Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
From the desk of Barbara Rogers: As a huge fan of Catherine Lloyd’s Kurland St. Mary series, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her latest Victorian mystery series, Miss Morton and the English House Murder. A Family Tragedy Changes the Heroine’s Life Lady Caroline Morton, daughter of the deceased Earl of Morton, is... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: Happy Monday Dear Readers, Coming your way tomorrow is a gorgeous new curated edition of Jane Austen’s final novel, Persuasion. It includes the complete unabridged text and thirteen pockets throughout containing replicas of items from the story such as maps, pages from newspapers, and recreated correspondence written as... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Molly Greeley: Three women, separated by time but connected by blood and the strength of their unusual powers. An ageless, sinister, smooth-talking minister who stalks each of them in turn. A setting—the Ozark Mountains—as steeped in magic and folklore as it is in natural beauty, where compasses refuse to point North... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Tracy Hickman: If women who read are dangerous, what about women who write? Following my review of Stefan Bollmann’s Women Who Read Are Dangerous, I thought I would explore its “sister” book: Women Who Write Are Dangerous, also by Bollmann. Francine Prose, American novelist, essayist, and critic, sets the stage for... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Tracy Hickman: If you page through Women Who Read Are Dangerous looking for visual representations that most people associate with danger, you might be confused initially. None of the women are brandishing weapons or committing violent acts. Instead, they sit quietly perusing books, pamphlets, magazines, hymnals, and letters. Some subjects have... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Tracy Hickman: Natalie Jenner’s debut novel The Jane Austen Society was an international bestseller and one of my favorite books of 2020. Would Ms. Jenner’s latest novel, set in post-war literary London, hold up under the weight of public expectation and comparison with her accomplished first effort? Would the Bloomsbury Girls... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Sophia Rose: ‘Murder’ and ‘Wickham’ in the same title makes any Jane Austen lover worth their salt sit up and take notice. Now, add that with an author name long associated with young adult sci-fi and fantasy, and that makes Claudia Gray’s The Murder of Mr. Wickham well-nigh irresistible. The Murder... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Sophia Rose: From the first, Anna Lee Huber’s Lady Darby mysteries brought the early Victorian era to life with the atmosphere and gritty backdrop and cunning plot. Add in complex characters led by Lady Darby with a dark past and the layered relationships around her and the series soon became a... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Katie Patchell: Matchmaker: For me, this word conjures up frightening images of domineering great-aunts and nosy neighbors, all wagging their fingers in my unwed face to the beat of Fiddler on the Roof’s justly titled song, “Matchmaker Matchmaker.” While these dreams may have more to do with my unresolved issues... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Katie Jackson: On the Cornish coast of England in 1815, the copper mines were often the lifeblood of the community, providing wages for the workers and wealth for the owners. The disparity between the two groups is explored in Near the Ruins of Penharrow, the third book of Deborah M. Hathaway’s... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Tracy Hickman: Austenesque fiction like The Jane Austen Project and the BBC TV series Lost in Austen have entertained Janeites with fantastic stories about journeying back in time to Austen’s Regency Britain. While I cannot imagine being tempted myself, unless guaranteed a round-trip ticket, the idea of a virtual visit to... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Katie Jackson: Historical romance readers, rejoice! Sarah M. Eden has graciously reunited us with those best friends who are like brothers in Book 2 of her Georgian-era The Gents series, Lily of the Valley. Grumpy Uncle “The Gents were something of a miracle in his life. They’d saved him from a... Continue Reading →
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