| Created 2007..09.15 Updated 2007.10.06 |
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The Rules of Gentility...Chick Lit Meets
Jane Austen Janet Mullany's humorous novel explores the differences between men and hats. |
What do you get when you cross Jane Austen with Bridget Jones? The Rules of Gentility seeks the answer this important question. Combining elements of Austen-era Regency romance and chick lit (modern female literature), it creates a book to poke fun at both genres.
Tradesman's daughter Miss Philomena Wellesley-Clegg is big on hats…and men. When a man becomes more important then a hat, she knows she's in trouble. As in chick lit, the girl is so independent that she doesn't need a man…and so opinionated that what man would have her? A number of plot devices used are Big Secret, such as the contrived engagement, the heroine's visit to a brothel, her good works gone bad, and more.
When Philo meets Inigo she mistakes him for a servant instead of her married friend's brother-in-law. Inigo is a younger son with no prospects. Philo continues embarrassing herself with Inigo time after time. The actual romance between Philo and Inigo gets lost within the many plot devices used to move the story along. By the end, the story lost momentum. More of the emotional side of both characters needed to be shown.
The Rules of Gentility is written in the present tense giving it an overall chick lit feel. If you love classic Regency romance you may have a hard time getting into the rhythm of the chick lit writing style of this book. However, if you do read Regency novels, you'll catch the subtle and not so subtle references to many Regency books. The opening line of The Rules of Gentility is modeled on a famous line from the beginning of Austen's Pride & Prejudice.
The style of writing by Mullany is dry and witty to the point of acerbic. It'll make you laugh at first, but after a while you may say, enough.
The Rules of Gentility
Trade Paperback
268 pages
Publisher: Avon A (July 31, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0061229831
$ 13.95
Fiction