I just finished reading "The Man Who Loved Jane Austen" and was delightfully surprised.
From Amazon.com...
"New York artist Eliza Knight stumbles across an antique dressing table that includes the added bonus of secreted letters, apparently between Jane Austen and a real-life Mr. Darcy. Caught up in her romantic notions about Austen's Pride and Prejudice and the possibility that Darcy may have been more than Austen's invention, Eliza enlists the aid of an eccentric researcher as well as a handsome and mysterious Virginia horse breeder, Fitzwilliam Darcy. Three years earlier, on a horse-buying junket to England, Darcy had a life-altering experience that makes him now anxious to buy the one letter written by Austen before it goes to auction at Sotheby's. For Eliza, the letter represents a possible fortune; for Darcy, it represents possibly requited love. O'Rourke alternates between the past and the present in this fascinating novel that pays tribute to Jane Austen's enduring ideals of romantic love."
I wouldn't call "The Man Who Loved Jane Austen" a 'quick' read. I wasn't very interested in it until a little past the halfway mark. But after that, I couldn't put it down. At first I was slightly annoyed with the sad attempt of parallelisms between "The Man Who Loved Jane Austen" and P&P — it was just a little too 'loud'. But as you learn more about Fitz and Eliza (coincidence?) the parallels become far and in between.
While Eliza's story annoyed me a bit — I really enjoyed all things Fitz. What a great guy! His character really made the story what it was. And at first I was a bit cautious about time travel and everything, but Smith O'Rourke pulled it off. The story about Rose Darcy in itself is such a great read.
What a creative story. It really took some thought so that readers wouldn't get confused in the whole time mess. And Smith O'Rourke was successful — it wasn't too simple but it wasn't so complex I had to stop and over think it.
So as long as you are prepared to wait a while for it to "get good," you are in for a treat. The last couple pages are so amazing — I squealed and laughed out loud. That alone makes up for the time spent 'waiting for it to get good'.
Quick Funny Note: It mentions a Rose Ball — all I could think of was the Rose Bowl. Took me most of the book to figure out they weren't putting together a big charity football game.