Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict | Laurie Viera Rigler | Talks at Google

This is Lori Niara Wigler, and she's.

Going to be speaking about her new.

Book, which is Confessions of the Jim Alison Product. So thank you for coming today.

Thank you, Elise. Thank you, Samira. Thank you, Erin. Thanks for having me. I'm delighted to be here. And what I'd like to do is to read some little snippets of scenes from my book, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. Sort of, I think of it sort of like a movie trailer, just give you a little idea of the story and the tone. And Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict is of course, an homage to my favorite author. I think you can probably guess who that is. And it's also a comedy, a love story, and an exploration of identity and destiny. But most important, it's the story of Courtney Stone, who's a modern LA woman and Jane Austen fan, who one night, after consuming a large clamor and garlic pizza and several icy shots of absolute vodka, curls up in bed with her drug of choice, Pride and Prejudice. For Courtney, Jane Austen is comfort, and she's in need of comfort because she's been having a hard time. She recently broke up with her fiance. So she curls up in bed with Pride and Prejudice and she goes to sleep. And she wakes up the next morning and her journey begins. And that's where my book opens. Chapter One why is it so dark in here? And that smell. Like dried lavender mixed with ammonia. A door thrown open, curtains thrust aside noisily. I squint in the harsh light. A stout woman with black hair in a messy upsweep unlatches a window while a scowling older man hisses orders. The woman ducks her head and shrinks into her shoulders as if to hide from the man's voice. Who are these people? And what's with those outfits? The woman's dress is long and drab, with a large white apron down to the floor. The man's suit and vest look like cast offs from the Merchant Ivory costume department. Even his glasses are vintage, but that's the least of it. This is clearly not my room. My nose wrinkles at the ripe smell of unwashed body, and I realize that the man and the woman are standing at the foot of my bed, staring at me. Am I the source of that smell? Is that why they're looking at me? Apparently I'm having a dream, and a highly olfactory one at that. Strange, though I can't recall ever having been aware of dreaming during the dream itself. Lucid dreaming, that's what Frank called it. Claimed he used to have them all the time when he was seeing some Jungian therapist. Why are they looking at me like that? Ms. Mansfield, are you awake? It's the man who's speaking to me. Moving toward the bed. As he does, I can now connect the stench with its source. His face has the bulging eyed look of a trout surprised to find itself attached to a hook. I stifle a giggle. Ms. Mansfield, he says again. Can you hear me, Ms. Mansfield? That's a good one. Especially the British accent. That's what I get for being such a Jane Austen addict. No wonder some bipedal trout in a dream is calling me something that can be right out of an Austen novel. Though last night I fell asleep reading Pride and Prejudice, not Mansfield Park. Despite what Courtney thinks, she's actually not in a dream. She's actually been. She's landed somehow in Jane Austen's England. Not only is she in Jane Austen's England, she's in the body and life of someone else. A woman with the anachronistic name of Jane Mansfield. Of course, nobody gets the joke. I mean, it is 1813. But that is the least of Courtney's problems. Because not only is she stuck in Jane's body and Jane's life, she's forced to actually pretend she is Jane, lest she be committed to an insane asylum by Jane's mother, Mrs. Mansfield, who's sort of a cross between, I'd say Mrs. Bennett from Pride and Prejudice and Cruella de Vil. So here's Courtney, 21st century woman, stuck in Jane's life and saddled with all of Jane's emotional baggage, personal history and dysfunctional relationships. And playing a starring role in that emotional baggage is a man named Mr. Edgeworth, who Courtney, as Jane, meets at a dinner party one night. And then the next day Mr. Edgeworth comes over and proposes. Okay, here's Courtney. Jane's reaction. What do you say to a man you are supposed to know but don't but he proposes to you anyway, and he lives in a different time period. I peruse my mental catalog of Jane Austen dialogue for possibilities. Emma's I have no thoughts of matrimony at present. Might lead Edgeworth to attribute it, like Mr. Collins, to my wishing to increase his love by suspense according to the usual practice of elegant females. And Emma's. Believe me, sir, I am far, very far from gratified at being the object of such professions is far too harsh. As is Lizzie Bennet's. You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it. Even if I wanted to say yes, I couldn't expect Jane Austen to do all the work. After all, what did Emma say to Mr. Knightley? Just what she ought, of course. Edgeworth squeezing my hand snaps me out of search mode. Allow me to interpret this interesting silence as a favorable reply. Oh my God, he is practically quoting Mr. Elton verbatim. And Emma hasn't even been written yet. He raises my hands to his lips, but I extricate them before he concealed the deal. I don't mean to be rude, but are you out of your mind? And with that, I am rushing down the gravel path as fast as I can without drawing attention from any of the nosy servants who might be working outside. What freaks me out more than Edgeworth's anachronistic quoting of Austin is the fact that I've just been passionately proposed to. When has any man ever spoken to me like that? Not Frank, whose drunken mumblings of okay, you win, let's get married could hardly count as a proposal, let alone a declaration of love. But I was so starved for a commitment that all I could feel was gratitude the next morning that he didn't plead temporary alcohol poisoning. Despite Courtney's refusal of Edgeworth, she's actually quite attracted to him. She also doesn't trust him at all, and the last thing she needs is a reason not to want to get back to her real life, which she's trying to figure out how she can do as well as how she got in Jane Austen's England in the first place. So when her new friend Mary offers to take her to Bath, Courtney jumps at the opportunity. After all, she's read Persuasion and Northanger Abbey enough times to be very curious about the city of Bath. There were, however, some things that Jane Austen didn't mention about Bath in her novels, and here's one of them. As we enter the sweet, sweltering pool in preposterous yellowish bathing attire that covers us from neck to ankle, my nostrils are assaulted by a potpourri of body odors rising from the boiling flesh around me. Spiced orange pomanders, which sit in floating bowls tied on ribbons around our necks, lose the battle against the stench rising from the steaming water before it even begins. But even the smell of this human soup is not as revolting as the sight of some of our fellow bathers. Just a few feet away from us, a stout woman grimaces as a younger female helps her unravel soiled bandages from her legs and then submerges those legs open sores and all into the water. Her companion isn't in much better physical shape herself. She has allowed phlegmy cough that she makes no attempt to shield from the breathing passages of of anyone within 10 yards. The proximity of this pair is enough to make me scramble out of the water and stand shuddering at the edge of the pool. Mary looks up at me from the steaming water. It is hot, to be sure, but do give it a few minutes. You will see how comfortable it becomes. Not everything about bath is disagreeable, as Courtney discovers when she goes to a ball at the assembly rooms where she reaps the benefits of her borrowed body's cellular and kinesthetic memories. Then the music and the conversation and the couples and the room move from the periphery of my consciousness into sharp focus and I laugh aloud at the realization that I'm dancing as well as anyone around me. I, the most uncoordinated and rhythmically challenged woman in the world, can dance. And not just a freestyle move your body to the music, fake it sort of dance, but a highly choreographed, stylized sort of dance. What is even more surprising than the fact that I know how to execute this elegant set of turns and moves is what I feel while performing them with Edgeworth. Every time he faces me, every time he turns me by the hand or crosses shoulders with me or performs any of the figures of the dance with me, it is with an unbroken gaze into my eyes. At first I feel almost too exposed and I find myself breaking his gaze only to be drawn into it again. And then I realize this is the way it is supposed to be done for the gentleman standing diagonally across from me smiles and makes eye contact with me whenever the dance requires him to turn me or change places with me. But of course it is not the penetrating I know everything about you way that Edgeworth looks at me. I can feel him watching me as the other man turns me. I am conscious of displaying the movement of my body as Edgeworth watches and I observe him with equal intensity as he turns the lady diagonally across from him. She too smiles into his eyes. I am as heated by Edgeworth's gaze as I am by the exertions of the dance itself. There's just one more scene, a bit of a scene I'd like to read to you. And it's when Courtney goes to see the fortune teller that Jane saw before Courtney took over Jane's life. And of course Courtney is searching for the answers to the questions how did I get here? And how will I find my way home? A whiff of something in the air distracts me. Delicious. Sweet. Could it be freesia? I move without thinking toward the fragrance, which appears to be coming from the tent. As I move closer, the flaps part gently and I find myself walking inside. Softly lit by candles, the inside of the tent glows invitingly. Though it's made of thin fabric, the sounds and bustle of the fair outside are obliterated. The welcoming citrus sweetness of freesia makes me want to linger there forever. A thought lazily flits through my mind that I'm being enchanted somehow by itself. Proprietress. But I don't care. That's when I notice her, though she could hardly have escaped my notice when I entered. She's old, with a kind grandmotherly bearing. She smiles at me with perfect teeth, unusual for an old person here. Her dress is black and simply cut. Her shawl is richly embroidered silk, but not overdone. There's no jewelry, bangles, big earrings. Nothing fortune teller like about her appearance. You were expecting someone different? She asks, and before I can protest, she's suddenly middle aged, black haired, gaudily dressed, and jeweled from head to toe. I gasp and she switches back to her grandmotherly self. Either way suits me. You choose. Her voice is silky smooth. How did you do that? For the people who come to me, I am whoever they need me to be. Smells lovely in here, doesn't it? I love friesia, but I don't see any flowers in here. She looks at me impishly and shrugs her shoulders as if to say, and your point would be? I laugh. She sits up straighter and indicates the chair opposite her for me to sit. Now what can I do for you today? I just want you to know that I don't want to put any spells or whatever on anyone else. Like that man who was in here before. Oh, him. She rolls her eyes. I gave the poor creature exactly what he wanted. A powder that will do no harm to the man he wishes to harm so he can keep blaming someone else, someone other than himself, for how miserable he is. Those who want the truth get truth. Those who want lies get lies. No matter what I say, that's about all I'm willing to reveal of the book. And for those of you who haven't read it, you'll have to read the rest yourself to find out what happens in the and there's also a lot of information, a lot more information about the book on my website, janeaustinadict.com and Courtney has her own MySpace page, which you can get to from janeaustinadict dot com and she could really use some friends. So you know, she's having a hard time. So please visit her and I would be very happy to take any questions. If anyone has a question about the book about writing about my Jane Austen action figure. Yes.

What are some books you've read recently that you enjoy?

Oh goodness, so many. Probably the book that stands out most in my mind that I read in the past year was Sadie Smith's book on beauty. I read it twice in a six month period and I just really, really loved that book. I also read Arthur Phillips book Angelica and thought that was amazing. Just read Ellen Baker's book Keeping the House. Wonderful book. So many. I just can't even think of them at this moment. Anyone else? Yes.

How long did it take you to write this book?

Oh goodness. It took me about six years to write this book. I did a lot of research and I had a lot of stops and starts, a lot of procrastination. What do you like to do in.

Your free time when you're not editing.

Or working on a book or if.

You have any free time?

I love to read. It's probably my favorite activity. I love to see movies. I love to do yoga, but I don't do it often enough.

So they were going to make a movie of this book. What actress would play.

It? Helps me. I'm really trying to keep an open mind about that one because.

I mean.

Of course I have my secret wish list but I try not to get attached to those things. And I do hope that a movie will be made eventually about this of this book. Somebody is shopping it around. But who do you think would? I don't know.

I haven't read it yet. But I will probably leave Courtney a message under my face. Great.

I mean in the book Courtney, the 21st century woman looks very different than the 19th century woman. But I think in a movie it would probably have to be the same actress who's maybe with a different hair color and different makeup. And I think it wouldn't. I would have a hard time imagining that. But in the book it is two different, completely different looking people.

I don't want to ruin the book or anything so please stop me. And I know I'm probably just not getting a grand idea from the book that is too high level for me. But should we look at Courtney as the same person as Jane or there are different people of one consciousness or I guess maybe the whole linear time thing is driving me into that of kind of thinking. But I guess how did you view it or how did you want us to view it?

I really want the reader to have her or his own experience of that. I have. I mean, you're probably talking about the ending. Okay. I found out that it's really interesting. A lot of people have talked to me about the ending of the book, and a lot of people have written to me about the ending of the book. And I found that there seems to be almost as many interpretations. Interpretations of the ending of this book as there are readers. And I find that fascinating. I mean, I know what it means to me, and I would say, you know, however you want this book to end is how it ended.

So what does it mean to you? Or do you know, on our own? I always wondered, you know, what is the author thinking at this point? And I never actually been able to.

Ask somebody that one. I would be giving away the ending, and I think I would be interfering with the experience of. Because certain people have come up to me, very many people have come up to me very confidently and said, I love the way in the ending, you did this, this, this and this. And somebody else will come up to me just as confidently and say, I love the way you did the ending. This, this, this and this. And somebody will say, I don't really get the ending. Can you explain it to me? So I really wanted it to be something that was open to interpretation, depending on whatever belief systems the reader has, if that makes sense. Okay, yes.

Did you travel to Bath to kind of do that research to write about.

It in the book? I did, yeah. It was an amazing city. It's really like taking a trip back in time. Have you been there?

I haven't, no.

It's a wonderful city because it's the best of both worlds, really. And it sort of epitomizes what I wanted in this book because it's very 19th century, 18th century, it's a Georgian city, but it's also very vibrant. It's very alive. It feels very young. The energy feels very young because it's. There's a university there. So. Because there were a couple of other places I went to, I went to a couple of villages that felt like they were sort of stuck in time, that were pretty and picturesque. But, no, I wouldn't want to live there. Whereas Bath. I was there and I thought I could live in this city. This is really amazing. And the spa has reopened. I haven't been there since the spa reopened, but I really like to do that. I mean, if you go to Bath to go take the waters. Right. As long as you're not like what? I'm sure it's much more sanitary now.

I think there's been like kind of a renewal of Jane Austen interest in like the past couple of years in terms of like movies and everything. And why do you think Jane Austen's writing is so timeless? Like what, what about it makes it translatable?

Well, I look at Jane Austen's books as sort of a set of self help books, sort of a guide to being a better human being as well as being extremely entertaining stories with satisfying love stories and great social satire. I just think that she's this amazing observer of human nature. And human nature hasn't changed since Jane Austen was writing. And every time I read these books, I just see I relate to a different character. I see myself in the major characters, the minor characters, depending on how honest I'm being with myself that day, because sometimes the things I see aren't very pleasant. And I just think her books are all about self reflection, all about people discovering things about themselves that they didn't know or thinking one thing is true and making assumptions and realizing it's completely wrong. And those themes are just completely timeless. So I think that's why she stuck around for so long and that's why people, crazy people like me, keep reading her books over and over and over. But it's getting kind of crazy, I think.

Do you have a favorite?

I actually have two favorites, Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. I sort of alternate, but I love all of them. I've even grown to look love Mansfield park, which I didn't really like at first, but as I've grown and changed, I've changed my opinions about Fanny Price. If anyone's read Mansfield park, yes, Sense and Sensibility, it was about 14 years ago, I think, and I just went right through all six major novels and then just kept rereading them and some more than others, Pride and Prejudice the most.

Is there a reason you chose her to become Jayne Mansfield as opposed to Emma or anyone else?

It just sort of hit me the name, because it's an osteoporosis name, but it's also a 21st century or 20th century name and that has references in popular culture. So I thought it would be funny that she would be, you know, she is this walking anachronism, Courtney being this 21st century mind in a 19th century body. And on top of that she has this name that nobody gets the joke. So it wasn't because the book is really about Mansfield park or anything like that. There are allusions to the novels throughout the book, but it's not. It doesn't recreate a plot of any of the novels. Yes.

Who are your other favorite authors?

Oh, goodness. Zadie Smith. I love Nick Hornby and actually I love the two of them because the books of theirs that I really love remind me of Jane Austen. Yeah. I would have to say they're probably my top two contemporary authors. Yes.

Are you working on anything now?

Yes, I'm working on the sequel, slash parallel story to this book, which is. If anyone who's read the book has wondered what was going on in Courtney's life and what Jane was doing and was she taking over Courtney's life while Courtney was taking over Jane's life, the answer is yes, and that's what the second book is about. So it's a lot of fun to work on. She doesn't have the same frame of reference, of course, that Courtney did, with Courtney going back to the 19th century, having read all this Jane Austen. But she has a great sense of humor, so she'll be able to withstand the onslaught of modern technology with the title. I did. It just came to me one day. I struggled with the title for a long time, and the title was originally being Jane, and I changed the title before I knew about the movie becoming Jane. But yeah. And if anyone has an idea for the title for the second book, please take my card and email me because I haven't thought of one yet. I'll send you a copy and give you a nice. Thank you. Yes.

So how did you feel about the latest rendition of Pirate Project? Well, I personally don't think the comic word version can ever be replaced. I'm just curious. You can have a different opinion conversation.

Uh oh, we're going to have a panel discussion. A big fight. I could tell. I really enjoyed the second movie, the 2005 version, and I thought the actors were wonderful. It wasn't as faithful to the book as the 1995 Colin Firth one was, but then again, the 2005 movie didn't have five hours to be faithful to the book. So I enjoyed it, but I am stuck on the 1995. It's a commitment. It's five hours or six hours? I don't know. Six parts at least. I know. Anyone else have a question? Well, thank you so much. I'm delighted to be here and it's been a pleasure.

Thank you so much for coming.

Thank you.