From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: A new Jane Austen adaptation/continuation written by Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice 1995) debuted last night in the US on Masterpiece PBS. Inspired by an unfinished novel that Austen began shortly before her death in 1817, Sanditon, the original novel, the television series, and the novelization by Kate... Continue Reading →
Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance, by Jennieke Cohen — A ReviewÂ
From the desk of Debbie Brown: Set in 1817 Regency England, Dangerous Alliance has a teen-aged heroine who is a devotee of Jane Austen’s first published novels. As her childhood playmate Tom Sherborne observes: “She was still very much like the girl he remembered who’d believed in fairy stories, except now she believed in the... Continue Reading →
Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things, by Jacqueline Firkins — A Review
From the desk of Katie Patchell For all its stylistic elegance and its iron-backboned heroine, Mansfield Park is the black sheep of the Jane Austen canon. It’s the book most likely to be placed at the bottom of “Which is your favorite Austen novel?” polls. Public opinion hovers somewhere between “That’s a book by Jane... Continue Reading →
Matters of the Heart, by Fiona Palmer — A Review
From the desk of Sophia Rose: One of the brilliant things about modern retellings is the amusement in discovering the similarities in the characters and scenes to the original while still getting a unique flavor to the story by seeing them in a new setting. Fiona Palmer's, Matters of the Heart, a modern retelling of... Continue Reading →
The Making of Jane Austen, by Devoney Looser—A Review
From the desk of Katie Patchell: I remember what I felt when I discovered that Jane Austen was not famous in her lifetime: Outright shock. I had been a self-proclaimed Janeite for years when I discovered this fact. I had read her books multiple times, collected movie adaptations, researched and written papers about her novels... Continue Reading →
Polite Society: A Novel, by Mahesh Rao–A Review
From the desk of Katie Patchell: I have loved Jane Austen’s Emma for as long as I can remember. Yes—I mean that literally. When I was six, my first introduction to the Regency and the magnificent world of Jane Austen began with a battered VHS copy (Gwyneth Paltrow/Jeremy Northam version) and, well, has never ended.... Continue Reading →
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors: A Novel, by Sonali Dev — A Review
Recently I pulled Pemberley, or Pride and Prejudice Continued, by Emma Tennant off my bookshelf. I was feeling nostalgic after looking at my “to be read” pile of new Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice retellings that have or will hit bookstores this year. It was one of the first P&P inspired novels that I read... Continue Reading →
Lost Roses: A Novel, by Martha Hall Kelly – A Review
A book review of LOST ROSES, bestselling author Martha Hall Kelly, second historical fiction novel set in Paris, New York and St. Petersburg during WWI and the Russian Revolution.
Yuletide: A Jane Austen-Inspired Collection of Stories, edited by Christina Boyd – A Review
A book review of Yuletide, a new short story anthology edited by Christina Boyd created to benefit Chawton House near Alton, England.
What Kitty Did Next, by Carrie Kablean – A Review
a book review of What Litty Did Next by Carrie Kablean - a continuation inspired by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice character Kitty Bennet
Regency Spies: Secret Histories of Britain’s Rebels & Revolutionaries, by Sue Wilkes – A Review
From the desk of Stephanie Barron: PARANOIA RUNS DEEP From the moment I saw the title of Sue Wilkes’s latest book, Regency Spies (Pen & Sword Books, 2015), I was desperate to get my hot little hands on a copy. In a distant chapter of my life I was trained in espionage by the CIA,... Continue Reading →
Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice, by Curtis Sittenfeld – A Review
From the desk of Tracy Hickman: Jane Austen is a tough act to follow and that is exactly what the Austen Project asks contemporary authors to do: reimagine one of Austen’s novels in the here and now. Curtis Sittenfeld, the author of four novels including Prep and American Wife, was chosen to take on Austen’s... Continue Reading →