Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
Happy news for Janeites and gaming fans… The venerable BBC, who have brought us the monumental mini-series of Pride and Prejudice in 1995 and 1980 and many other classic film adaptations, announced today that they will be releasing a new Jane Austen-inspired interactive game, Rogues and Romance, for Facebook next month. Developed in partnership with... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Lucy Warriner: If your lost love returned with no recollection of the dispute that separated you, how would you react? If you had a second chance at happiness with him, would you divulge your tumultuous past? Anne Elliot faces these questions in Captain Wentworth Home from the Sea, Mary Lydon Simonsen’s... Continue Reading →
Guest review by Shelley DeWees – The Uprising With her husband’s solemn assurances that he did not regret his marriage to her as the cause of no heir, his generous and reasonable reflections on the matter, and his half-jest that , ‘should Georgiana never marry, one of the Bingley boys will do very well,’ Elizabeth... Continue Reading →
We have a special treat in store for you today. Please help us welcome New York Times best-selling author Shannon Hale. She has graciously fit us into her very busy promotional schedule and answered a few probing questions about her new Austen-inspired novel, Midnight in Austenland, and the new movie in production of her first... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Jeffrey Ward: Eloise Kelly is in England researching her dissertation on English espionage during the Napoleonic Wars; especially a shadowy figure known only as the Pink Carnation. Eloise’s friendship with Colin Selwick (whose ancestry included spies who worked with this secret agent) has permitted Eloise access to the family’s carefully guarded... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Kimberly Denny-Ryder: I’ve often wondered what modern day psychiatric medicine would say about some of my favorite literary characters. Are they bi-polar? Do they suffer from ADHD, depression, or a form of autism? Author Nina Benneton explores what a modern day Darcy would be like, suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder in... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Christina Boyd: Best-selling author of Austenland, and soon to be motion picture of same, Shannon Hale, takes us on another retreat to England in her latest offering, Midnight in Austenland. When the nice American Charlotte Kinder married a nice man named James in a nice wedding, later giving birth to and... Continue Reading →
Guest review by Br. Paul Byrd, OP Hidden like gems among the pages of [Dickens’] novels are numerous religious images and biblical references: in Great Expectations, Pip praying for the Lord to be merciful to Abel Magwitch, a sinner and formidable criminal; in Bleak House, the image of Christ ‘stooped down, writing with his finger... Continue Reading →
We are basically a tried and true Janeite, but quietly confess to admiration of another nineteenth-century novelist also born in Hampshire; - Charles Dickens. His style is entirely different than the witty underpinnings of our beloved Miss Austen, but one cannot ignore his fabulous characterizations and amazing plot twists. Today is the bicentenary of Dickens’... Continue Reading →
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 →
Gentle readers: We are happy to add the story of another conversion to Jane to our monthly column, Reading Austen. Today’s guest blog is by Dara Schnuelle, who shares her personal story of how she discovered Jane Austen and why reading her novels is so special for her. Ask almost any high school student his... Continue Reading →
Jane Austen’s indisputable influence continues, so much so, that she shows up as a character in Alyssa Goodnight’s new, innovative novel Austentatious. Please join us today in welcoming Alyssa as she visits during her blog tour in celebration of the release of Austentatious, published this month by Kensington Books. In this humorous guest blog, Alyssa... Continue Reading →
