Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
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. This is probably due to the fact that I grew up near NYC and... Continue Reading →
“True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision.” – Edith Wharton Edith Wharton, Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, designer, and taste-setter of her time was born 150 years ago today. Huzzah! Renowned for her novels: The House of Mirth (1905), Ethan Frome (1911), The Age of Innocence (1920),... Continue Reading →
Happy New Year Janeites! 2012 promises to be a glorious Jane-packed reading extravaganza for Austenesque and Regency fans. In the next few months we are looking forward to several novels: the debut of Austentatious, by Alyssa Goodnight (January 31), a new mystery, Midnight in Austenland, by Shannon Hale (Jan 31), and Jane Vows Vengeance: A... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Br. Paul Byrd, OP: ‘What is it that you read now?’ Mrs. Cobbold gestured to the volume on Harriet’s lap. ‘Another stupid book.’ Harriet put it down. ‘First Impressions is its title; and by A Lady, as usual.’ ‘It does not divert you?’ ‘Divert me, Aunt! I have no wish to... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Christina Boyd: "…She ruffles her readers by nothing vehement, disturbs him by nothing profound: the Passions are perfectly unknown to her… what throbs fast and full, though hidden, what the blood rushes through… this Miss Austen ignores... if this is heresy – I cannot help it.” Charlotte Bronte in a letter... Continue Reading →
We have several of Oxford World’s Classics editions in our library and are quite partial to their expanded editions. From Austen to Radcliffe to Burney to Gaskell, whatever they take on, their introductions and supplemental material are excellent. The news of this new revised paperback edition of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford is quite exciting. Due out... Continue Reading →
Head's up for literature lovers. The Duchess of Devonshire's Gossip Guide to the 18th Century Blog is hosting a group read of Evelina or the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World, by Frances Burney during the month of June, 2011. Evelina is an epistolary novel in three volumes written by English novelist,... Continue Reading →
Happy New Year Janeites. 2011 promises to be a joyous year for Jane Austen fans. The bicentenary of Sense and Sensibility should keep Jane Austen in the limelight and publishers keen to feed our need to read more Austen inspired fare. There are many books in the queue that we are looking forward to reading:... Continue Reading →
We are adding the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2011 to our “to do” list for next year. There won’t really be much more effort on our part since we will be reading many Regency-era books anyway, and we do like the notion of amalgamating all our reading for next year into multiple reading challenges. It... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: Occasionally, I am tempted to read outside my Austenesque book sphere when high praise and an engaging book description influences my TBR (to be read) pile. It has taken me over six months to get to Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. My only regret is that I put it... Continue Reading →
"He shrank from hearing Margaret's very name mentioned; he, while he blamed her--while he was jealous of her--while he renounced her--he loved her sorely, in spite of himself." Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South 2010 marks the bicentenary of mid-Victorian novelist and short story writer Elizabeth Gaskell’s birth on September 29th, 1810 near London. Best known... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: As the month-long Celebrating Georgette Heyer event draws to a close, we can look back through the thirty-four reviews of Heyer’s romance novels and see a common thread through each and every one. Her heroes are epitomes, nonpareils, and nonesuches. In the Regency romance genre, they are a... Continue Reading →
