Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: In celebration of the #janeausten250 there will be several new books to honor her sestercentennial. Topping my list of must reads is Wild for Austen, by Devoney Looser releasing in September from St. Martin's Press. Looser is the author of mutliple nonfiction literary criticisims and biographies of 18th... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: Have you ever wondered what Emma Woodhouse’s life would have been like after she married Mr. Knightley at the conclusion of Jane Austen’s novel? Would she continue to be the misapplying matchmaker we saw in Emma, or would her husband’s influence send her in a new direction? Since... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: Happy news, Janeites! Natalie Jenner, the author of the international bestselling novel, The Jane Austen Society, has just revealed the cover of her new novel, Austen at Sea. It is a stunner, and I am pleased to share it with you here today along with the description of... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: I had the pleasure of visiting England in 2013 on a Jane Austen pilgrimage. Our first stop in London was the British Library. While the building’s architecture is very modern, I can assure you it houses a treasure trove of books and related materials representing a nation’s proud... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: *throws confetti* Pride and Prejudice turns 211 today. Many Jane Austen fans are celebrating #PrideandPrejudiceDay online and at Jane Austen’s House Museum (the most treasured Austen site in the world) in Chawton, England. Please join the party with my humble contribution honoring my love of the novel, its... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Sophia Rose:  When tempting this Austen lover with a new book, one merely need mention that it is based on real life figures in Jane Austen’s life, and I am hooked. By making it a governess’ tale with a mysterious past, I am well-nigh bewitched. I settled in eager for... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: What do we know about Jane Austen’s love life? Very little. The information that survives is found in her personal letters and from family recollections. Apart from the one proposal by Harris Bigg-Wither, no other known romances or love affairs were documented. For someone who wrote so perceptively... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress:Â Happy Friday, dear readers. How is your holiday shopping going? I find that when there are so many gift editions of classic novels available, it is difficult to choose. Here's my criteria for narrowing down the field: A beautifully designed cover and interior. Easy-to-read text. An author bio,... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: Have you ever read a book and felt an immediate infinity to the author—like they were your best friend and had written the book just for you? It doesn’t happen very often for me, but it did when I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time many... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: Let me ask you a serious question, Janeites. How many copies of Pride and Prejudice do you own? Fess up. Five, ten, twenty—or more than you will publicly admit to? I fear that I fall into the latter category, having collected new and vintage copies of the classic... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Sophia Rose: Compiling his thoughts on the first three of Jane Austen’s published novels, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park, author Robert Rodi fires a broadside at the swooning, sugary sentimentality of the modern Jane Austen fan craze. He is appalled that such a group has turned a... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Tracy Hickman: Was Jane Austen a radical? Was she sympathetic to the “radical reforms” of Charles James Fox and others that included universal male suffrage, the abolition of slavery, and women’s rights? Few would readily place her in the company of Thomas Paine, William Godwin, or Mary Wollstonecraft, but perhaps that... Continue Reading →
