Reviewed by Amanda Kai
What do a group of actor's parents, a storm, and a million-dollar disco ball have in common? Why, they all play a part in the madness that descends upon Camp Jane!
Ever a source of hilarity, Susan Andrews delights fans once again as her characters playing the roles of Jane Austen reenactors return to the Regency Resort, nicknamed "Camp Jane." Only this time, their parents have come to stay as well for a special staff-only weekend to celebrate the wedding of the resort owner and her long-awaited lover.
Maggie and Will (our Lizzy and Darcy actors) have a bad case of Meet the Parents, as Maggie’s overbearing mom tries to take over everything. But worse still, it turns out that Maggie’s dad and Will’s mom might have had a romantic connection, leading Maggie and Will to speculate that they might be more closely related than they wish to be.
Amidst all of this, a massive storm knocks out the power and strands everybody at the resort, forcing them to learn how to truly live Regency-style without modern conveniences, cook for an entire house party over a wood fire, rescue a stranded Lydia Bennet actress using 19th-century vehicles, and make white soup from scratch.
Despite these difficulties, the cast is determined to make their beloved resort-owner’s wedding dreams come true. But somebody is planning to steal the famed “million-dollar disco ball” that dazzled the resort in the decades before swarms of Janeites began flocking there, and they must be stopped.
A series for fans of Jane Austen and her stories in all their forms, each Camp Jane book never fails to delight the reader with humor, hijinks, a good mystery, a dash of romance, and plenty of fandom Easter-eggs (Edward Ferrars chopping logs a la Dan Stevens, anyone?) Book 3, Follies of Family, continues Susan Andrew’s tradition of blending all these elements for a delightful cocktail that will have you rolling on the floor in laughter and begging for more. So come to Camp Jane, where the theme is always Austen, and there’s always room for you.
Comments