Austenland

Austenland is a 2007 chick lit novel by Shannon Hale, published by Bloomsbury. It follows protagonist Jane Hayes, a graphic designer living in New York City who is secretly obsessed with Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice, specifically Colin Firth's portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC adaptation. Her aunt dies and, in her will, leaves Jane a trip to an Austen theme park in the English countryside, where customers and actors role-play as characters in the Regency era. The novel is the first in Hale's Austenland series, followed by Midnight in Austenland. A film based on the first novel was released in 2013, starring Keri Russell and directed by Jerusha Hess.