I received this book for free through the Goodreads First Reads program.

Miss Jane Austen's Guide to Modern Life's Dilemmas: Answers to Your Most Burning Questions About Life, Love, Happiness (and What to Wear) from the Great Novelist Herself is a fun "Dear Abby" column but filled with advice based on Jane Austen's novels and her life. The book is divided up into several sections (e.g., fashion, home, love, etc.) and within each section, related questions are asked. The author, Rebecca Smith is the great-great-great-great-great niece of Jane Austen and truly appears to have done her research on her aunt's books and her life. Each answer is filled with direct quotations from Austen's books and her letters to Cassandra (Jane's sister). I enjoyed seeing the connections between modern life problems and Austen's heroines. My one complaint is that I feel that the questions are quite lighthearted and the answers are a bit too serious (they are fun, mind you, but there are quotations and references!). This format may not have been the best for presenting Rebecca Smith's knowledge of her aunt. In any event, I did enjoy this book and I feel that I will return to it every time I finish an Austen novel. ( )

Some people look towards a higher power when it comes to working through life challenges, others look toward their favorite author. For Janeites like myself, author Rebecca Smith has compiled a reference book devoted to Jane Austen’s words of wisdom. Readers who want as varied advice as looking for the perfect mate to getting the neighborhood eyesore removed can find Ms. Austen’s practical, and often humorous, advice (gleaned from her novels and her letters) collected in the collection.

Though not a text for the uninitiated, those who delight in Austen’s work, and return to Pride and Prejudice time and again, will find words of wisdom to guide even the most mundane of life choices. I can’t recommend this book to Austen fans enough! ( )