From the desk of Lucy Warriner: If your lost love returned with no recollection of the dispute that separated you, how would you react? If you had a second chance at happiness with him, would you divulge your tumultuous past? Anne Elliot faces these questions in Captain Wentworth Home from the Sea, Mary Lydon Simonsen’s... Continue Reading →
The Garden Intrigue: A Pink Carnation Novel (Book9), by Lauren Willig – A Review
From the desk of Jeffrey Ward: Eloise Kelly is in England researching her dissertation on English espionage during the Napoleonic Wars; especially a shadowy figure known only as the Pink Carnation. Eloise’s friendship with Colin Selwick (whose ancestry included spies who worked with this secret agent) has permitted Eloise access to the family’s carefully guarded... Continue Reading →
April Lady, by Georgette Heyer – A Review
From the desk of by Laura A. Wallace: Georgette Heyer's April Lady is the last re-issue by Sourcebooks of Heyer's novels. (The very last is Pistols for Two, a collection of short stories.) Originally published in 1957, it is comfortably set within the Regency period that she had made her own. The setting is London,... Continue Reading →
Mr. Darcy’s Letter: A Pride & Prejudice Variation, by Abigail Reynolds – A Review
From the desk of Christina Boyd: In this latest self-published offering from the Pride & Prejudice variation author, Abigail Reynolds’s, Mr. Darcy’s Letter responds to the query: What might have happened had Elizabeth Bennet never accepted Mr. Darcy’s letter that defended his actions in separating his friend from her sister and acquitted him of any... Continue Reading →
Death Comes to Pemberley, by P. D. James – A Review
I consider it more than a bit perplexing when an author begins their book with an apology. In this case, it is to author Jane Austen for using her characters. Since Death Comes to Pemberley is a sequel to Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, it is like apologizing for snow being cold. If you are going... Continue Reading →
Sprig Muslin, by Georgette Heyer – A Review
From the desk of Laura A. Wallace: Georgette Heyer’s Sprig Muslin is one of her most entertaining Regency novels. It is a “road book,” full of adventures, comical situations, and fun characters. At the outset, I must beg anyone who leaves a comment to avoid spoilers. New readers should have the pleasure of discovering Amanda’s... Continue Reading →
His Good Opinion: A Mr. Darcy Novel, by Nancy Kelley – A Review
From the desk of by Christina Boyd: Debut author Nancy Kelley’s self-published novel, His Good Opinion, A Mr. Darcy Novel, is the parallel story to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, told from this male protagonist’s point of view. Fatigued from London’s matchmaking mamas, Darcy never imagined a country miss could captivate him and yet, while... Continue Reading →
6 Jane Austen-inspired Holiday Stories
Tis the season to ring in the holiday spirit, and what better way to do so with than with a Jane Austen-inspired Christmas story? Here is a selection of novels and short stories from the past year that you might consider cozying up to with hot tea and festive holiday cookies on a cold evening... Continue Reading →
The Unexpected Miss Bennet, by Patrice Sarath – A Review
From the desk of Jeffrey Ward: Mary Bennet, that plain, pedantic, priggish, middle sister from Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice, who gave us deadpan lines such as, “I admire the activity of your benevolence…but every impulse of feeling should be guided by reason; and, in my opinion, exertion should always be in proportion... Continue Reading →
Christmas at Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Holiday Sequel, by Regina Jeffers – A Review
From the desk of Aia A. Hussein The author of several Jane Austen adaptations, including Darcy’s Passions and Darcy’s Temptation among others, Regina Jeffers returns with the appropriately-timed release of Christmas at Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Holiday Sequel. Historically situated in Regency England, before the holiday season evolved into its present monumental proportions, Jeffers’... Continue Reading →
A Civil Contract, by Georgette Heyer – A Review
From the desk of Laura A. Wallace: A Civil Contract is an atypical Georgette Heyer novel. While the setting is firmly Regency, beginning at the time of the Battle of Orthez (February 1814) and ending with that of Waterloo (June 1815), it is neither lively nor witty. It is a quiet book, with a love... Continue Reading →
Sense and Sensibility: The Jane Austen Bicentenary Library, by Jane Austen, annotated by Margaret C. Sullivan, illustrated by Cassandra Chouinard – A Review
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: As 2011 marks the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, we are offered another annotated edition to help us understand the social and historical context of the world that Jane Austen places us into in late eighteenth century England. The Sense and Sensibility... Continue Reading →