All Roads Lead to Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith Page A

Book). These are the series names; each individual volume has its own catchy title, like “My Father-in-Law, My Lover!” “He’s Shameless but He’s Mine!” and “Endless Suffering!” Libro Seminal is the most realistic, Amores y Amantes , the boldest and sauciest, and Libro Sentimental , tear-jerkingly maudlin.
    To give you an idea how the three differ, let’s take an underrated Austen heroine, the one who would have adored Antigua: Catherine from Northanger Abbey . In Austen’s novel, sheltered country girl Catherine travels to Bath with family friends, where she meets a witty clergyman and learns to behave in proper society. Visiting the abbey home of the clergyman, she’s led by an overdose of Gothic novels to suspect that his father, the widowed General Tilney, has done in his wife. Embarrassment, then marriage, ensues.
    Fotonovela authors crank out a new title every week. If they got their hands on Catherine, the story would unfold something like this:
    Caterina, from humble San Sebastián, travels to exciting Puerto Vallarta with the González family. While there :
    Libro Seminal : Caterina gets invited to dinner by a mysterious yet somehow familiar man and finds herself attracted. She wakes up on the weekend still thinking about the mystery man. To distract herself, she goes with Señora Gonzalez to the commercial center and both buy attractive new dresses.
    Amores y Amantes : Caterina gets seduced by a college boy on holiday and feels guilty yet somehow fulfilled. She wakes up on the weekend, only to discover she’s been abandoned. To distract herself, she seeks comfort in the experienced arms of a retired army officer, recently widowed.
    Libro Sentimental : Caterina gets a job as a maid for a gringo , who drugs and frames her for pushing his five-year-old daughter from a window (a crime actually committed by his drunken wife). She wakes up in jail surrounded by hardened female prisoners. To distract themselves, they beat and abuse her for killing a helpless child.
    Never has life been so exciting for Caterina! And when she least expects it :
    Libro Seminal : Caterina discovers that the mysterious man used to be her best friend’s parish priest but renounced his vows when he saw Caterina at a wedding and doubted his calling. Returning to quiet San Sebastián, Caterina is unable to forget the fallen priest. Is it a sin to love a man who has renounced his calling?
    Amores y Amantes : Caterina discovers from the retired officer’s handsome son that her new lover is hiding a desperate secret in his palatial house—about his recently deceased wife. Returning to quiet San Sebastián, Caterina is unable to forget the retired officer’s handsome son. Is she a bad woman for desiring the son of a woman who died so mysteriously?
    Libro Sentimental : Caterina discovers that she’s been assigned a top defense lawyer—then learns that the lawyer’s only sister died in a fall from a window owing to negligence and is determined to see Caterina hang. Returning to her quiet cell after the trial, Caterina prays humbly, regretting only that she must die without having any children. Will her misery never end?
    Clearly, all hope is gone! But finally:
    Libro Seminal : The fallen priest pays Caterina a surprise visit and begs her to forgive him for not wanting to live a lie in the church; moved by his sincerity, she consents to be his wife, and they live happily ever after.
    Amores y Amantes : The retired officer’s handsome son pays Caterina a surprise visit and confesses that he hinted at dark secrets in order to separate her from his father. Moved by his ardor, she consents to be his wife, and they live passionately ever after.
    Libro Sentimental : The prison chaplain pays Caterina a surprise visit to hear her confession; moved by her piety, he assures her that true repentance will earn her a place in heaven where she can be a godmother to the many