The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell Review

Two feuding co-stars in a Jane Austen film adaptation accidentally travel back in time to the Regency Era in this delightfully clever and riotously funny debut.
 

Tess Bright just scored her dream role starring in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. It's not just the role of a lifetime, but it’s also her last chance to prove herself as a serious actress (no easy feat after being fired from her last TV gig) and more importantly, it’s her opportunity to honor her mom, who was the biggest fan of Jane Austen ever. But one thing is standing in Tess’s way—well, one very tall, annoyingly handsome person, actually: Hugh Balfour.A serious British method actor, Hugh wants nothing to do with Tess (whose Teen Choice Awards somehow don’t quite compare to his BAFTA nominations). Hugh is a type-A, no-nonsense, Royal Academy prodigy, whereas Tess is big-hearted, a little reckless, and admittedly, kind of a mess. But the film needs chemistry—and Tess’s career depends on it.
 

Sparks fly, but not in the way Tess hoped, when an electrical accident sends the two feuding co-stars back in time to Jane Austen’s era. 200 years in the past with only each other to rely on, Tess and Hugh need to ad-lib their way through the Regency period in order to make it back home, and hopefully not screw up history along the way. But if a certain someone looks particularly dashing in those 19th century breeches…well, Tess won’t be complaining.
 

A wickedly funny, delightfully charming story, The Austen Affair is a tribute to Jane Austen, second chances, and love across the space-time continuum.

While historical Regency romance isn’t usually my thing, Jane Austen inspired time-traveling isekai fanfiction is a hyper-specific concept that I love. The BBC’s miniseries Lost in Austen is one of my favorite hidden gem series and when I saw the premise for The Austen Affair, I had high hopes that this book would be able to work similar magic. Fortunately, Madeline Bell’s debut novel did just that all while doing its own thing despite loose similarities and ideas. Over-the-top and laugh out loud funny, this book is an unapologetic love letter to Regency romance readers and Jane Austen fans. While the romance and character writing isn’t quite as strong as its comedic punches, this is a really fun, light-hearted guilty pleasure kind of read meant to entertain.

I will openly admit that I’m not fond of Regency, or really any similar period romance novels despite understanding their popularity and appeal. However, having read Pride and Prejudice as a rare classic literature required read in high school that I didn’t hate, I have a soft spot for Jane Austen-related content. And one of my favorite Austen-related spinoff projects was BBC’s mini-series Lost in Austen that at the time, felt like an unhinged idea thought up on a drunken night out. A mix of period historical fiction drama, fish out of water comedy, and fan-written mucking around well before fanfiction stories were getting publicized, an unexpectedly genius show. While deviating substantially from Lost in Austen despite having some loose similar concepts, The Austen Affair scratches that same itch while cleverly avoiding being restrained by its literary inspirations.

One aspect that I enjoyed about The Austen Affair is Bell’s choice to place her story within the time period and realm of Jane Austen’s work without being a direct retelling. Although the main characters Tess and Hugh are actors filming a movie adaptation Northanger Abbey, an inspired choice given it’s one of Austen’s least adapted works, the plot of the book doesn’t follow any pre-existing Austen story. Instead, this book drops its characters in a world and time adjacent to when the books are published, simultaneously providing fun references for Austen fans while also being quite meta. The book references Colin Firth’s iconic portrayal of Mr. Darcy, the recent disastrous Netflix adaptation of Emma, and compares book to movie lines and scenes in a way that is not only funny, but also with an uncanny sense of self-awareness. While somewhat breaking the fourth wall, the book also cleverly tells its own original story that feels both Austen coded while also displaying its fanfiction-style approach proudly through a story filled with beloved Regency romance tropes. It’s unhinged, a little cringe, but actually works quite well!

Speaking of unhinged, easily the book’s greatest asset is its comedic chops thanks to Bell’s hilarious over the top writing. While in general quite modern, the humor and jokes feel very millennial flavored not only due to the numerous pop culture references featured, but also through its tone. I read another review for this book that criticized it for having a Tumblr fanfiction kind of feel which isn’t far off the mark, though I consider it a perk and a stylistic choice. Whether it be due to my love for Austen fanfiction type of works or being a millennial-aged reader, this book’s comedy kept serving hit after hit. While most of the fun tends to be slapstick or the expected time period fish out of water material, the book also has some great American British cultural clash hilarity, though it’s worth noting that it’s written from an American standpoint.

While constantly light-hearted and fun in nature, The Austen Affair has some decent character drama that I wasn’t expecting given its silly start. Besides covering elements of the acting industry, the book also touches on familial loss, both sudden as well as the slowly declining variety. Recurring themes of family obligation, loss, expectation add some important weight to the story proving that Bell can write more than just goofy laughs. While it’s handled quite gleefully and mostly for shenanigans, there’s also elements of female empowerment through subtle rejection of societal norms. Given this is the male-dominated Regency era, there’s only so much Bell can believably do but there are still moments for the women to put garbage men in their place in a way that would make Elizabeth Bennet proud.

Another reason the book works is thanks to its main character Tess. Brash, emotional, silly but lovable, she’s an appealing main character not to mention hilarious. Meanwhile, Hugh fits the cold, calculated, and official character tropes acting as the foil to Tess’s unhinged nature. The Austen Affair is marketed as an enemies-to-lovers romance book and the chemistry between Tess and Hugh is great. Besides the obvious outspoken vs stiff difference, the pairing also plays up the American vs British cultural differences, differences in acting careers and methodology (Hugh being a method actor vs Tess’s untrained approach not only makes sense but also serves as a clever plot mechanism), not to mention the wing it vs planning everything out discrepancy.

While The Austen Affair has a very entertaining start full of great laughs, unfortunately the story started to drag a bit near the middle for me. While the Balfour family legacy and drama was interesting and fitting for the Regency theme, I found the content not quite as entertaining as the first hundred pages (George is cute but I don’t personally enjoy stories revolving around children). Additionally, while Tess and Hugh had great comedic banter, I found their romantic development and chemistry to be serviceably fine, less distinctive and fairly standard for the genre. Fortunately, the story started to pick up again as the book shifted into its heavier (at least for this book’s standards) content involving family values as well as having an effectively written third act breakup fitting for the story. By no means is the romance or character drama poor (while somewhat limited, the inevitable spice is good!), but it’s not quite as strong as its comedy material.

Trope-heavy, silly, steamy, yet full of intent and appreciation for Austen, The Austen Affair is a solid romcom book specially catering towards modern lovers of Regency romance and pop culture. Although the humor likely will go farther for millennial readers vs others, Bell’s comedic timing and swings are more than enough to carry the book on feel-good laughs alone. If scored as a comedy read, this book could’ve been a 5-star read. Unfortunately, while its romance and character drama are good, they were far more typical for the genre and less impressive when the humor wanes in favor of pining and angst. However, in the grand scheme of things, that hardly matters considering this book delivers on the entertainment front. A competent debut novel that understands what its target readership wants, this is an excellent light-hearted read for those looking for romcom hilarity with a healthy dose of historical fiction flavor.

Note: Fun fact, I originally found this book as it was a suspected Aaardvark Book Club pick for September based on some of the early hint teasers. Ultimately, it was revealed that the teased book was Witch You Would by Lia Amador but I ended up reading this book anyway for kicks.