By a Lady: Being the Adventures of an Enlightened American in Jane Austen's England

this book gives any austin lover a picture into the world and time of JaneAustin. the everyday difficulties, joys and trials of that time. A worthy read couldn't put it down and have passed it on to so many friends.

My curiosity about BY A LADY was piqued when I read a review calling it a "bawdy romp". I thought, what could be bad? Although I don't usually read historical fiction, I thoroughly enjoyed this well researched and highly detailed book. Amanda Elyot's witty tale has all of the elements that make a book come alive for me; excellent writing; a plot that captures the imagination; a sexy heroine who gets in and out of trouble and a setting that is so carefully described I felt I was back in England with Ms. Austen, her friends and her foes. I highly recommend this book.

I don't usually read historical fiction, but when a female friend of mine urged me to read BY A LADY, I forced myself to check it out. I was amazed at how enjoyable a read this piece of fiction was. I haven't read a Jane Austen novel since my prep school days and did not enjoy Jane Austen way back then. But in this 21 C novel, I recognized the amazing research and attention to detail that went into creating this novel. Amanda Elyot writes with incisive wit, humor and charm. I felt as if I was part of the action (or at least wished I had been!) as CJ Welles found herself in dire circumstances in jolly old (with the emphasis on OLD) England, but with a much more believable contemporary twist to it. I guess that from a man's point of view, even though this is an historical novel, it's great that the author understands that true human idiosyncresies and behavior transcending the centuries. The author took liberties and I thought that was grreat that she did. I was eagerly following her every step -and misstep-and the underpredictable if not outrageous actions on the parts of the leading actors! Oh, would I love to meet Amanda Elyot so I could tell her how much I enjoyed my re-introduction to historical fiction with her delightful book. I wish I had this reading material in high school instead of having to sneak a copy out of Lady Chaterly's Lover.

It's fiction for heaven's sake! And what delicious fiction it is. Amanda Elyot becomes Jane Austen, using words the famous author actually wrote, as she masterfully takes the reader back in time to 1801. This is a clever tale of a New York actress who gets the part of her life and, as she happily leaves the theater after the audition is transported back to the era of her favorite heroine. Elyot masterfully re-creates time and place in the mind's eye of the readers and makes them believe that they, too, are characters in a marvelous adventure in a somewhat gritty wonderland. I loved it! In fact, it was so good I didn't want it to end... I kept wondering what might happen next.

This is a charming idea and cleverly written tale. A modern-day actress in New York time-travels to Jane Austen's England. Elyot's writing is unabashedly romantic, but her research is vividly pungent. She does a careful job recreating the daily specifics of the era, and virtually every line of Austen's (Jane herself is a character in CJ's story) is quoted from Austen's own work, an in-joke that has the added advantage of a certain authenticity of tone. As a writer of historical fiction, Elyot shows a lively ebullience as well as a consistent concern for period detail. Her strong, unusual imagination may well offend the occasional Austenian purist, but shouldn't bother anyone who might find appealing a deftly written romp that is deeply respectful of the spirit, if not the letter, of Austen's legacy.