Does the name Jane Austen conjure nightmares of high-school English class? Of being called out in front of the whole class for not doing the reading? Of trying to decipher paragraph-long sentences? Me too.

But ’tis not the case for the protagonist of Shannon Hale’s latest novel, Austenland, which involves coming-of-age in Pembrook Park, a Regency England-era theme park for those women who never quite found their Mr. Darcys. Hale sat down with NPR and discusses her real-life love of Jane Austen, her fascination with Colin Firth’s rendering of Mr. Darcy and her qualms about undertaking Jane Austen, even in satire.

Listen to the full interview here.