Tea and Infamy Goes to the Movies: Jane Austen Wrecked My Life/Austenland

By Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

Memorial Day weekend usually means blockbuster, popcorn movies with lots of explosions (I’m looking at you, Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning!), but I chose a quieter movie this weekend. Instead, I saw Laura Piani’s film Jane Austen Wrecked My Life. The film is a contemporary romantic comedy about literature and broken hearts. Agathe is a bookseller at Shakespeare & Company on the Left Bank of Paris who dreams of becoming a writer but suffers from writer’s block. She’s also grieving the death of her parents. Their death has made her afraid of life. Books are her refuge and salvation. They also help her hide from her problems. Agathe feels like she was born in the wrong century. Felix, her best friend and co-worker, takes matters into his own hands and submits her work to the Jane Austen residency.

At first, Agathe refuses to even think about attending the residency. Attending means moving out of her comfort zone of work and home. Her sister and Felix push her to attend. Felix impulsively kisses Agathe before she takes the ferry to England, leaving her confused. In England, Agathe is picked up by Oliver, who turns out to be the great-great-great-nephew of Jane Austen. Unlike Agathe, Oliver, a literature professor, prefers Dickens to his famous relative. Like Lizzie and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, the two spar while trying to hide their mutual attraction. Oliver surprises Agathe with the knowledge that he speaks fluent French.

Agathe meets Oliver’s parents, Todd and Beth, at the manor house. Beth compliments Agathe on her writing and looks forward to hearing her read at the end of the residency. The news that she’s expected to read her work publicly sends Agathe into a spiral. Despite her new surroundings, Agathe is still stuck. Instead of writing, she walks through the woods or reads. She calls Felix and leaves a rambling message. When Felix appears in England ready to pursue a relationship, Agathe doesn’t know what to do. She’s starting to have feelings for Oliver. Ultimately, she realizes that she must confront her past before moving forward with her future.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life was a light and charming way to spend the afternoon, mainly because of the performances by the lead actors, Camille Rutherford (Agathe) and Charlie Anson (Oliver). As Agathe, Rutherford is gawky and awkward, uncomfortable in her skin. She’s constantly trying to hide. Anson is initially haughty but melts as he gets to know Agathe better. As the film goes on, he becomes more attractive (at least to me). Like Agathe, he too carries emotional wounds. Agathe compares herself to Anne Elliot in Persuasion, a spinster withering away, until Captain Wentworth returns to her life. At the same time, Felix is Henry Crawford in Mansfield Park, a libertine who finally falls in love, but his passion isn’t returned. Jane Austen's Wrecked My Life is more melancholy than a traditional romantic comedy. Agathe is lost and can’t seem to get out of her way. She wants to be a writer but abandons projects without finishing them (who can’t relate?). But she realizes that the only one who can fix her problems is herself. While I enjoyed the film, I felt some of the characters were underdeveloped—for example, the other writers at the residency. Oliver’s father seems to be suffering, possibly from dementia, but it’s played for laughs. He wanders around the grounds with no pants, which is more than just eccentric. There are a couple of cute scenes where Agathe runs into two llamas on the property. When Oliver derides Jane Austen as overrated, Agathe responds that female characters were only written by men before Austen. Fanny Burney and Ann Radcliffe beg to differ.

Austenland (2013), based on the novel by Shannon Hale, is an altogether different kettle of fish. Keri Russell’s Jane Hayes is so obsessed with Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice that she owns a life-size cutout of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. When she breaks up with her boyfriend, she’s propositioned by a guy in her company who assumes that she’ll be willing to settle for a cretin like him. Her best friend thinks she’s insane when Jane blows her life savings on a trip to England to stay at a Jane Austen-themed resort called Austenland. At Austenland, guests receive pseudonyms and the appropriate period costumes to live as ladies in Regency England. The resort's highlight is that actors who have been hired to play suitors will woo the ladies, though no touching is allowed.

Unfortunately, Jane can only afford the cheapest package, which means that she gets the worst costumes and the smallest room in the manor house. She’s assigned the role of an orphan with no fortune, meaning that while Elizabeth Charming (Jennifer Coolidge) and Lady Amelia Cartwright (Georgia King), who bought the platinum package, are much sought after by suitors, Jane is treated with disdain, particularly by the owner, Mrs. Wattlesbrook (Jane Seymour). Jane meets Mrs. Wattlesbrook’s nephew, Henry Nobley, who has been roped into playing one of the suitors. Jane finds the reluctant Mr. Nobley thoroughly disagreeable (shades of Pride and Prejudice). She’d much rather spend time with Martin, one of the stablehands, who flirts with her. The other two women, Elizabeth and Amelia, are having a fantastic time. Elizabeth even wants to buy the resort.

Although she admires the civility of the era, Jane is not happy that women get to do little more than needlework while the men are off hunting and shooting. When asked to play the piano one evening, she plays the only song she knows, Nelly’s ‘Hot in Herre’, shocking Mrs. Wattlesbrook. Jane also has to fend off the advances of Mr. Wattlesbrook, who spends most of his time, drinking, eating, and farting. Determined to find love by the end of her stay, Jane decides to take charge of her "story". Elizabeth helps her steal some of Amelia's costumes, and Jane charms the group with her newfound confidence.

Jane becomes increasingly disillusioned with all the playacting; she wants something real and lasting, rather than a fake romance. At her departure from Austenland, Jane discovers that Martin, the stablehand, was assigned to woo her, not Mr. Nobley. Angry at being duped, Jane threatens to sue Mrs. Wattlesbrook and shut down Austenland. Back home, Jane decides to get rid of her Jane Austen collection for good. Nobley shows up unannounced and declares his love for Jane. And they lived happily ever after!

I’ve never read Shannon Hale’s novel, but I adore this film. It still feels fresh and timely, especially after the explosion of Bridgerton in the past few years. Fans have been flocking to the Bridgerton Experience or attending a concert featuring Bridgerton music. I haven’t checked yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if companies didn’t start offering tours of the locations in the series. Last year, I stood online for over two hours to get into a mini Bridgerton experience in the meatpacking district.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Shannon Hale weren’t inspired by the BBC’s Regency House Party, a historical reenactment series, filmed in 2004. The series featured a group of unmarried men and women, accompanied by their older female chaperones, assuming the identities of individuals from 1811. The participants received instruction in the courtship rituals of the time and were charged with seeking a suitable marriage within the group. Unfortunately, this series is not streaming anywhere, although you can find some grainy videos on YouTube. I own a copy of the companion book, one of my most cherished possessions.

The film pokes gentle fun at Jane Austen fans. I’m sure there are many people out there who would pay to spend a week at something like Austenland. Like Jane, I could only afford the ‘copper’ package. The performances are excellent, although I found Jennifer Coolidge to be a little over the top. Austenland is currently streaming on Hulu.

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I am a native New Yorker, actress, and history geek. Pretty Evil New York: True Stories of Mobster Molls, Violent Vixens, and Murderous Matriarchs (Globe Pequot Press), my first foray into historical true crime came out in October 2021.

You can find a link to my blog here.