‘Jane Austen Wrecked My Life’

Shakespeare and Company is a prestigious English-language bookshop in Paris. To Agathe (Camille Rutherford), working there is a dream job. She has another dream, however, and that is to be a writer.

Surrounded by shelves laden with important literary works, she lazily wanders the aisles, lightly caressing the many books, imagining her novel among them. As she has not yet been inspired to begin writing, her book will not appear on these shelves anytime soon.

Her inspiration finally comes. Agathe is dining in a Chinese restaurant. Her meal is accompanied by a small tumbler of sake. Gazing into the bottom of the cup she sees a naked man. Looking up she sees the naked Chinese man approaching her table asking her to dance.

After a few turns around her imaginary dance floor, she returns home. Her romance novel has a beginning. She is busy writing the rest of the evening and into the morning. Felix (Pablo Paulo), a close friend and colleague sneaks into her laptop and reads what she’s just composed. He is so impressed with her new work that he copies her story and sends it off in the mail.

Weeks later Agathe receives a letter from the Jane Austen Residency, offering her the chance to participate in a two-week writing retreat in England. She reads that the organization has read her work, are impressed and grant her access to the retreat.

Felix confesses to sending her story to them and encourages her to attend – he drives her to the dock for the ferry to England. They exchange a surprise kiss before she boards. She is greeted in England by Oliver (Charlie Anson), a distant descendant of Jane Austen.

The retreat is held in his parents mansion. Guidelines for participants are that they must write, read what they’ve written at the end of two weeks and attend the residency’s annual ball – in period costume.

Unproductive days pass as Agathe wanders the lush grounds and gardens of the mansion waiting for inspiration. It doesn’t come, she has writer’s block. At their first meeting, Agathe felt Oliver a tad pompous and had no interest in socializing with him. Over time however, she finds him interesting and becomes intrigued with his arrogant bearing.

Their friendship blossoms over sips at a pub in town. She’s had too many sips, so Oliver brings her back to the mansion, puts her in bed and covers her with a blanket. The next morning, Felix bounces into her room saying he’s here to escort her to the upcoming costume ball.

Too embarrassed to have nothing to read to the others, Agathe leaves the retreat the day of the communal reading. She explains the reason for her writer’s block as Oliver drives her to the ferry dock. His parting words are: “That plants need ruins to make them beautiful – she must find the ruins in her life.”

Back in France, Agathe decides to spend some time in her parent’s vacation home, a place she has been reluctant to visit since their deaths. Here she is finally inspired and finishes her novel. With hope and enthusiasm she mails her novel to an English publisher. She holds their unopened reply in her trembling hands.

Directed by Laura Piani (Credits: Prudence Ledoux a le vent poupe), “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” runs 96 minutes and is a “see” for an entertaining romance story presented in a creative beautiful manner.