“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

That, my friends, is a quote from one of my favorite authors – Jane Austen. I became a fan the summer before 11th grade. when I was making my way through a number of classic novels. Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Pride and Prejudice. I spent many a day on my twin bed dreaming of finding my own Mr. Darcy.

But what’s more, Austen was an independent woman who, more than 200 years ago, bucked societal norms and devoted her life to literature – not a man, as was expected. As a teenager about to embark on a world unknown, she was an inspiration.

So when I heard the Minneapolis Institute of Art was having an exhibit on Austen, I took a detour on my way to work to check it out. Unlike traditional exhibits, the area devoted to Jane Austen was a tactile one. You could sit in a replica of her reading/writing room and immerse yourself in her books, read copies of her personal letters, take in the visual depiction of one her famous novel’s Emma and more. I spent an hour just taking in those two rooms before making my way onto other areas of the museum.

The exhibit is open through June 26. If you wished you lived in a Jane Austen novel, check it out.