WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN EAT?

  

(from guest blogger Virginia Cunningham)

Jane Austen, the author of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey and Emma has become something of a symbol for old England to many people. The time Austen lived in was actually known as the Regency period or Regency era.

While much of what we consider to be part of traditional English culture was formed in this era, many of the customs and traditions of the time bear little resemblance to anything we might think of as traditionally English. Some food items, like the still-prepared roast beef and vegetables, were introduced during the Regency period, while others have long been forgotten. In fact, they might even be considered strange by today’s standards.

Jane Austen, who lived a relatively modest life, often would have prepared her own meals along with her family. To shed some light on this version of England that no longer exists, let’s take a look at some of the foods Austen and others would have eaten during that time.

Why Every Relationship is Like Elizabeth and Darcy’s

(by guest blogger Ken Meyers)  I have read and reread Pride and Prejudice. I just love it. I love it so much that I have also read many of the fan fiction based on the classic story, have seen all the film adaptations, and even checked out the YouTube videos about it. There is just something so compelling about the relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. I mean, by all rights in this modern era there should not be that same draw, but there is. I think the story still holds true because our modern relationships have not really changed that much from theirs. Although we might not be dating to find a rich mate who can take care of us, we still have the same misunderstandings and miscommunication snag up our relationship progression. Here are a few reasons why I think that every relationship is, in some ways, like the one between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy:

SANDY LERNER IN AMSTERDAM TO CELEBRATE 200 YEARS OF PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

(by guest blogger Monica Cardinale) On June 23, at the Geelvinck Hinlopen Huis Museum in Amsterdam, Sandy Lerner gave a talk about her book "Second Impressions" (a Pride & Prejudice sequel she published as Ava Farmer), a book that took her 26 years to write, after a lot of reading and research. I particularly liked how she enlightened the audience about the theme of the immobility of women in Persuasion, something she understood after comprehending Austen's use of the noun "laundalette" at the end of the book.  

The event was organized by the Jane Austen Society of The Netherlands to celebrate 200 years of Pride & Prejudice.

I'm glad to share some of my pictures with you Janeite readers of My Jane Austen Book Club. I hope you'll 

like them!

MY OWN MR DARCY BY KAREY WHITE - COVER REVEAL & GIVEAWAY

After being dragged to the 2005 movie Pride and Prejudice by her mother, sixteen-year-old Elizabeth’s life changes when Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy appears on the screen. Lizzie falls hard and makes a promise to herself that she will settle for nothing less than her own Mr. Darcy. This ill-advised pledge threatens to ruin any chance of finding true love. During the six intervening years, she has refused to give any interested suitors a chance. They weren’t Mr. Darcy enough.

Coerced by her roommate, Elizabeth agrees to give the next interested guy ten dates before she dumps him. That guy is Chad, a kind and thoughtful science teacher and swim coach. While she’s dating Chad, her dream comes true in the form of a wealthy bookstore owner named Matt Dawson, who looks and acts like her Mr. Darcy. Of course she has to follow her dream. But as Elizabeth simultaneously dates a regular guy and the dazzling Mr. Dawson, she’s forced to re-evaluate what it was she loved about Mr. Darcy in the first place.

TALKING JANE AUSTEN WITH ... VICTORIA GROSSACK & GIVEAWAY OF THE HIGHBURY MURDERS

Victoria Grossack studied Creative Writing and English Literature at Dartmouth College, and is co-author with Alice Underwood of the Tapestry of Bronze series, novels based on Greek myths and set in the late Bronze Age. She is also the “Crafting Fabulous Fiction” columnist at www.writing-world.com. Visit her website at www.tapestryofbronze.com, or contact her at tapestry (at) tapestryofbronze (dot) com.

Welcome on My JA Book Club, Victoria ! I’m very happy you’ve joined our on line club and you accepted to talk Jane Austen with me.

Your Austen-inspired novel, The Highbury Murders,  is  a  mystery  set it in Emma Woodhouse’s village.  Why Highbury and not Mansfield Park or Longbourn? Is Emma your favourite Austen novel?

First, why Highbury?  I chose Highbury for several reasons. Emma has been described as a detective story without a body – however, there actually is a body, and hence the potential for a mystery. Second, Emma’s active imagination makes her a natural detective. 

Secondly, is Emma my favourite Austen novel? That’s extremely difficult to answer. There’s a maturity in Austen’s three later works – Emma, Mansfield Park and Persuasion – which you don’t find in the three that were written earlier – Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Northanger Abbey. On the other hand, there’s a joy in both Pride and Prejudice and Emma that is absent from the other novels. So, yes, Emma is my favourite but the competition is fierce.

JANE AUSTEN ON STAGE – PROMISE AND PROMISCUITY

Breeches, Bonnets and Big Balls – Interview with Penny Ashton

Penny Ashton is New Zealand’s own global comedienne who has been making a splash on the world stage since 2002 and she has sold out shows from Edinburgh to Adelaide to Edmonton. She has four Best NZ  Female Comedienne nominations, three Adelaide Fringe People’s Choice nominations, a Winnipeg Best in Fringe for Hot Pink Bits and won best performance by an International Poet at the London Farrago Awards.

Penny has represented New Zealand in The World Cup of Theatresports in Germany and Australasia in a Performance Poetry Slam Tournament Tour of the UK. In 2010 she performed by invitation at The Glastonbury Festival and reported from the Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas. 

Hello and welcome to My Jane Austen Book Club, Penny. Can we start saying how you came to discover Jane Austen and her work, first of all?

I must confess to being forced to read Pride and Prejudice in my first year of High School and finding it pretty dull. I, like many others, had a change of heart upon watching 1995’s Pride and Prejudice but even more so because of Ang Lee’s beautiful adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.  I simply adored that film, particularly the character of Marianne. So I am afriad I am  one of “those” people who love her screen adaptations where to my mind they bring to life her best feature, which is her sparkling dialogue.

FATHERS IN JANE AUSTEN

(by guest blogger Victoria Grossack)  

As Father’s Day comes around, celebrated on the third Sunday in June in most, although certainly not all, countries around the world, Jane Austen devotees can contemplate the rich array of fathers portrayed in the author’s works.

By all accounts, Jane Austen had a wonderful relationship with her own father.  He believed in her abilities and encouraged her to read anything and everything in his library.  Despite the excellence of her own father, Jane Austen, by exercising her powers of observation and her lively imagination, created a completely different set of fathers and father figures in her six novels.

The Fathers of the Heroines

Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.  Mr. Bennet has five daughters.  He loves them, especially the heroine, Elizabeth, but not so unconditionally that he is unaware of their shortcomings.  He is witty and insightful but also indolent.  As a father he has been deficient, as he did not save money to buy them husbands, worthless or deserving.  He had not reigned in the excesses of his wife or his younger daughters. Mr. Bennet, perhaps because he is older and therefore wiser, shows more insight into people than do many of the people around him.  He is not taken in by Mr. Wickham, for example; whereas Elizabeth’s mistrust of that officer only occurs after she learns more information.

Best Gifts To Get A Jane Austen Fan

(by guest blogger Marcela de Vivo)

The most difficult aspect of shopping for a committed Jane Austen fan is that they have probably already read all of the Austen books and have seen all of the movies that have been inspired by her work.

There are, in fact, only six books, so it’s probably not a good idea to try and re-gift something that they probably already own or have at least already read through a couple of times.

For the Jane Austen super fan, you’ve got to get a lot more creative than that, and luckily for you, the life and work of Austen has inspired a lot of trinkets, memorabilia and themed products that make great gifts for someone who is a fan of her life and work.

You might have to do some digging, but usually it’ll just take a few minutes online to find some of these products and pinpoint the perfect solution for your Austen fan.

EMMA, MR KNIGHTLEY AND CHILI-SLAW DOGS - DOUBLE GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Brief posting to announce the winners of the two copies of  EMMA, MR KNIGHTLEY AND CHILI-SLAW DOGS, generously provided by the author, Mary Jane Hathaway. 

bn100  wins the paperback

Ceri  will get the kindle e-book version

Congratulations to winner and many grateful thanks to the author for being my guest!

EMMA, MR KNIGHTLEY AND CHILI-SLAW DOGS - INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR MARY JANE HATHAWAY + DOUBLE GIVEWAY

Mary Jane Hathaway is the pen name of an award-nominated writer who spends the majority of her literary energy on subjects un-related to Jane Austen. A homeschooling mother of six young children who rarely wear shoes, she’s madly in love with a man who has never read Pride and Prejudice. She holds degrees in Religious Studies and Theoretical Linguistics, and has a Jane Austen quote on the back of her van. She can be reached on facebook at her regular author page of Virginia Carmichael (which is another pen name, because she’s just that cool). She is here today to meet the readers of My Jane Austen Book Club and present her new " Emma, Mr Knightley and Chili-Slaw Dogs" . She has kindly accepted to answer some of my questions and to grant you a paperback of  Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits or an e-book copy of her new Emma - inspired novel! (check the giveaway details below the interview)

Hello and welcome back to my little corner in the blogosphere! Here's my fist question for you: you seem to be rather appreciative of both Jane Austen and typical Southern  dishes,  Mary Jane. How does this odd pair came to your mind for a series of book?

SPOTLIGHT ON ... LADY HARRIETTE: FITZWILLIAM'S HEART & SOUL BY P.O. DIXON + GIVEAWAY

From the Author

__________________________________________________________

As the story goes in To Have His Cake (and Eat It Too) and its sequel, What He Would Not Do, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam enjoyed making light of his younger cousin Fitzwilliam Darcy’s deep affection for Miss Elizabeth Bennet in what seemed destined to be an unrequited love. After Darcy won Elizabeth’s heart and made her his wife, Richard continued his wont of taunting his love-sick friend.

Now, the proverbial shoe is on the other foot. It’s Darcy’s turn to make light of Richard’s struggles to prove himself worthy of pleasing the woman in his life. Can Richard stay true to his purpose or will the worrisome winds of ill fate intervene?

The Book

Lady Harriette: Fitzwilliam’s Heart & Soul

Past is Prologue …

After his father threatened to cut him off financially for what the Earl of Matlock deemed his son’s debauched, heedless way of life, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam set his cap at young Lady Harriette Middleton. A second son whose habits of taste demanded he marry a woman of substantial means, Richard’s sole intention was securing her dowry. Having entered her bedchamber under the cover of darkness, he set upon his course. He promised to court her, to win her heart, to marry her.

A MIDSUMMER'S MAGIC AND THE REGENCY ERA - INTERVIEW WITH MARY CHASE

Your A Midsummer’s Magic has been re-released as a kindle these days.  What do you think of e-books  as a writer and as a reader?

I’m of two minds about them. As a reader, I prefer paper; however, I have been travelling a great deal lately and carrying a Kindle with a hundred books loaded is a great convenience. I can also get a new book or a sequel within seconds, even while I’m in bed in my pajamas. I will still buy traditional books for my library, especially if they include illustrations, but there is definitely a place for e-books in my life.

A Midsummer’s Magic is a Regency romp.  What is it that you most appreciate of writing historical fiction?

I enjoy the excitement of research, the discipline of adhering to the correct language and cultural norms of a period, and living in this other world as I write.

DANCING LIKE JANE AUSTEN - GUEST POST BY LOUISE SMITH OF RHD

Louise Smith is my guest today to present her group performing dances from different historical periods, Renaissance Historical Dance and to tell us about her incredibly rewarding and entertaining activity.
Renaissance Historical Dance Society (RHD)  is based in Plymouth, Devon, and its members learn and perform dances from four historical periods - Medieval, Elizabethan, Stuart and Regency. Louise is here to tell us about their Regency performances.

As a historical dance group, we cover four separate periods of history, but some of our favourite dances are those from the Regency period.

Interestingly, lots of the dances classed as Regency and the ones you see in the films were actually danced before the Regency period. Minuets and waltzes started to come into favour during the true Regency, when Prince George was declared Prince Regent.

One of our favourite dances shows the transition particularly well – The Duke of Kent’s Waltz is danced as a long-way set, with men and women facing each other. However, there’s the opportunity for men and women to get rather close to each other, more so than in slightly earlier dances. Twice in each verse, men and women step in towards each other with their hands together, before the woman turns under the man’s arm to end up in the other line. You can imagine this truly being a lovers’ dance, with the chance to gaze into your partner’s eyes and get physically closer than would have been allowed in any other polite circumstance. One lady in our group says the bit she enjoys the most about this dance is ‘flirting with her eyes’!

The Duke of Kent’s Waltz is a favourite for another reason too – it’s the only Regency dance we can think of where each pair gets to lead up the centre of the dance, making it really distinctive and good fun too!

ONE THING NEW INTERVIEWS THE AUSTEN HERO OF THE DAY - PROFESSOR MICHAEL CHWE

There’s a famous scene in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in which Mr. Darcy’s aunt, the imperious Lady Catherine de Bourgh, tries -- and fails, spectacularly -- to browbeat the heroine, Elizabeth Bennett, into promising not to marry Mr. Darcy. For Austen fans, Elizabeth’s refusal to make such a promise is just more evidence how smart, strong and sassy a heroine she is.  

For UCLA political science professor Michael Chwe, it’s an example of something else altogether: strategic game theory, or the study of how people optimize choice when interacting with others. In his new book, Jane Austen: Game Theorist, Chwe aims to show that Austen, in fact, was one of the earliest game strategists.

In the case of Pride and Prejudice, Chwe says Lady Catherine’s fatal

flaw lies in her failure to recognize that Elizabeth’s refusal will actually spur Mr. Darcy, who still pines for Elizabeth, into action. As Darcy tells Elizabeth after the fact: “It taught me to hope as I had scarcely ever allowed myself to hope before. I knew enough of your disposition to be certain that, had you been absolutely, irrevocably decided against me, you would have acknowledged it to Lady Catherine, frankly and openly." Chwe says this example of Lady Catherine’s “cluelessness” shows how she is ultimately outsmarted as Elizabeth and Darcy marry.

I asked Chwe how Austen’s strategic thinking is applicable today and to share his favorite example of what he calls “strategic manipulations” -- examples of how her heroines outsmart others -- in her work

(go on reading at One Thing New)

AUTHOR GUEST POST - LANA LONG: WHY I LOVE JANE AUSTEN

As a devoted fan of young adult novels herself, Lana Long is thrilled to be gracing the YA world with her first novel, Finding Favor. Many years of daydreaming and several writing classes and workshops have contributed to the development of Finding Favor as well as to Lana’s inevitable future books. Through her experiences at Lighthouse Writers in Denver, the Big Sur Writing Workshop in California, and the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference, Lana has learned an amazing amount about writing novels. Although writing serves as a relaxing process for Lana, she is also grounded by her family, by her work as a church treasurer, and by volunteering at her kids’ elementary school. She hopes that her books provide readers with the same entertainment she herself finds in YA novels. If you enjoy a good coming-of-age story featuring enthralling characters, check out Finding Favor and read more of Lana’s thoughts at www.lanalongbooks.com. 

Today Lana is our guest to share her love for Jane Austen! Welcome her to our online club!

I can sum it up in one word: escapism.  Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy reading books that deal with hard-hitting issues, issues that are real and difficult, but for the most part watching one nightly newscast can provide enough reality to last a few weeks. When it’s late at night, the kids are sleeping, the dog is sleeping, the husband is sleeping, everything is real quiet and the day’s activities are slipping into memory, I want to spend my last waking minutes in a world that’s interesting, satisfying, and nice. That is why I love Jane Austen.

 

ADAPTING NORTHANGER ABBEY - GUEST POST BY NOEL BYRNE (BOX TALE SOUP)

When we first set out to adapt Northanger Abbey we didn't think too much about the potential difficulties, which was probably a good thing! Austen has so many fans around the world, and you have to respect that in your treatment of the material. It was our enjoyment of the original novel that made us want to adapt it in the first place, and I hope our fondness for Austen's writing comes across in the show. I think some people may look at the production photos and assume it's some kind of spoof, which it absolutely isn't. We use puppets help us tell the story, but they're not remotely incongruous. In fact, thanks to the wonderful way puppetry works, you quickly forget that they're puppets at all, and simply see the characters they're playing.

Fortunately there's a lot of dialogue in the book, some of which can be used verbatim, but then you have to decide how you're going to bridge the gaps and tell the rest of the story. We felt very strongly that the authorial voice was an important part of the novel and a big part of Austen's style – even today her wit feels remarkably fresh and we didn't want to lose any of that, so we ended up with a narrator character. He's quite good fun in fact, and allows a playful connection with the audience too.

MARIA GRACE, ALL THE APPEARANCE OF GOODNESS: GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

Given Good Principles is a three part series that explores what Jane Austen’s’ Pride and Prejudice’ might have looked like if Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth’s prejudice no longer played a central role in their relationship. For both, mentors and situations provide opportunities for reflection and growth, making them very different people when they meet.Our beloved characters remain true to their essentials while they make different and arguably better decisions throughout.

In the first volume of the Given Good Principles series, Darcy’s Decision, Fitzwilliam Darcy faces the challenges presented, when, in the midst of dealing with Wickham’s attempt to compromise Georgiana, he discovers his father’s darkest secrets. With the help of his mentor, Mr. Bradley, Darcy struggles to overcome some of the blackest moments of his life.

In Volume 2, The Future Mrs. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet struggles to reign in her sister when the regiment comes to visit Meryton.  To her shock, she learns that Lydia  has endangered the reputation of the entire family and it is up to her, with the help of her Aunt Gardiner’s advice and Mr. Pierce, the local curate, to keep her family from social ruin.

AUSTEN INSPIRED MOVIES: SOMETHING GOOD, SOMETHING USELESS

It's Friday again. How was your week? Mine was filled with chores, school work, deadlines but with a bit of  Jane Austen. As you know, I love watching movies, especially romantic comedies. If they are Austen–related or Austen-inspired, I literally can’t resist having a look, even when they are introduced to me as not very good. I hardly ever like what I insist on seeing after hearing negative comments,  but I feel the duty to give everything Austen a chance,  so I add  it to my “to be seen” list. This week I've watched one of these films and re-watched a good one I like.

AUSTEN ON STAGE: "FITZWILLIAM LOVES LIZZY" - MEET MAGGIE HERSKOWITZ, PROTAGONIST AND PLAYWRIGHT OF THE SHOW

Maggie Herskowitz came to love Jane Austen thanks to her best friend and being an actress and a playwright has now decided to make one of her dreams come true: to be Elizabeth Bennet in an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice for the stage. She'll be in a very special version that she herself wrote: Fitzwilliam loves Lizzy. Discover more about the show that is going to debut soon in New York City reading Maggie's guest post. If only I didn't live so far ... 

It all started with an apartment in Boston. I shared it with my best friend, a girl whose sister’s first name is “Jane” and whose middle name is “Austen.” No joke. This is the environment into which I was thrust by association with her family. By the time I lived with her nearly two years, I knew more about the Brontes, Emily Dickinson, and Miss Jane Austen than I would have ever thought possible . . . more than I think I ever wanted to know. But she had definitely piqued my interest and brought an author at the edges of my mind to the forefront of my awareness.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS, A BIT OF PREJUDICE AND ... WOW! THE LIZZIE BENNET DIARIES!

I'm stunned at how little I've learnt from reading Pride and Prejudice so many times in my life. Why do I resist the main lesson in it? Never trust first impressions, they may be pretty deceitful and often wrong. But,  nope, I go on and on making the same old mistake. 

Darcy & Lizzie Bennet

I give something, which I already think I won't like,  a quick look and then I dismiss it before even starting actually getting the gist of it and this happens, you know,  because of my  tendency to pre-conceptions. However,  like Lizzie,  I 'm ready to recognize my mistakes, reconsider and fall deeply in love with "what" I proudly rejected at first.

The "what" I'm thinking of is the popular Youtube series "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries" , for  the discovery of which I must thank the persistent warm recommendations of my Janeite pal Monica, who wrote me more than once asking me why I wasn't watching and writing about it.