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    The Austen Escape
    The Austen Escape
    The Austen Escape
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Austen Escape

    Written by Katherine Reay

    Narrated by Emily Sutton-Smith

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    When Mary Davies travels to Jane Austen’s Bath for a historical getaway, she expects a luxurious escape from reality. Instead she finds her friendship at a crossroads, her love life upended, and her heart on a journey she never expected.

    Mary Davies finds safety in her ordered and productive life. Working as an engineer, she genuinely enjoys her job and her colleagues—particularly a certain adorable and intelligent consultant. But something is missing. When Mary’s estranged childhood friend, Isabel Dwyer, offers her a two-week stay in a gorgeous manor house in England, she reluctantly agrees in hopes that the holiday will shake up her quiet life in just the right ways.

    But Mary gets more than she bargained for when Isabel loses her memory and fully believes she lives in Jane Austen’s Bath. While Isabel rests and delights in the leisure of a Regency lady, attended by other costume-clad guests, Mary uncovers startling truths about their shared past, who Isabel was, who she seems to be, and the man who now stands between them.

    Outings are undertaken, misunderstandings arise, and dancing ensues as this company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation, work out their lives and hearts.

    “Admirers of Jane Austen, especially, will delight in the delicious descriptions and elegant prose as the protagonist is transported to the English countryside, taking readers along for the ride. Both cleverly written and nicely layered, Reay’s latest proves to be a charming escape!” —Denise Hunter, bestselling author of Lake Season on The Austen Escape

    “At once sophisticated and smart . . . Clever and classy . . . Whether for the first-time Pride and Prejudice reader or the devotee with an ardent affection for all things Austen . . . The Austen Escape is an equally satisfying retreat into the wilds of Jane’s beloved Regency world. In scenes brilliantly woven with Austen’s classic characterization, Reay goes beyond courtship and manners to explore modern-day scenarios, grappling with themes of brokenness and loss, the weight of decisions and consequences, and the anchor of faith through difficult circumstances. As amiable as an Austen novelist could be—but with a pen just as witty—Katherine Reay proves she’s ready to become Jane to a whole new generation of women.” —Kristy Cambron, bestselling author of The Painted Castle

    “Wildly imaginative and deeply moving, The Austen Escape is Katherine Reay at her very best.” —Billy Coffey, author of Steal Away Home

    “The Austen Escape has the remarkable ability to be both lighthearted and gripping. The dramatic elements are first rate, the characters even finer. Wonderful writing. Highly recommended.” —Davis Bunn, bestselling author

    • Sweet and thoughtful contemporary read
    • Stand-alone novel
    • Book length: 80,000 words
    • Includes a discussion questions and an excerpt from Dear Mr. Knightley
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Nelson
    Release dateNov 7, 2017
    ISBN9780785219576
    The Austen Escape
    Author

    Katherine Reay

    Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author who has enjoyed a lifelong affair with books. She publishes both fiction and nonfiction, holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University, and currently lives outside Chicago, Illinois, with her husband and three children. You can meet her at katherinereay.com; Facebook: @KatherineReayBooks; Twitter: @katherine_reay; Instagram: @katherinereay.

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    Reviews for The Austen Escape

    3.5/5

    95 ratings16 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I have mentioned many a time that my book reading schedule is odd. I accept books for review and they go in my calendar and then I forget about them. I often have books back to back that are similar in topic or location and it amazes me since I could have scheduled them a month apart. The Austen Escape landed in the midst of some darker books so it was perfectly timed. I love when things work out that way.Mary is an engineer in a not so start up company that is experiencing some growing pains. Her pet project is not popular with the new CEO and truth be told neither is she. Mary is fond of the consultant helping the owner of the company who is trying to transition to a new way of working. While all of this is going on at work Mary receives an exciting offer from her best friend from high school – a fully paid vacation at an estate in Bath, England, where the girls can immerse themselves in an Austen experience.Why Austen? Well, her friend is an Austen expert and her deceased mother loved all of the books. Mary used to read them aloud to her as she was dying. So the memories for her are mixed. Her friend, Isabel was warmly welcomed into Mary’s family when her own practically abandoned her to the point that she considered Mary’s parents her own. This did lead to some jealousy between the girls.The vacation offer though, comes at a great time for Mary as she needs to get away and think about what is happening in her life. But the trip does not turn out exactly as either girl thinks it will. Mary learns more about herself and Isabel than she might have wanted to.I plowed through this book in an afternoon. It was – despite some unhappy moments – a quick, light and perfect read for sitting by the fire with a cup of tea. It is a romantic novel so boy and girl have to meet and then have their miscommunication or their wouldn’t be the push and pull that makes these types of books so much fun. And no, I’m not going to go in to who, what, why, when or where but just know the story is fun, the characters are sweet, the ending is resolved and you don’t have to overthink any of it.
    • 2/5
      I didn't enjoy The Austen Escape much at all.The book is the story of Mary and Isabel, friends since grade two, who go to an expensive Austen week outside of Bath where they are immersed in period costume, food, and entertainments, and where Isabel enters a disassociative state, which happens sometimes. In that state, Isabel believes that she is actually an Austen character. The book has interesting historical details, a couple of romances, a happy ending, and some well-developed characters.But.The story was chaotic. There were too many characters, and having them doubled into characters/Austen characters that they're playing made that even more difficult to follow. Towards the end of the book, I realized that part of my irritation came from the fact that it read like a soap opera, where most of the action would be extraneous if people only told each other the truth. As in soap operas, this book is full of lies and misunderstandings, far too many coincidences, and a budget amongst characters that allows for first-class air travel and limousines and expensive retreats. I don't enjoy books with unlimited budgets; it's not realistic, and I like my stories to be somewhat realistic even they're fantasy.There were redeeming qualities. The main character, Mary, is an engineer in love with all things electrical, and the research for her passion was obviously well done. The author's knowledge of the ins and outs of Regency life and Jane Austen novels was excellent. Research aside, I didn't like the book or the artifice in it; the book felt distinctly non-Austenesque.
    • 3/5
      Isabel Dwyer offers her long standing friend Mary Davies, engineer, a two week stay in manor house in Bath - a Jane Austen theme stay.
      Although well-written, I did find it difficult to like any of the main characters and I was not at all interested in the modern day ins and out of Mary Davies' job. More of a 2.5 rating for me.
    • 3/5
      Mary and Isabel are friends, sort of. Isabel comes from a rich famous family but lacks affection. Mary’s family is less well-off, but loving. From an early age, the two girls are friends, but as time goes on, their relationship is somewhat prickly. Yet, when asked, Mary goes with Isabel to England for an Austen-themed vacation. This book starts off slowly, and at times, it’s hard to tell who the focus should be on, Mary or Isabel. Mary has problems at work and with her love life. Poor Isabel has problems with life and reality. The book had interesting moments, and then, many pages that really weren’t.
    • 3/5
      This Austen related book was good.
      The story of Mary and Isabel is slowly unfolding. (Too slow for me, hence only 3 stars.) Still, the story of their friendship, of the escapism, the side characters kept me reading till the end. A tip of the hat to the author for that, I would have given up earlier if it wasn't for her skill.

      This review is based on a NetGalley ARC provided by the publishers.
    • 5/5
      My request for this book was followed by immediate regret, but it was predictable: another story about a woman taking an Austen-themed vacation, with the lagniappe of amnesia in her friend? It's like catnip. I was a bit sorry to be approved for it, but felt like something light and quick at the beginning of the year, so I cracked it open (so to speak). And lo and behold, it was kind of wonderful. Actually, a couple of kinds of wonderful. I couldn't be more surprised, I don't think. It turned out to be the story of a woman rediscovering her path, finding a way to hit a reset button and go back to things that make her happy. And of course it's also a love story, and a good one. It's the story of Mary Davies's love for her father (and vice versa), and of a love that seems to have died out, and a love that just doesn't seem to click. That's a major part of it – but just about as important to the story and to Mary is the exploration of her love for her vocation, the profession she has carved out for herself with a lot of hard work, which has drifted from where it used to be and needs to be shunted back to that right path. A love of numbers. And, naturally, it's all about a love of Austen. Jane is vital to the book – but the book isn't about her. She is like sunlight and water to a neglected garden, causing things to happen. The Austen Escape has a number of points in common with a book I read a few years ago, Austenland. Both feature a semi-immersive Jane Austen experience, in which guests dress the part from head to toe, put away their cell phones, and participate in Regency-style activities. But the ethics and advisability of Austenland struck me as deeply questionable, and it all left me with a bad taste in my mouth. This book was entirely different. I loved just about every character's arc, and found the whole thing very satisfying. Life advice from The Austen Escape:"He said that how people treat you is only 10 percent about you and 90 percent about them, so you need to be careful how you react and how you judge. You never know someone’s story." "My grandfather used to say that everything in the world could be solved at the cadence of a cast. Think about things, don’t rush them, get a feel for them, live organically. Live life like you cast." He bent his arm again, and with fluid slow motion he shot the line straight across the pond into the slow-moving water near the far bank. "Music is math, and once you understand that . . . How can anyone not be in awe? It’s the audible expression behind the laws of the universe. It feels like the only thing, apart from God, that lives outside time. Once released, it lives on and it can make you laugh and cry, rip you apart and heal you, all within a few discrete notes strung together. And while it follows rules, expression is limitless."And this made me laugh out loud: "How did they do all this?" "When you went up for your bath, I watched from a window." I yanked at his hand. "Not you. This. I watched this."The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
    • 5/5
      Why have I not read any books by this author before?! Note to self: Read more of Katherine Reay’s work because it is amazing! “The Austen Escape” is the first book by Katherine Reay I’ve read and now I’m hooked! “The Austen Escape” is especially meaningful to me as Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors and there are so many references to Austen and her work throughout the story. For those not familiar with Austen–not to worry; there’s a great character reference section in the front of the book. Ms. Reay has a certain style of writing that is witty and easy to read. Ms. Reay is a genius in the way she connects present day characters to Austen’s characters. I especially love Mary (our main character) and her complex personality. I love that she is an engineer, yet also a hopeless romantic and an Audrey Hepburn lover (I can relate to the last two characteristics). The relationships are also so well written and complex. Ms. Reay explores the themes of friendship, family and finding oneself. What a neat concept of going away and living like one is in a Jane Austen novel (sign me up!). I think this quote sums up the experience of the Austen Escape well: “In playing other characters, they find themselves.” This book is addicting! I took it everywhere with me and got upset when I had to stop reading and do “real life.” I highly recommend “The Austen Escape!”Content: This is a clean read. A few minor examples of content are: characters drink alcohol and a character struggles with a type of memory loss/disassociation disorder. Rating: I give this book 5 stars!Genre: Contemporary; Christian Fiction; RomanceI want to thank the Fiction Guild, Katherine Reay and Thomas Nelson for the complimentary copy of this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I express in this review are my own. This is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR 16, Part 255.
    • 4/5
      I work in a high tech company and was delighted to read the description on the high tech world. It was quit realistic. I also really appreciated the idea of a woman in STEM as heroin, first time in a women fiction book.
      Add to this that I really like Jane Austen and I can say this was a really good book for me.
      The relationship between Mary, the main character, and Isabel, her best friend, was a bit toxic and maybe it would need some more clarification but on a general level this book is really good.
      Many thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for giving me the chance to read and review this book
    • 4/5
      The Austen Escape was just what the doctor ordered after I finished the lengthy, if enjoyable, Nicholas Nickleby. This light and relatively brief novel features software engineer Mary Davies at a Jane Austen–themed mansion resort in Bath, England. A difficult new boss has complicated her work life, she's attracted to a consultant there, Nathan, who's moving on, and her complicated and competitive closest friend Isabel has insisted she join her for the Austen vacation.Austenites will enjoy this - vacationers dress up in period clothing, become characters from the books if they choose, and a fair amount of the famous books is conjured up. Isabel, an Austen scholar, has a breakdown and is mentally stuck in the Regency period, ironically at the same time becoming easier to get along with. Nathan shows up to help Mary with the difficult situation, and their attraction is rekindled. I liked Mary's engineering bent, and this was a fun bit of more substantial than usual fluff. I'll be reading more Katherine Reay.
    • 4/5
      It should be a light-hearted romp through Jane Austen's England (or at least what we think it might be like), but this novel takes a turn into more serious themes. Mary and Isabel have a complicated friendship and their vacation brings some much needed clarity and healing into that relationship. Mary also faces up to her own desires and fears in her personal life, which is rewarding to see.
    • 4/5
      I have mentioned many a time that my book reading schedule is odd. I accept books for review and they go in my calendar and then I forget about them. I often have books back to back that are similar in topic or location and it amazes me since I could have scheduled them a month apart. The Austen Escape landed in the midst of some darker books so it was perfectly timed. I love when things work out that way.Mary is an engineer in a not so start up company that is experiencing some growing pains. Her pet project is not popular with the new CEO and truth be told neither is she. Mary is fond of the consultant helping the owner of the company who is trying to transition to a new way of working. While all of this is going on at work Mary receives an exciting offer from her best friend from high school – a fully paid vacation at an estate in Bath, England, where the girls can immerse themselves in an Austen experience.Why Austen? Well, her friend is an Austen expert and her deceased mother loved all of the books. Mary used to read them aloud to her as she was dying. So the memories for her are mixed. Her friend, Isabel was warmly welcomed into Mary’s family when her own practically abandoned her to the point that she considered Mary’s parents her own. This did lead to some jealousy between the girls.The vacation offer though, comes at a great time for Mary as she needs to get away and think about what is happening in her life. But the trip does not turn out exactly as either girl thinks it will. Mary learns more about herself and Isabel than she might have wanted to.I plowed through this book in an afternoon. It was – despite some unhappy moments – a quick, light and perfect read for sitting by the fire with a cup of tea. It is a romantic novel so boy and girl have to meet and then have their miscommunication or their wouldn’t be the push and pull that makes these types of books so much fun. And no, I’m not going to go in to who, what, why, when or where but just know the story is fun, the characters are sweet, the ending is resolved and you don’t have to overthink any of it.
    • 4/5
      The cover of The Austen Escape is artistic, colorful and so very cute!

      Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange of an honest review!

      Mary and Isabelle both are really interesting characters and this book was an amazing experience because of them!

      The storyline was awesome, the characters well developed, and the descriptions? Oh my my.

      I wish I could write an essay on how much I enjoyed this book, but I don't think I have enough words to do that.

      So I guess I'll have to do with saying that this book was an amazing read and that I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I had! :)
    • 3/5
      Mary Davies is single and spends most of her time working as an electrical engineer. She has always put her career first and her love life has suffered. Her latest project has been shelved by her new boss and she finds herself questioning her life choices. While Mary is evaluating her situation, she receives a timely call from her childhood friend. Isabel asks her to join her for two weeks in England where she will be completing her dissertation on Jane Austen. With her life in disarray Mary decides a change of scenery would be agreeable. Mary and Isabel are required to dress in period appropriate attire while maintaining their roles at the Austen retreat. During their stay, Isabel gets unsettling news from her father and suffers a mini breakdown. This all happens while they are in the Jane Austen environment, leaving her stuck in character. Mary has experience with Isabel’s breakdowns from their childhood and is able to provide support. Some secrets are revealed during her care and Mary is forced to reevaluate her future. This book is a story about a long standing friendship with themes from various Jane Austen books running throughout it. There is a nice mix of romance, historical fiction, and life's daily challenges. This is the sixth book written by Katherine Reay.
    • 2/5
      The last several Jane Austen adopted and inspired books I have read were good. Although, this time, it just did not work for me. Despite the lovely location and me experiencing the inspiration, I could not envelope this book as much as I had hoped to. The characters were fine but not of them embraced me and made me want to get to know them better or their story. Yet, it was a good thing that Mary went to visit her friend, Isabel as she needed the break from life to let loose. Ok, what saddened me the most was the mystery aspect. To me there was not enough of a punch to make it exciting for me. There were points when I would have to re-read sections of the story. This book did hold potential but it didn't work for me.
    • 5/5
      Tuesday, November 7, 2017The Austen Escape by Katherine Reay, © 2017Mary Davies, Nathan Hillam, and Isabel Dwyer may find Bath, England, more than a two-week getaway amid other Austen character wannabees. A fancy ball and social interaction may prove to be more than a contemporary replay for them. Join author Katherine Reay as she explores the excitement and period hideaways as these characters become enthralled beyond what they could have imagined. Somehow, it all points to their now and future by exploration of the past.I don't know how fair this is...Isabel's conversation with Mary:"... I owe you. I don't want you to be angry, but I did something. I..." Her eyes darted over my shoulder and she swallowed whatever she was about to say. "Oh. Your friend Moira is headed this way."--Austen Escape, 25and, when will she get back to it ~ or will she expound on it further? I have read all of Katherine Reay's novels, and they get deeper. So be sure and join in! You will enJ*O*Y the adventure.Two best friends journey from Austin, TX to Bath, England. An unexpected twist in their vacation leaves them both imagining something new for their friendship and their lives.~ author Katherine ReayRegency England ~ the town of BathArriving early with minimal sleep due to anticipation and excitement Mary and Isabel drew near. Before them stood Braithwaite House, their home for two weeks.The gallery was empty. I stood and absorbed the complete stillness. Here the silence felt right. I wondered if I'd ever truly heard it before. The realization of how much noise filled my world only became apparent in its absence.--Ibid., 109The dawning of a new day; the absorption of a different world, a different time before us, if we would but breathe it into our beings.(Okay! Another character told what Isabel didn't. We'll see what develops...)Real or imagined, role-play within their new surroundings encapsulated them, easily drawn to an earlier time period they had only envisioned. Would the choice of their character reveal who they are, or as an observation placed upon them by another?Clarity became focused in returning to the Austin left behind. With absorption of the time away, the lens became clearer.I like the unexpected in Katherine Reay's writings. It all accumulates however, not in the way you might think is before them. My favorite character was Gertrude, an older lady who is able to see her own life through the new occupants of Braithwaite House.***Thank you, author Katherine Reay, for inviting me to come along on the book launching of The Austen Escape, and to Thomas Nelson Publishing for sending me an Advanced Reader's Copy. This review was written in my own words. No other compensation was received.***
    • 3/5
      Having read only two of Jane Austen’s novels, I knew enough to appreciate Katherine Reay’s new novel, The Austen Escape. It is not necessary to be a Jane Austen follower to enjoy this book, but there are things mentioned in the book that only an Austen fan would appreciate.The story is about two lifelong friends, Mary and Isabel, who have grown apart and through a series of events, end up going on a vacation together to Bath England to a manor estate where they dress in the fashion of the time and enjoy a simulated world of Austen’s Regency England.The results of this trip are life changing. Mary and Isabel discover a new friendship, career paths and find romance that neither one was expecting. The book moves at a fairly quick pace and was engaging from the start.I enjoyed this light-hearted story of friendship and love done with a Jane Austen flair.Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson-Fiction for allowing me to read an advance copy and give an honest review.