as the voice she trusts, usually far more than her own. Years and boyfriends come and go–sometimes a little too quickly, sometimes not nearly fast enough. But Jane's counsel is constant, and on the subject of Sam, quite insistent. Stay away, Jane demands. He is your Mr. Wickham.

 Still, everyone has something to learn about love–perhaps even Jane herself. And lately, the voice in Ellie's head is being drowned out by another, urging her to look beyond everything she thought she knew and seek out her very own, very unexpected, happy ending. . . 

"A warm, witty and charmingly original story." –Susan Wiggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"An engaging read for all who have been through the long, dark, dating wars, and still believe there's sunshine, and a Mr. Darcy, at the end of the tunnel." –Cathy Lamb, author of Henry's Sisters

 What does the author herself have to say about the inspiration behind ACCORDING TO JANE?: "My debut novel, According to Jane, is the story of a modern woman who–for almost two decades–has the ghost of Jane Austen in her head giving her dating advice. I first read Pride & Prejudice as a high-school freshman. Like my heroine Ellie, I raced through the novel way ahead of the reading assignments. I loved both the story and Austen’s writing style immediately. Her books changed the way I perceived the behavior of everyone around me, and I spent the rest of freshman year trying to figure out which Austen character each of my friends and family members most resembled! Also like Ellie, I had a few (okay, a lot) of less-than-wonderful boyfriends, and I would have loved to have been given romantic advice from the author I most respected and the one who’d written one of my all-time favorite love stories."

For more info, visit Marilyn Brant's blog (click on her name above). Happy reading!

And more book recommendations to come…