Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
From the desk of Laura A. Wallace: Georgette Heyer’s Sprig Muslin is one of her most entertaining Regency novels. It is a “road book,” full of adventures, comical situations, and fun characters. At the outset, I must beg anyone who leaves a comment to avoid spoilers. New readers should have the pleasure of discovering Amanda’s... Continue Reading →
From the desk of by Christina Boyd: Debut author Nancy Kelley’s self-published novel, His Good Opinion, A Mr. Darcy Novel, is the parallel story to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, told from this male protagonist’s point of view. Fatigued from London’s matchmaking mamas, Darcy never imagined a country miss could captivate him and yet, while... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Kimberly Denny-Ryder: One of the greatest things about book blogging is the ability to spread the gift of reading to everyone that comes across my blog. This is especially true with younger readers, who may have less exposure now to “the classics” than I might have had at their age. So,... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: One thinks of Jane Austen as a retiring spinster who writes secretly, prefers her privacy, and enjoys quiet walks in the Hampshire countryside. Instead, she has applied her intuitive skills of astute observation and deductive reasoning to solve crime in Stephanie Barron’s Austen-inspired mystery series. It is an... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Jeffrey Ward: Mary Bennet, that plain, pedantic, priggish, middle sister from Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice, who gave us deadpan lines such as, “I admire the activity of your benevolence…but every impulse of feeling should be guided by reason; and, in my opinion, exertion should always be in proportion... Continue Reading →
Guest review by Christina Boyd Albeit Jane Austen first sold Northanger Abbey to a publisher in 1803 (at first entitled Susan), it did not appear in print until 1817 when it was published after her death as a four volume set with her final novel Persuasion. In Northanger Abbey, Miss Morland is a daughter of... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Aia A. Hussein The author of several Jane Austen adaptations, including Darcy’s Passions and Darcy’s Temptation among others, Regina Jeffers returns with the appropriately-timed release of Christmas at Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Holiday Sequel. Historically situated in Regency England, before the holiday season evolved into its present monumental proportions, Jeffers’... Continue Reading →
Guest review by Laura A. Wallace A prequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Vanity and Verity tells the story of an earlier generation’s courtship of two young ladies who later figure prominently in Austen’s classic tale. Lady Anne Fitzwilliam and her sister, Lady Catherine, the daughters of the Earl of _______, go to London... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laura A. Wallace: A Civil Contract is an atypical Georgette Heyer novel. While the setting is firmly Regency, beginning at the time of the Battle of Orthez (February 1814) and ending with that of Waterloo (June 1815), it is neither lively nor witty. It is a quiet book, with a love... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: As 2011 marks the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, we are offered another annotated edition to help us understand the social and historical context of the world that Jane Austen places us into in late eighteenth century England. The Sense and Sensibility... Continue Reading →
Last year, the good folks at the Harvard University Press presented the first installment in their commitment to annotate all six of Jane Austen’s major novels. Pride and Prejudice: An Annotated Edition, by Jane Austen and edited by Patricia Meyer Spacks set the standard for the series: an unabridged first edition text, annotations by an... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Christina Boyd: Best-selling author Linda Berdoll’s Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife and Darcy & Elizabeth have been hailed as “sexy, hilarious, poignant” and “wild, bawdy and utterly enjoyable (Booklist.)” But also, “blasphemy, smut and trash,” are not uncommon adjectives used by her severest critics. Rarely has there been such a clear... Continue Reading →
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