Jane Austen died more than 200 years ago but her legacy and impact on Western literature show no signs of abating. I couldn’t warm to the zombie versions but this debut novel by Rachel Givney is a worthy addition to the Jane canon.

Jane Austen is 28, well advanced into spinsterhood and aware of her failure as a woman to snare a husband. After a public humiliation, Jane flees to London to see a matchmaker. Instead, she is given a spell to find her one true love. She returns to Bath, angry at being tricked, but accidentally invokes the spell and wakes up in the 21st century, where she is thrilled to discover she is a famous writer.

Jane makes friends with Sofia Wentworth, a beautiful and famous actress trying to win back her ex-husband on the film set of Northanger Abbey, and Sofia’s handsome, kind-hearted brother Fred. But as Jane starts to develop feelings for Fred, her presence in the literary world starts to disappear. Will Jane discover that there is more than one type of true love before it’s too late?

This is a charming and witty novel that had me smiling from page one. Givney is a filmmaker and the novel is strongly visual – I could easily see it coming to life on the screen. Jane’s wonderment at the 21st century – travelling staircases (escalators), rectangular boxes that people worship (smart phones) and the abundance of food – is delightfully captured.

Jane learns that love comes in many guises. And we, the readers, learn that the human emotions that fascinated Jane Austen are just as relevant in the 21st as the 19th century.

Reviewed by Melinda Woledge