When coffee was over Colonel Fitzwilliam reminded Elizabeth of having promised to play to him; and she sat down directly to the instrument. He drew a chair near her. Lady Catherine listened to half a song, and then talked, as before, to her other nephew; till the latter walked away from her, and moving with... Continue Reading →
All Things Austen, by Kirstin Olsen – A Review
Did you know that a phaeton was one of the most dangerous carriages used in the Georgian and Regency period? Its tall design and overall lightness made it vulnerable to tipping, and may be one of the reasons why Jane Austen chose to use it in the carriage accident scene in her early novel Love... Continue Reading →
Intimations of Austen, by Jane Greensmith – A Review
Gentle Readers, please do not be fooled! Neatly tucked into this slim volume are nine short stories entitled "Intimations of Austen", and not "Imitations of Austen", which on first glance at the thin and fluid type face on the cover stopped me cold! To imitate Jane Austen would be only a forgery! I am happy to... Continue Reading →
Austen at Large: Virginia Claire returns home from the Jane Austen Centre
Back In Jane Austen Mode Hello There Again! It is wonderful to be writing again after Christmas break. I am back at school settling in to my routine of classes and being a normal college student. I can't even begin to say how much I miss the Jane Austen Centre though. I miss it and the... Continue Reading →
Jane Austen Biographer: Mary Augusta Austen-Leigh
Was Jane Austen a Moralist? No! many of her fervent admirers will exclaim - 'Thank Heaven - that she was not!' Her mission was to amuse, to delight, to refresh us - but neither to reprove nor to condemn us! Those who want 'Moral Tales' must seek them elsewhere; they are not to be found... Continue Reading →
Two Guys Read Jane Austen, by Steve Chandler and Terrence N. Hill – A Review
"Jane's got more adoring female fans than Brad Pitt, and my guess is they're more intelligent too!" Terrence Hill Given the choice of reading Pride and Prejudice or watching a football game, which do you think the average all American male would choose? If this is a no brainer, you have recognized the male/female divide... Continue Reading →
Who Wants Mr. Darcy Hanging Around Your House – – All the Time?
The portrait of actor Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy in the 1995 miniseries of Pride and Prejudice is on the block on January 21st through Bonhams Auction House in London and available to the highest bidder. This may very well be the ultimate Darcy fan collectible. Not only is it a portrait of Colin Firth... Continue Reading →
Jane Austen Illustrators: Maximilien Vox
"And by my treatment of the pictures I have tried to attune myself to an art which never stresses, records only the essential, draws rather than paints: an art which aims at grace and rhythm rather than at intensity of expression." Maximilien Vox on Jane Austen Many book illustrators have attempted to interpret Jane Austen's... Continue Reading →
Jane Austen Book Sleuth: New Books in the Queue for January 2009
The Austen book sleuth is happy to inform Janeites that Austen inspired books are heading our way in January, so keep your eyes open for these new titles. Fiction (prequels, sequels, retellings, variations, or Regency inspired) Frederica, by Georgette Heyer. Accolades to Sourcebooks for taking up the banner and reissuing thirteen Georgette Heyer novels to... Continue Reading →
The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet, by Colleen McCullough – A Review
But now that I am free, I have no wish to experience any of those things. All that I want is to be of use, to have a purpose. To have something to do that would make a difference. But will I be let? No. My elder sisters and their grand husbands will descend upon... Continue Reading →
Sarah Chauncey Woolsey an admirer of Jane Austen
It would have excited in her an amused incredulity, no doubt, had any one predicted that two generations after her death the real recognition of her powers was to come. Time, which like desert sands has effaced the footprints of so many promising authors, has, with her, served as the desert wind, to blow aside... Continue Reading →
Merry Christmas from Austenprose
"I sincerely hope your Christmas in Hertfordshire may abound in the gaieties which that season generally brings, and that your beaux will be so numerous as to prevent your feeling the loss of the three of whom we shall deprive you." Caroline Bingley, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 21 Cheers & many abounding gaieties of the season,... Continue Reading →