Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
From the desk of Tracy Hickman:Â I have been fascinated with history since I was a child. Learning about people and events from the past has helped me better understand my own life and the world around me. While there can be a temptation to look back at a period of history and think that... Continue Reading →
There are hundreds of Austenesque books inspired by Jane Austen’s characters; namely featuring Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy who really dominate the field. Interestingly, there are few inspired by the authoress herself. Bestselling author Syrie James has written two: The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen (2007) and Jane Austen's First Love (2014); and Shannon Winslow... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: There is something intriguing to readers and writers about an unfinished work by an author that they admire. Everyone wants closure in their life, and certainly in their fiction! Therefore, I was very excited to learn that there would be a new novel completing Jane Austen’s unfinished fragment... Continue Reading →
Today is the official launch day for the second fantasy novel in the Austen Adventures series, The Unexpected Past of Miss Jane Austen, by Ada Bright and Cass Grafton. Congratulations to the authors. This novel includes heroine Rose Wallace and her beau Aiden Trevellyan who we were introduced to in book one, The Particular Charm... Continue Reading →
The late eighteenth-century is one of my favorite eras in history. England and France and America were all in turmoil—fighting with each other, and internally. While Britain tried to maintain its colonies in America, France’s people were resisting their government and the aristocrats that ruled them. The outcome in America was the defeat of British... Continue Reading →
Between 1870 and 1914, there were at least a hundred marriages of American heiresses to British peers. Fueled by microeconomics—supply and demand—American industrial tycoons bought position, prestige, and coronets by bartering their daughter’s dowries to cash-strapped aristocrats. One transatlantic trade was Brooklynn born Jeanette “Jennie” Jerome. In 1874 she became one of the first “dollar... Continue Reading →
Hold on to your bonnets historical fiction fans! Today is the official debut of Julian Fellowes’ Belgravia, a new serialized novel by Downton Abbey’s creator/writer. Set in London in the early Victorian-era, the story follows one family’s life and how a secret from twenty-five years earlier, changed them forever. Austenprose is honored to be the... Continue Reading →
Downton Abbey may have ended but its creator/writer Julian Fellowes has not missed a beat. The multiple award-winning screenwriter, playwright, and TV show creator has a new novel called Belgravia to fill that huge whole in our hearts when the sixth and final season of Downton concluded in the US last March. Breaking new ground... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Jenny Haggerty: Open any of Jane Austen’s six completed novels and you’re guaranteed a moving story told with wit and insight, but what fan doesn’t wish Austen had time to complete more books. That’s why I treasure well done Austen-inspired fiction, so when I discovered Ann Mychal had written Brinshore, her... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Pamela Mingle: If you’re like me, you are spending your Sundays killing time until Poldark lights up the TV screen. When I learned that Season One would be based on Winston Graham’s first two books in the series, Ross Poldark, and Demelza, I was determined to read them before viewing the adaptation.... Continue Reading →
"They like you." proclaims Demelza to Ross. No kidding, sweetie! Last week, episode three of Poldark began with Ross re-opening his family copper mine, Demelza catching his eye while dancing at a local villager’s wedding, Jim’s trial for poaching ending badly, and Ross, after a hellish day arguing with Demelza while trying to resist the... Continue Reading →
        It’s always a red-letter day to bibliophiles when books originally published eons ago get a new life and a new audience. It usually takes a major television series or movie for this to happen. In the case of Jane Austen, we have seen new tie-in editions for Pride... Continue Reading →
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