This book had been sitting on my shelf for quite a long time; every time I picked it up and opened to remember it was written in "letters" back-and-forth, I always cringed. But, upon feeling the need to knock it out, plus, having just read Gertrude Stein and needing to cleanse the palate with something much more comforting, like Jane Austen, I gave in.

I'm glad I did. The book is about a teenage lady back in that letter-writing, social-rules era. She's been in the countryside for a while and now she's navigating her young life away from home, and trying to figure out London society as well as her own background. She makes a lot of mistakes, and there are those moments where you're embarassed for her, and feel for her, as she writes to her guardian at home about the ball she went to last night. The book is full of comic moments and situations, and I did get quite wrapped up in them just as I did for Elizabeth Bennet or Emma Woodhouse. Evelina is much more fragile and naive, though. Which isn't to say she's bad, I quite liked her. I'm so on her side, that some of the other characters really riled me up when they did anything bad (or "unladylike" I should say) to her.

I could not STAND the character of Madame Duvall and the leery Mr Smith. But, that's the point. There's all sorts of misunderstandings and villains and propriety to think of; I enjoyed it. There were definitely some sections that could have been thrown out or edited down, and it would have been much more concise in its storytelling, but Part III (of 3) escalated the enjoyment.

It's definitely not a book for everyone, but if you love Austen, it may be a good read after you've exhausted her few books.