Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
Guest Review by Aia A. Hussein The archetypical figure of the fairy godmother – an imagined mentor with supernatural powers – is an attractive trope because it suggests that certain elements of the unseen universe are rooting for us whether we are aware of it or not. The most popular fairy godmother is arguably the... 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 →
Guest review by Shelley DeWees – The Uprising “A chorus of Happy Birthday roused her into greater awareness of the rest of the group. Her aunt, who’d managed to light candles on a big, chocolate, sprinkle-covered birthday cake, came forward in song and demanded Gwen’s attention. She thought about her wish: to be happy, secure,... Continue Reading →
In honor of Edith Wharton's 150th birthday yesterday, Kimberly Denny-Ryder has generously shared her review of this new novel inspired by Wharton's The House of Mirth. The Gilded Age of America is one of my favorite time periods to read about. Â This is probably due to the fact that I grew up near NYC and... 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 →
From the desk of Christina Boyd: In this latest self-published offering from the Pride & Prejudice variation author, Abigail Reynolds’s, Mr. Darcy’s Letter responds to the query: What might have happened had Elizabeth Bennet never accepted Mr. Darcy’s letter that defended his actions in separating his friend from her sister and acquitted him of any... Continue Reading →
Guest review by Kimberly Denny-Ryder Jane Austen spoiled us. She wrote novels about amazing women who oftentimes bucked society’s norms. Nowadays, it’s difficult to find heroines like Elizabeth Bennet that have us rooting for them page after page. Luckily, author Tasha Alexander decided to gift the world with a tenacious woman Austen herself would be... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Christina Boyd: Look out, Alyson Noel. Make way, Becca Fitzpatrick. Heads up, Lauren Kate. There is a spectacular new Young Adult (YA) writing team on the horizon! Forbidden, authored by a mother and son writing team is their debut supernatural novel chocked full of intrigue, romance and humor. But whyever is... Continue Reading →
Guest review by Br. Paul Byrd, OP This book is crafted with the hope that readers would take the opportunity to get lost in the world of Jane Austen—a place where we can all pause in solitude, as though we’ve just finished a stroll in the garden with Jane and are now sitting down with... Continue Reading →
I consider it more than a bit perplexing when an author begins their book with an apology. In this case, it is to author Jane Austen for using her characters. Since Death Comes to Pemberley is a sequel to Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, it is like apologizing for snow being cold. If you are going... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Br. Paul Byrd, OP: “In the days when success in life had depended on marriage and marriage had depended on money, novelists had had a subject to write about. The great epics sang of war, the novel of marriage. Sexual equality, good for women, had been bad for the novel. And... Continue Reading →
This is my final contribution to The Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Reading Challenge 2011. Feeling nostalgic during the holidays, I resorted to an old chestnut in selection of my final read. I enjoyed Willoughby's Return immeasurably when I first read it two years ago. After re-reading it again, I began to write my new review... Continue Reading →
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