I Always Pictured Myself As Lizzy, But That's Probably Because I Wanted To Make Out With Darcy...

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and often times find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

Hmmm, often times I am my own sea of ridiculousness...

That Jane Austen. She sure did create some lovely, wonderful characters who are still completely memorable almost 200 years later.

Speaking of Jane Austen, I just finished a lovely novel titled The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James.

I know. I know. It wasn't on my Spring Reading 2008 list at all, but I couldn't help it. I was skeptical of reading it at first because I did not want to see a favored authpress mired in muck or to see her innocence disturbed like with in The Jane Austen Book Club (yuck!), but the back caught my eye most readily.

What if, hidden in an old attic chest, Jane Austen's memoirs were discovered after hundreds of years? What if those pages revealed the untold story of a life-changing love affair? That's the premise behind this spell-binding novel, which delves into the secrets of Jane Austen's life, giving us untold insights into her mind and heart.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that there are only a handful of things in this world that are truly irresistible: Colin Firth in a cravat; a love story gone awry but with the promising outcome of a happily ever after; and a deliciously witty comedic scene a la Jane Austen." This delightful book might be added to the list as well.

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen is written from Jane Austen's perspective in the form of one of her undiscovered journals. It brings Austen to life through the use of past letters, known details and possible experiences that may have inspired her books. James does an incredible job of making the book sound as if it were straight from the mind of Austen, while in no way making herself out to be Jane Austen the writer.

James captures all that is best and true about Jane Austen. She satisfies on every score...except that perhaps of a happily ever after, for everyone knows that Austen never married. Even the hardest of readers will be caught and enchanted and praying for an ending that will not come.

For those with an unquenchable thirst for more Austen, this is the book to satisfy that thirst, at least for a while. For those readers who do not mind a bittersweet ending, this one is sure to enthrall. For those wishing for knowledge of how to be a writer like Austen, well, that can found, too.