RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT is the story of Jane Mansfield, a gentleman’s daughter from Regency England who inexplicably awakens in the body and life of twenty-first-century Los Angeleno Courtney Stone. Part comedy, part love story, part time-bending social commentary, this sequel to CONFESSIONS again features Jane who had long wished to escape the confines of a life where she could not live alone or travel alone, and where her only career options were marriage or maiden aunt.

But leaving 1813 England behind and awakening in a high-tech, low-morality world is not what she had in mind. Nor is Courtney’s tiny urban box of an apartment in Echo Park, complete with bars on the windows and graffiti on the gate. Gone are the rolling lawns and hovering servants of Jane’s family estate. Nothing—not even her own face in the mirror—is the same. The only thing that is familiar, and the only thing she seems to have in common with the strange woman in whose life she has mysteriously landed, is a love of Jane Austen.

Not everything about the twenty-first century is disagreeable. Such as the delightful glass box in which tiny figures act out scenes from her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. Or the machines that give light, play music, cool food, and even wash clothes. And Jane may have become a woman of no rank and little fortune, but she has her first taste of privacy, independence, even the chance to earn her own money. Granted, if she wants to leave the immediate neighborhood on her own she may have to learn to drive the roaring, horseless metal carriage. And oh what places she goes! Public assemblies that pulsate with pounding music. Unbound hair and unrestricted clothing. The freedom to say what she wants when she wants—even to men without a proper introduction.

There are, however, complications. Such as the job she has no idea how to do, a dwindling bank account, and a growing pile of bills. Then there are the confusing memories that are not her own. Most confusing are her feelings for Courtney’s friend Wes and ex-fiancé Frank, both of whom, she is told, have betrayed her. Although she finds herself falling for Wes, what is she to make of a world in which flirting and kissing and even the sexual act itself raise no matrimonial expectations?

With only the words of Jane Austen and a mysterious lady to guide her, Jane cannot help but wonder if she would be better off in her own time, where at least the rules are clear—if returning is even an option.