September, 1815 Two travelers, Rachel Katzman and Liam Finucane, arrive in a field in rural England, disheveled and weighed down with hidden money. They are not what they seem, but rather colleagues from a technologically advanced future, posing as wealthy West Indies planters—a doctor and his spinster sister. While Rachel and Liam aren’t the first team to go back, their mission is by far the most audacious: meet, befriend, and steal from Jane Austen herself.
Carefully selected and rigorously trained by The Royal Institute for Special Topics in Physics, disaster-relief doctor Rachel and actor-turned-scholar Liam have little in common besides the extraordinary circumstances they find themselves in. Circumstances that call for Rachel to stifle her independent nature and let Liam take the lead as they infiltrate Austen’s circle via her favorite brother, Henry.
But diagnosing Jane’s fatal illness and obtaining an unpublished novel hinted at in her letters pose enough of a challenge without the continuous convolutions of living a lie. While her friendship with Jane deepens and her relationship with Liam grows complicated, Rachel fights to reconcile the woman she is with the proper lady nineteenth-century society expects her to be. As their portal to the future prepares to close, Rachel and Liam struggle with their directive to leave history intact and exactly as they found it…however heartbreaking that may prove.
Voted one of the Top 10 Library Reads for May 2017 by librarians across the country.
“Highly recommended for fans of Jane Austen, Regency comedies of manners, and lovers of time-travel fiction.” —Library Journal, starred review
“Written in an engaging Austen style, full of witty dialogue, a secret engagement, and a delightful clan of loving siblings.” — Booklist
“I loved THE JANE AUSTEN PROJECT. Brilliantly written and a must-read for any Jane Austen fan!” — Paula Byrne, author of THE REAL JANE AUSTEN and THE GENIUS OF JANE AUSTEN
“THE JANE AUSTEN PROJECT is clever, captivating, and original. I loved it and couldn’t put it down! It’s been a long time since I’ve been so engrossed in a novel, or lost so much sleep reading it. Who wouldn’t want to travel back in time and meet Jane Austen? Flynn’s depiction of Jane Austen is wonderful, exactly as I imagine she must have been. The ending is a shocker and one of the strengths of the novel. It presents a view of time travel—and history—you won’t soon forget. A keeper on my Austen shelf.” — Syrie James, author of THE LOST MEMOIRS OF JANE AUSTEN and THE MISSING MANUSCRIPT OF JANE AUSTEN
“What lover of literature hasn’t dreamed of going back in time to meet Jane Austen? In her debut novel, Kathleen A. Flynn brings this dream to life, creating a vivid portrait of Regency England in all its glory and squalor. Flynn illuminates the stark contrasts between that era and our own, and movingly depicts the heartbreak of those who might try to travel between the two.”
— Lauren Belfer, author of AFTER THE FIRE and A FIERCE RADIANCE
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Buy links:
The Jane Austen Project: A Novel 