Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
From the desk of Jeffrey Ward: Eloise Kelly is in England researching her dissertation on English espionage during the Napoleonic Wars; especially a shadowy figure known only as the Pink Carnation. Eloise’s friendship with Colin Selwick (whose ancestry included spies who worked with this secret agent) has permitted Eloise access to the family’s carefully guarded... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Kimberly Denny-Ryder: I’ve often wondered what modern day psychiatric medicine would say about some of my favorite literary characters. Are they bi-polar? Do they suffer from ADHD, depression, or a form of autism? Author Nina Benneton explores what a modern day Darcy would be like, suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder in... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Christina Boyd:Â Best-selling author of Austenland, and soon to be motion picture of same, Shannon Hale, takes us on another retreat to England in her latest offering, Midnight in Austenland. When the nice American Charlotte Kinder married a nice man named James in a nice wedding, later giving birth to and... Continue Reading →
We are basically a tried and true Janeite, but quietly confess to admiration of another nineteenth-century novelist also born in Hampshire; - Charles Dickens. His style is entirely different than the witty underpinnings of our beloved Miss Austen, but one cannot ignore his fabulous characterizations and amazing plot twists. Today is the bicentenary of Dickens’... Continue Reading →
Gentle readers: We are happy to add the story of another conversion to Jane to our monthly column, Reading Austen. Today’s guest blog is by Dara Schnuelle, who shares her personal story of how she discovered Jane Austen and why reading her novels is so special for her. Ask almost any high school student his... Continue Reading →
Jane Austen’s indisputable influence continues, so much so, that she shows up as a character in Alyssa Goodnight’s new, innovative novel Austentatious. Please join us today in welcoming Alyssa as she visits during her blog tour in celebration of the release of Austentatious, published this month by Kensington Books. In this humorous guest blog, Alyssa... Continue Reading →
There are a lot of Mr. Darcy novels out there. Hundreds, in fact. Some are retellings of his side of Pride and Prejudice. Others continue his life at Pemberley after his marriage to Elizabeth Bennet, but, a new Mr. Darcy novel released today has an entirely new twist! Please join us today in welcoming author... Continue Reading →
We drank tea again yesterday with the Tilsons, & met the Smiths. I find all these little parties very pleasant. -- Letter from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra 1811 Tea was at the center of social gatherings during Jane Austen’s time. Today, we enjoy tea everyday too, but the varieties and blends available would... Continue Reading →
From the desk of by Laura A. Wallace: Georgette Heyer's April Lady is the last re-issue by Sourcebooks of Heyer's novels. (The very last is Pistols for Two, a collection of short stories.) Originally published in 1957, it is comfortably set within the Regency period that she had made her own. The setting is London,... Continue Reading →
I could not let this day pass without wishing Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice a happy 199th birthday. Written between October 1796 and August 1797, Pride and Prejudice was first entitled First Impression and would not premiere on the printed page until after many revisions and another sixteen years. Publisher Thomas Egerton of Whitehall... Continue Reading →
“True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision.” – Edith Wharton Edith Wharton, Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, designer, and taste-setter of her time was born 150 years ago today. Huzzah! Renowned for her novels: The House of Mirth (1905), Ethan Frome (1911), The Age of Innocence (1920),... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Aia A. Hussein: Not too long ago, I picked up my old and battered copy of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and reread the novel. It was my third reading. I was pretty confident that I would stop reading after the first few chapters, thinking that I only wanted a small dose... Continue Reading →
