After I read The Brontë Plot, I started The Austen Escape, by Katherine Reay. I thought my mom had recommended both, but when I mentioned the second book to her, she said she hadn’t read it. She’d read two titles by this author, and I misremembered* them when I looked the author up later to request books from the library.

But no matter! Because while I enjoyed The Brontë Plot, The Austen Escape was even better. It had a lot of the same elements as the first book I read: readability without being fluffy, insightful truths about human nature (a nod to Jane Austen), unexpected plot turns, and good writing with depth. Small details gave the story a sense of being current without pounding the reader over the head with a smart phone.

I found myself staying up late to read more. The Brontë Plot left me in the dust at times with the literary references (and remember, I’m an English major and read all of Austen’s books twice, most recently just a few years ago). The Austen Escape started out with a list of referenced Austen characters by book, along with a brief description of the salient details about each individual. I referred to it more than once as I was reading, and it helped me engage with the story without feeling like I was missing as much. I still felt like I could have benefited from a more recent reading of Austen’s works, or at least, re-watching a couple of the movie adaptations.

The subtle love story is the sort of thing I don’t like to admit that I enjoy. The male characters had more than one dimension and didn’t seem completely emasculated by the setting (a period-costumed getaway in England).

I have about ten more books on my pile before I’ll have room for another one of Reay’s books, but the two I’ve read so far are lovely, and I look forward to the next one.

*The internet claims misremembered isn’t a word, but I prefer it to the wordier alternatives I came up with that also meant “remembered it wrong.”