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. Dating certainly hasn't got any easier since then and Lauren Henderson believes that today's singletons 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. This is the only dating guide based on stories that really have stood the test of time. It's a fun, insightful book, full of concrete advice and wise strategies that illustrate how honesty, self-awareness and forthrightness do win 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: #152031 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Synopsis
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.

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

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.

non-descript
it was ok...in discussing the dating scene. not the kind of book you can dream with though

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.