My Book Boyfriend: Mr Nobley

My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by Missie at The Unread Reader, all about fictional boys who make us swoon. This week I'm loving Mr Nobley from Austenland by Shannon Hale. As I mentioned in my review of the book, he's very Darcy-esque; coming across as proud and kinda dull at first before slowly revealing the passion, romance and sense of humour that's bubbling underneath. One of my favourite things about him is the way he really listens to Jane, as evidenced by his sneaky gift of a paint set after she reveals how she misses the hobby. I also love that he tries to protect her from getting hurt, even if she doesn't realise it. He's pretty lovely. Although JJ Feild has been cast as Nobley in the upcoming movie adaptation of Austenland, unfortunately he doesn't really do it for me. I pictured him as Elliot Cowan, who played Mr Darcy in Lost in Austen.

Swoon-worthy Quotes (Spoiler Alert!)

"Just ahead, the path was drenched in a puddle that could not be bypassed. The men walked through fearlessly. Colonel Andrews took Miss Charming's hand and helped her step across. Mr Nobley placed his hands around Jane's waist and lifted her over. As he set her down, their bodies were much nearer than was seemly in the early nineteenth century. They held still for a breath, their faces close together. He smelled good enough to kiss... He had the kind of face you wanted to kiss - lips, forehead, cheeks, eyelids, everywhere except his chin. That you wanted to bite."

"He tackled her. He actually leaped up, grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her down to the ground. She screeched as she thudded down on top of him... Then he looked at her. He breathed in. His forehead tensed as if he were trying to think of words for his thoughts, as if he were engaged in some gorgeous inner battle that was provoked by how perfectly beautiful she was. (That last part was purely Jane's romantic speculation and can't be taken as literal.) Nevertheless, they were on the ground, touching, frozen, staring at each other, and even the trees were holding their breath."

“'Miss Hayes, have you stopped to consider that you might have this all backward? That in fact you are my fantasy?'”

"'I need to admit up front that I don't know how to have a fling. I'm not good at playing around and then saying good-bye. I'm throwing myself at your feet because I'm hoping for a shot at forever.'"

Review: Austenland by Shannon Hale

For me, Austenland can be summed up in the wise words of 30 Rock's Liz Lemon: "I want to go to there."

From the beautiful, Regency-style house (fitted out with modern-style conveniences, of course) to the gents in boots and breeches, Pembrook Park, where the book is set, is an Austen fan's wet dream. Which is why Jane, the heroine, ends up there - her great-aunt, aware of her secret obsession with all things Pride and Prejudice (and, more particularly, Colin Firth), bequeaths her a holiday to the place that houses an Austen-inspired role play game on 'roids. Jane reluctantly goes, in an attempt to purge herself of her Darcy obsession once and for all.

While the book is super fun and the characters are all likable enough, this motivation - central to the plot - let it down a bit. It's never firmly established what exactly is so wrong about Jane's Darcy obsession; brief glimpses into her past relationships show how she always compares guys to Darcy and ends up miserable for it, but Jane's reasoning for doing this is never explored. Perhaps this is because there seems to be the assumption that anybody interested in reading Austenland would understand this behaviour, but I question how many real women actually find their love for Mr Darcy detrimental to their lives. Sure, I love me a fictional guy as much as the next girl, and joke about how Darcy and Disney have forever ruined me for men, but when it comes down to it, the worst consequence I've had to deal with is the very occasional whinge to my fiance, in the form of "whyyyyyyyyy can't you save my skanky sister (that I don't have)/kiss me passionately despite it setting your throat on fire (although it really doesn't)/climb a Ferris wheel (when that would really give me a heart attack)/[insert grand gesture here]." In other words, fictional men have no real impact on my life, other than providing a lot of fun (though if Darcy asks, I didn't say that, 'kay?). And maybe I'm being harsh, but I question the, er, mental stability of anybody who takes it more seriously than that. So I found it hard to believe in Jane, or relate to her, in that respect.

But, though my rant may have you believe otherwise, all this didn't majorly impact on my enjoyment of the book. It was minorly annoying, sure, but I was able to push that aside and go along for the ride. A ride that was made all the more exciting by two rather swoon-worthy men (natch) and an array of amusing and sharply-drawn secondary characters. Not to mention a pretty setting, a few unexpected plot twists and good dollop of romance. It made me smile, which is exactly what I wanted it to do.

Rating: 4/5

Eye Candy

I knew they were making an Austenland movie, but I'm kind of glad I didn't look up the cast before I read the book, because it's totally not how I pictured it (except maybe for Jennifer Coolidge as the ridiculous Miss Charming). Here's who I "cast"...

Reese Witherspoon as the Darcy-obsessed Jane

Elliot Cowan as the Darcy-esque Mr Nobley

Michael Fassbender as the Darcy-antithesis, Martin

Fine Print

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Published: 2007

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Get It: Book Depository