"Lost In Austen" - SPOILER ALERT

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I could not allow the week leading up to Valentine's Day to pass without watching and reviewing at least one version of my favorite, "Pride and Prejudice". "Lost in Austen" is a unique interpretation of the classic. In many ways it stays true to the original, yet it puts its own spin on it.

Amanda Price is a modern day woman living in London whose favorite book is "Pride and Prejudice". She is unhappily involved in a relationship with an unfaithful and oh-so-drunk boyfriend. Amanda longs for something better and she strongly believes her version of Mr. Darcy is somewhere out there.

One day, Amanda discovers the one and only Elizabeth Bennet in her bathroom. She brushes it off as just a dream at first, but soon discovers this is real. The next time Elizabeth appears, Amanda steps through a doorway that leads her right into the early 1800's in Longbourn. She remains trapped in this other world while Elizabeth Bennet remains trapped in modern day London. Over the four episodes, the mini series goes on to focus primarily on Amanda's time in the world of "Pride and Prejudice". The family accepts her as a friend of Elizabeth's while Elizabeth is visiting the city.

While in the world of "Pride and Prejudice", Amanda struggles to make things happen the way they're supposed to happen - the way Jane Austen wrote them in the book. As you might imagine, things don't go as planned and a series of unfortunate events take place, some that are quite hilarious. Being a huge fan of the original, I found myself wanting exactly what Amanda wanted - to make things right, as they are written in the book. And just like Miss Price (Amanda), I was equally frustrated when the wrong things happened. For example, Jane marries Mr. Collins. (However, they do not stay married.) Interestingly, we learn that Jane Austen misjudged Mr. Wickham. He wasn't such a bad guy after all.

As much as Miss Price starts to fall for Mr. Darcy, she insists that he belongs with Elizabeth Bennet and Amanda unselfishly does everything in her power to bring them together. Eventually, Amanda and Elizabeth are able to meet up again in modern day London, to where Mr. Darcy has followed Amanda. Elizabeth has a new life in modern day London that she enjoys. When they try to enter back into Longbourn through the portal, Elizabeth is unable to go. The portal would not open for her. Although Amanda is able to go back to Longbourn, she decides she needs to go back to her modern day life. However, as she is about to enter back into her modern day London home, she finds a note from Mr. Darcy confessing his love for her. Elizabeth stays in modern day London with her family's blessing and Amanda stays in the world of "Pride and Prejudice" with Mr. Darcy, the love of her life.

I loved everything about this mini-series. I can definitely see myself watching it again in the future. It's one of my top three favorite interpretations of "Pride and Prejudice", with the 2005 movie being number 2 and the 1995 mini series being number 1. The casting for "Lost in Austen" was spot on and the creative twist was executed beautifully. One of my favorite characters in this version was Mr. Bennet, played by Hugh Bonneville. I first "met" him as the father in all six seasons of "Downton Abbey" (the fifth and sixth of which I have not yet reviewed.)

I was really rooting for this to end the way Jane Austen meant for it to end and I was surprised it didn't end that way. Yet, it was still a happy ending. Elizabeth has fully embraced modern day life and Amanda ends up with Mr. Darcy even though she tried so hard to unite him with Elizabeth. The more I think about it, the more I realize it was the perfect ending. It had to end differently than the original.

This mini series goes to show the power of embracing whichever journey life takes us on and trusting that everything will unfold the way it's meant to.