Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
From the desk of Jennifer Haggerty: When the second book in a series is even better than the first, the third book will be highly anticipated and eagerly sought. If that is not a truth universally acknowledged it is at least true for me, which is why I couldn’t wait to get my hands on... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Sarah Emsley: Is it easier or harder to write if you’re also responsible for feeding and looking after your family? “Composition seems to be impossible, with a head full of joints of mutton and doses of rhubarb,” Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra in September 1816, after a period in... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Jenny Haggerty: With only half a dozen speeches in Pride and Prejudice Mary Bennet still manages to make an impression. Bookish, socially awkward, and prone to moralizing, it’s hard to picture her as the heroine of a romance novel. Though I’d laugh along at her cluelessness Mary has always had my... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Katie Patchell:Â Â What must it be like to be the forgotten sibling? The one, like Mary Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, who is forever being ignored in favor of older and more flawless siblings? Until recently with the focus on Mary Bennet in novels like The Pursuit of Mary Bennet, The... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Kimberly Denny-Ryder: Life is a series of calculations, steps, and decisions that make up all of our experiences. What would happen if we had the ability to see how certain decisions affected the rest of our lives? Would we willingly change our fate and the fates of others or would we... Continue Reading →
Tea passed pleasantly, and nobody seemed in a hurry to move. – Jane Austen, Emma, Chapter 41 Taking tea is so quintessentially British. You cannot think of that noble nation without envisioning its residents with a teacup in one hand and a cucumber sandwich in the other. English novelist Jane Austen mentions tea no less... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Kimberly Denny-Ryder: Mary Lydon Simonsen is one of the most versatile Austen fan fiction writers out there. She’s given us contemporary Pride and Prejudice retellings that take place in WWII England, what-ifs that pose Georgiana Darcy and Anne de Bourgh as matchmakers, stories where Mr. Darcy is a werewolf and one... Continue Reading →
Imagine eating white soup with Mr. Darcy, roast pork with Miss Bates, or scones with Mr. Collins! Just thinking of those dishes transports me back into the scenes in Jane Austen’s novels and makes me smile. In Dinner with Mr. Darcy, food historian Pen Vogler examines Austen’s use of food in her writing, researches ancient... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Lisa Galek: I read a lot of young adult fiction and I notice that there’s often a tendency to feature a female main character who’s smart, sassy, and in control. Of course, these self-confident heroines are important and lots of real-life girls can relate to them. But, some girls are a... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Katie Patchell: Dancing—one of the first things that come to mind when imagining the Regency era. Ballrooms, white gloves, dashing men and beautiful women, weaving in invisible patterns across the floor, surrounded by fragrant flowers and glowing candelabras. But where do these heroes and heroines learn that beautiful and necessary skill?... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Br. Paul Byrd, OP: “Her knowledge of Richardson’s works was such as no one is likely again to acquire, now that the multitude and the merits of our light literature have called off the attention of readers from that great master.” – J.E. Austen-Leigh, Memoir of Jane Austen, Chapter 5 Listed... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Kimberly Denny-Ryder: Contemporary Pride and Prejudice re-tellings are my second favorite types of Jane Austen fan fiction. (What-ifs own my heart!) I love seeing how authors attempt to believably transport Elizabeth, Darcy, and their story into a modern setting. Seeing the juxtaposition of such a timeless story with modern technology and... Continue Reading →
