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: In celebration of the #janeausten250 there will be several new books to honor her sestercentennial. Topping my list of must reads is Wild for Austen, by Devoney Looser releasing in September from St. Martin's Press. Looser is the author of mutliple nonfiction literary criticisims and biographies of 18th... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: Next year we celebrate a milestone in Jane Austen’s life — the 250th anniversary of her birth on December 16, 1775, at Steventon Rectory in Hampshire. There will be many events and books throughout the year to commemorate her special year. I am thrilled to present to you... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Katie Jackson: If you’ve ever wished that Jane Austen’s family had preserved more of her personal letters, have I got a surrogate wish-fulfillment for you. It is my pleasure to introduce the gifted nineteenth-century novelists Jane and Anna Maria Porter. Although their copious correspondence remains unpublished—and may always, as the writers... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: Happy Friday Dear Readers, Are you ready to be inspired? If so, I am happy to introduce you to moving story of a life-long Jane Austen fan who began her journey in the 1940s, earned her PhD in teaching and reading Jane Austen at the age of 88,... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Tracy Hickman: What can the places that Jane Austen called home tell us about the author’s life and work? In Jane Austen at Home, historian, author, and BBC presenter Lucy Worsley looks at the author’s life through the lens of Austen’s homes.  As Worsley notes in the book’s introduction, “For Jane,... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Katie Patchell: I remember what I felt when I discovered that Jane Austen was not famous in her lifetime: Outright shock. I had been a self-proclaimed Janeite for years when I discovered this fact. I had read her books multiple times, collected movie adaptations, researched and written papers about her novels... Continue Reading →
Just in time for the premiere on 13 January 2019 of the third season of Victoria on Masterpiece Classic on PBS, Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days That Changed Her Life is a new biography of one of the United Kingdom's (and the world's) most famous queens. Arriving like a gift on a royal red velvet cushion,... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress:Â Commissioned by the producers of the new movie Belle, acclaimed biographer Paula Byrne aims to reveal the true story behind the main characters in the movie: Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate daughter of a captain in the Royal Navy and an African slave, and her great-uncle, William Murray,... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Br. Paul Byrd, OP “This book is something different and more experimental. Rather than rehearsing all the known facts, this biography focuses on a variety of key moments, scenes and objects in both the life and work of Jane Austen…In addition, this biography follows the lead of Frank Austen rather than... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laura A. Wallace: I must acknowledge that it is well-nigh impossible for me to be objective when it comes to reviewing Jennifer Kloester’s new biography of Georgette Heyer which was released this month in the UK. Rarely have I looked forward so much to reading a biography. But be assured, gentle... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laura A. Wallace: Jane Aiken Hodge’s 1984 biography of Georgette Heyer, reissued this month by Sourcebooks, was until very recently the only one available. Published ten years after Heyer’s death, it describes her life primarily from her letters to her publisher. An intensely private person, Heyer eschewed publicity, never giving an... Continue Reading →
