Your name: Elizabeth Bennet. Your mission: to increase your chances of marrying well and improve your small family fortune. Equipped with the devices that make every Jane Austen heroine strong and loveable (sharp wit, natural good sense, beauty, and elegance), you embark on a mission filled with decisions and trivia, all leading to your ultimate romantic and financial fate. Throughout your journey, you gain and lose points, build up connections, and create a list of fine accomplishments…as well as a much larger list of failings.
And so begins Lost in Austen, a fabulous “choose your own adventure” style book through the novels of Jane Austen. Filled with hilarious scenarios, comical illustrations, and true Austen wit and charm, this wonderful read lets you decide whether Elizabeth (you) ends up with Mr. Darcy or Mr. Wickam…or maybe another male figure in one of Austen’s other novels. You decide what paths to walk, who to approach at parties, and what do to about sick sisters. All of your decisions result in you either losing or gaining points, connections, accomplishments, or failings. For the true fans of Austen’s wonderful books, this read is an absolute joy.
For those who are interested, here’s how my adventure turned out!
I started with 200 Intelligence Points which quickly diminished to 30. Let’s just say I decided not to let Mr. Darcy get away with anything…and I paid for it! Luckily my pride gained me more confidence points. I started with 200 and ended with 230, so that’s not bad! As for my fortune, I started with 50 and ended with 60, so not much of an improvement…I guess that’s why I have such strong confidence 😉
Throughout my travels, I gained two superior connections—Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Wickam—and didn’t manage to get any inferior connections, so that’s good.
My list of accomplishments included Fluent in French, ability to do screen covering, dancing the Boulanger, and being highly observant. My much longer list of failings included being resentful, a love of walking in bad weather, no style, taste, or beauty, incredibly noisy, blind partiality, willfully prejudice (no surprise according to my point score!), and poorly timed liveliness. Ugh…sigh.
Looking for a new book to read? Check in every Friday for a “Bee Happy” post, where I share reviews of books I’ve read or other book-themed lists.
The Hob-bee Hive 