Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
There are great reading and writing challenges, and literary events in the queue around the blogosphere that have come to my attention. So many in fact, that I decided to combine the announcements into one grand post, so here goes. Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Celebration Maria Grazia at My Jane Austen Book Club is celebrating... Continue Reading →
The Jane Austen book sleuth is happy to inform Janeites that many Austen inspired books are heading our way in August, so keep your eyes open for these new titles. Audio The Convenient Marriage, by Georgette Heyer, read by Richard Armitage In honor of historical romance novelist Georgette Heyer’s birthday this month, I am sure... Continue Reading →
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: During her prolific fifty-three year writing career, British author Georgette Heyer (1902-1974) wrote fifty-six historical fiction, Regency romance and detective fiction novels. She was a pioneer in Regency romance, and is generally attributed by many for establishing the sub-genre that is flourishing today. Stylish, witty and historically accurate,... Continue Reading →
I saw the new movie Julie & Julia this weekend and loved it. The movie follows the real life story of Julie Powell a young woman working as a drone in a government job in New York by day and cooking adventuress by night. Inspired by her favorite chef Julia Child, she embarks on attempting... Continue Reading →
Newsweek magazine has evaluated all the book lists being bantered about and arrived at their own Meta-list of Top 100 Books of All Time. Declaring the best book ever written is tricky business. Who's to say what the best is? We went one step further: we crunched the numbers from 10 top books lists (Modern Library,... Continue Reading →
The Jane Austen book sleuth is happy to inform Janeites that many Austen inspired books are heading our way in June, so keep your eyes open for these new titles. Fiction (prequels, sequels, retellings, variations, or Regency inspired) Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, by Laurie Viera Rigler Twenty two days and counting to... Continue Reading →
"You deserve a longer letter than this; but it is my unhappy fate seldom to treat people so well as they deserve." Jane Austen, 24 December 1798 Jane Austen’s personal correspondence has stirred up controversy since her untimely death in 1817 at age 41. The next year her brother Henry Austen wrote in the ‘Biographical... Continue Reading →
Has Jane Austen risen to a major pop-culture presence? Author Rebecca Dickson confidently thinks so, and her thoughtfully researched and beautifully illustrated new edition Jane Austen: An Illustrated Treasury is quite a persuasive testament. Any doubting Thomas' will be hard pressed to argue against the evidence skillfully presented in this volume. Not only are the... Continue Reading →
Did you know that a phaeton was one of the most dangerous carriages used in the Georgian and Regency period? Its tall design and overall lightness made it vulnerable to tipping, and may be one of the reasons why Jane Austen chose to use it in the carriage accident scene in her early novel Love... Continue Reading →
Was Jane Austen a Moralist? No! many of her fervent admirers will exclaim - 'Thank Heaven - that she was not!' Her mission was to amuse, to delight, to refresh us - but neither to reprove nor to condemn us! Those who want 'Moral Tales' must seek them elsewhere; they are not to be found... Continue Reading →
"Jane's got more adoring female fans than Brad Pitt, and my guess is they're more intelligent too!" Terrence Hill Given the choice of reading Pride and Prejudice or watching a football game, which do you think the average all American male would choose? If this is a no brainer, you have recognized the male/female divide... Continue Reading →
The Austen book sleuth is happy to inform Janeites that Austen inspired books are heading our way in January, so keep your eyes open for these new titles. Fiction (prequels, sequels, retellings, variations, or Regency inspired) Frederica, by Georgette Heyer. Accolades to Sourcebooks for taking up the banner and reissuing thirteen Georgette Heyer novels to... Continue Reading →
