Product Description

Jane Austen's witty, perceptive and romantic novels have delighted readers for two hundred years. With clear sight, common sense and good judgment, she observed the hits and near-misses of her heroes and heroines in love. Things certainly haven't got any easier since then and Lauren Henderson believes that we might just have lost touch with the fundamental rules. "Jane Austen's Guide to Dating" rights that wrong and brings Austen's Regency wisdom into the twenty-first century. It's a fun, insightful book, full of concrete advice and wise strategies that illustrate how honesty, self-awareness and forthrightness do win you the right man in the end and weed out the losers, playboys and toxic flirts. Henderson deftly summarizes all the love stories in the books and introduces all the characters, so that newcomers and devotees alike can delight in this fun, fresh and audacious how-to guide.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #151104 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Review
'If you need a dating manual, this is it' -- Sunday Age 20051016 'This book offers invaluable advise on how to land your own dashing Mr Darcy' -- You magazine 20051127 'has been a huge bestseller, clearly rekindling a nation's fantasies of capturing the heart, and nipples, of Colin Firth' -- Independent 20051204 'A very clever, very well executed idea. Ideal for your single gal pals' -- NW Magazine 20051201 'Packed with wit, advice and personality quizzes, this is both an original guide to the modern dating scene and an entertaining companion to the great novels themselves' -- Sainsbury's Magazine 20051001 '[Jane Austen's Guide to Romance] picks the juiciest bits from the Austen archives and presents them as a how to and a how not to, cut-out-and-keep guide to finding your soulmate' -- Daily Mirror 20051001 'A bitch-slap to Fein and Schneider's The Rules, albeit one delivered with a Janeite gloved hand' -- The Times 20051001 'I strongly advise singletons of whatever gender to read it' -- Independent on Sunday 20051001 'Who needs The Rules when you can find your own Mr Darcy using these wise and witty tips from Jane Austen novels' -- Grazia 20051001 '...another bestseller for thirty-somethings' -- Observer

About the Author
Lauren Henderson was raised in London and studied English Literature at Cambridge University, where she wrote her dissertation on courtship rituals in Jane Austen. She is the author of numerous novels. She currently lives in New York.

Customer Reviews

Delightful!
What a wonderful book this is. Rip up The Rules and dig in to a dating book that will actually leave you feeling optimistic about love in the twenty-first century. Lauren Henderson skilfully weaves her no-nonsense advice with vignettes from Jane Austen and modern-day parallels. Whether you feel you need the advice or not, this book is a must for Jane Austen fans. Henderson's book is based in part on her academic study of courtship rituals in Jane Austen and she has some very interesting insights. Not only did Henderson's light and amusing book leave me feeling very positive about how to handle my own relationship issues, she has sent me rushing to pick up Pride and Prejudice again. I'll be reading it from an entirely different perspective this time!

Jane Austen never married...!
Good fun and you'd have to be a real sour puss not to enjoy the author's style.

Did disagree now and then with the author's comments though: she praises the heroine of Northanger Abbey for 'not obsessing' about her heartthrob and getting on with her life by reading 'The Mysteries of Udolpho'. But the Udolpho book was considered a wild romantic read, and Jane Austen was satirising the heroine's addiction to this kind of fiction, rather than approving of it.

And don't let's forget: Jane Austen fell in love, would dearly loved to have married, but never did, and one wonders if she can really be considered an expert on men and relationships.

I love it!
I love this book. As a fan of Jane Austen, it is a fabulous read and opens up Austen's original work in a new way. I always knew that Austen was relevant to today's way of life and this book proves it. I found it really interesting to read about the different relationships in Austen's books and how they weave together to prove a point. Lauren Henderson has looked at the more minor characters of Austen's books as well as the major ones, which makes it all the more fascinating, and then used modern day examples to hammer her point home.

I read this more for the Jane Austen connection than the actual dating advice (I'm married!), but I was ashamed to recognise myself in some of the behaviour patterns. If only I'd had this book in my twenties!

The book also contains a quiz to tell you which Austen character you are most like and which is most like your partner, to see if you are compatible. I was very excited to discover that I'm Elizabeth Bennett (if only!) and a little dissappointed to discover my husband didn't quite make Mr Darcy. However, he did come out as a Captain Wentworth which as all Jane Austen fans know, is a pretty close second and not to be scoffed at!

Finally, if you've never read any Austen, the book finishes witht a brief plot outline of all her six major works to wet your appetite. Read it, you'll love it and then read or re-read Austen's novels and see for yourself how true this book is.