Austenprose

where "There is a monsterous deal of stupid quizzing, & common-place nonsense talked, but scarcely any wit."

Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra, 21 April 1805



Join us and discover author Jane Austen through her novels, letters, life and modern intrepretations as we focus on her unique ability to write about her early 19th-century English rural society with keen observation, irony and wit.

Don't miss the US premier of
RETURN TO CRANFORD
a new 2 part mini-series Janurary 10th-17th on PBS.

JANE BITES BACK
by Michael Thomas Ford

Nearly two hundred years after her reputed death in 1817, Jane Austen is actually not dead, but a vampire living in upper-state New York. As the owner of Flyleaf Books she watches with irritation and frustration as other less talented writers make a killing off her novels with sequels, spin-offs and absurd self help books while her own novel remains unpublished after two hundred years and 116 rejections. Her quiet life will change dramatically when her book is finally published and a dark man from her past reappears.

LAUREL ANN'S REVIEW

MASTERPIECE CLASSIC
2010 SEASON

Hold on to your bonnets! The new 2010 season begins December 20th with an encore presentation of Cranford and continues with a smashing lineup highlighted by Emma 2009, Northanger Abbey 2007 and Persuasion 2007. Check out the complete season at their great website.

MASTERPIECE CLASSIC

A WOMAN'S WIT:
JANE AUSTEN'S LIFE
AND LEGACY
at the Morgan Library, NYC

Visit the new Jane Austen exhibition November 6, 2009 through March 14, 2010 at the Morgan Library in New York City. Featured are several of Jane Austen's letters, manuscripts of The Watsons and Lady Susan, and extensive support material including information on her contemporaries, images of artwork from the era, vintage novels and a new film interviewing contemporary writers, actors and artists on Austen's enduring legacy.

READ MY PREVIEW

VISIT MY CO-BLOG
JANE AUSTEN TODAY

Discover news and discussion on movies, print, sequels, web and blog sites and other modern day media about Jane Austen with a fun fresh approach!

WILLOUGHBY'S RETURN
by Jane Odiwe

Three years after the close of Sense and Sensibility Marianne Brandon appears to have everything that a young married woman could desire: wealth, position, an heir and a loving husband, but her insecurities, jealousy and impetuous nature rob her of complete happiness. Enter John Willoughby, her first lost love to tempt her into a renewed relationship. Marianne's younger sister Margaret also has her own romantic drama that might equal Marianne's dilemma. Will a young lady find love, and a married one realize it?

LAUREL ANN'S REVIEW

A TRUTH UNIVERSALLY
ACKNOWLEDGED: 33 GREAT
WRITERS ON WHY WE
READ JANE AUSTEN
edited by Susannah Carson

Thirty-three contemporary and classic writers from the last century reveal why we are compelled to read the works of Jane Austen after nearly two hundred years. From author Virginia Woolf to screenwriter and director Amy Heckerling, what unfolds is a compelling and insightful collection of views on Austen's endurling appeal and why we read her.

LAUREL ANN'S REVIEW

THAT HAMILTON WOMAN
directed by
Alexander Korda

The romance of Emma, Lady Hamilton and Lord Horatio Nelson might just be the most infamous romance of the Napoleonic age. She was an reputedly beguiling beauty and he a brilliant naval hero, both married to others, yet scandalously engaging in an love affair that shaped history. This 1941 movie staring Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier as the two ill-fated lovers has just been re-issued on DVD by Criterion Collection and may be one of my favorite romantic movies short of Pride and Prejudice.

LAUREL ANN'S REVIEW

LADY SUSAN
by Jane Austen

One of the lesser known works, Lady Susan just might be the sleeper novel of Jane Austen's oeuvre. Meet Lady Susan, the "Mistress of deceit," who is tagged the most "acomplished coquette in England" by society, and for good reason. She flirts with married men and steals other ladies beaux right under their noses, all without a whiff of conscience. Written in Austen's late teens, it's unguarded and exhuberant style is highly memlodramatic and outrageously fun.

LAUREL ANN'S REVIEW

Visit My Austen Books at Library Thing

LOST IN AUSTEN

A new four part television mini-series based on Jane Austen's famous novel Pride and Prejudice aired in the UK in September 2008 to mixed critical reception. I liked it! You can read all four of my reviews on each episode by following the links listed below.

MY REVIEWS OF
LOST IN AUSTEN

Episode One

Episode Two

Episode Three

Episode Four

Take the Quiz here!

Laurel Ann Nattress

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