Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: Don't you love Saturday mornings? I find that they are my favorite day and time of the week—mostly because I can indulge in doing things for myself. Such a luxury. This morning, I made banana muffins and started listening to an audio recording of Jane Austen at Home,... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: My summer reading took me down under to Australia with a new-to-me author, Paula J. Beavan. I was encouraged by the glowing reviews of her debut 2021 novel Daughter of the Hunter Valley and wanted to start with her latest book Among the Grey Gums as an... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Sophia Rose: Like every other television historical drama lover, I noticed the promos for HBO’s The Gilded Age. So, when the Gilded Age Mystery series cropped up as a newer audiobook release, I relished the opportunity to dive into this lavish world set in Newport, Rhode Island where the Vanderbilts and... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Sophia Rose: Over a decade ago, CS Harris released the first in a long-standing series of Regency Era historical mysteries featuring an aristocratic detective who starts out as the suspect solving his first crime to a renowned amateur detective in his own right. That book, What Angels Fear, introduced a complex... Continue Reading →
Hey-ho Gentle Readers! The holiday season is quickly approaching with all of its delights. My local radio station started playing Christmas music the day after Veterans Day. Retailers are hanging garland and stocking their tables with gift-giving fare. A friend told me that they are finished with their shopping and have already mailed their gifts.... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Br. Paul Byrd, OP: “In my last [letter] I left off at our sitting down to Supper on our Wedding Night, where I behaved with as much Bashfulness as the purest Virgin in the World could have done. The most difficult Task for me was to blush; however, by holding my... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Br. Paul Byrd, OP: “Her knowledge of Richardson’s works was such as no one is likely again to acquire, now that the multitude and the merits of our light literature have called off the attention of readers from that great master.” – J.E. Austen-Leigh, Memoir of Jane Austen, Chapter 5 Listed... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: This Pride and Prejudice variation asks readers, “What if Elizabeth Bennet had accepted Mr. Darcy’s first proposal?” After reading this question in the book’s description my first reaction was, ACK, why would she? Changing the Course of the Plot Like the two other novels by this author that... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: Ever wonder if a book you read several years ago and loved still stacks up? I did and was tempted to revisit one of my favorite Pride and Prejudice sequels, Mr. Darcy’s Diary, in audiobook for my summer listening. Read by Mr. Darcy himself—well not quite—but close, the... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: One is humbled to review a book considered a classic of world literature. What could I possibly say about Pride and Prejudice that has not been scrutinized by scholars, exalted by enthusiasts, or bemoaned by students who have been forced to read it and just don’t get what... Continue Reading →
Even though it has been two hundred years since the world was first introduced to sisters Marianne and Elinor Dashwood's financial, social and romantic trials, their story remains for me, as fresh and vibrant as any contemporary story you might read of, experience yourself, or hear tell tale of today. I give full credit, of... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Christina Boyd: Debut author Jan Hahn’s novel, An Arranged Marriage, begs the question, “can a marriage of convenience ever lead to true love?” In Hahn’s impressive alteration of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, days after Miss Elizabeth Bennet stringently refuses the proposal of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy at Hunsford, her beloved father... Continue Reading →
