TO AUSTENLAND AND BACK TO REALITY

I have been posting about it  for a while on My Jane Austen Book Club facebook page: pictures, news, trailers, clips, interviews,  whatever I could find about it. Expectations and anticipations grew my wish to see it. Now it is time to write my review. Ready to join me to Austenland ? 

I was really curious about this movie - though I haven't read the book so far -  so I watched it as soon as I grabbed my copy of the DVD and it was an actually funny ride through Austen-fandom-fairy-land. What do

JANE AUSTEN AND THE ARCHANGEL - QUICK CHAT WITH PAMELA AARES & GIVEAWAY

“Jane Austen and the Archangel-- Jane Finds True Love!

My Jane Austen Book Club is featuring a quick chat with author Pamela Aares to remind you that Jane Austen and the Archangel is on sale for a limited time on Amazon for $.99! Grab your copy now or take your chances to win an ebook copy in the rafflecopter form below this post.

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You were working on an entirely different book in a different time period when you began work on Jane Austen and the Archangel. How’d that happen?

I was putting the finishing touches on a historical romance set in 1851 (The Lady and the Patriot coming out in Fall/Winter 2014), complete with loads of daring adventures around the globe, a hot, hunky American hero and feisty English heiress with a nose for natural history, when a flash of golden light kept appearing at the same time every day in my new home in the country.

VALENTINE'S DAY AT PEMBERLEY OR DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY DVD IS OUT!

Yep! I decided to spend a few hours at Pemberley today. The excitement of young Valentine's Days gone, nothing's better than a journey into romance and mystery. Dreams and old memories, do they really help on Valentine's Day? I'm not in a bad mood, not sad nor unhappy, not melancholic nor nostalgic. So the answer is, DEFINITELY YES, they helped a lot.   I played  my new DVDs  and  off I went on a very romantic Valentine voyage.   All alone,  but not truly.

I had already seen Death Comes to Pemberley when it was on BBC One during last Christmas holidays but to re-watch it has given me the chance to enjoy little details that had gone missed at a first view. 

Death Comes to Pemberley, P. D. James's sequel to Pride and Prejudice, is now available on DVD  ( check it out HERE)  and you can watch it on your TV or computer screen as many times as you wish and add it to your Austen - inpired DVD collection. 

This mini-series has  been a pleasant surprise for me, since I didn't expect to like it much. I wasn't that fond of P.D. James 's murder mystery set at Pemberley when I read it,  so I was ready to be bored and even more disappointed by its TV adaptation. Instead, in my opinion,  Juliette Towhidi's script improved the plot, enriching it with short flashbacks and giving it a fast paced rhythm it didn't have. 

MR DARCY'S PROMISE - BLOG HOP & GIVEAWAY

Hello and welcome to Mr Darcy's Promise Blog Hop! I hope you remember Jeanna Ellsworth and her P&P - inspired book. "Both" were my guests here at My Jane Austen Book Club not long ago (check out my interview HERE). Jeanna has now invited me to join the fun of a Valentine's Blog Hop to give you all,  dear readers, the chance to buy her novel at an extraordinarily cheap price or  to win and read her Mr Darcy's Promise. 

Here are your chances:

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE PREQUEL FREE FOR VALENTINE'S DAY!

200 years after the publication of Pride and Prejudice, Melanie Kerr is giving away the eBook of her new novel, whichtreats readers to the complete and dramatic history of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham. Follies Past:a Prequel to Pride and Prejudice, will be available to download for free HERE  from February 10 – 14, 2014. 

To read this book is to step back into the charming world of Jane Austen’s England, to pass a few more hours with some of her beloved characters, sympathetically portrayed as they might have been before ever they came to Netherfield.

In Pride and Prejudice, everything hinges on a letter which Mr. Darcy gives Elizabeth - a letter setting forth all his dealings with Mr. Wickham. These facts, supplied by Austen herself, are at the heart ofFollies Past. The drama begins almost a year before the opening of Pride and Prejudice itself, at Pemberley, at Christmas. We follow young Georgiana Darcy to London, to Ramsgate and to the brink of a perilous elopement. Along the way, readers will discover a host of new characters, with compelling histories of their own.Authentic in its use of language andmeticulously researched, Follies Past is a truly diverting entertainment.

MEET AUTHOR SAMANTHA JAYNE ADKINS & WIN HER AUSTEN-INSPIRED BOOKS

My relationship with Jane Austen began on T.V.  In fact, when I finally read Pride and Prejudice and university, I wrote a paper complaining how the 1995 BBC version got it better.  How embarrassing.  However, I still hear people bemoan the language of Jane Austen, and Shakespeare for that matter.  For those of us who read either writer for pleasure, this can be difficult to understand, but as a teacher and fan, I often encourage struggling students to start with the movies. 

                My own foray into Jane Austen fan-fiction was inspired by a PBS marathon of Jane Austen adaptations.  Every Sunday night for several months, once my babies were tucked into bed, I settled into the couch in the middle of a long Canadian winter to indulge in the fantasy of a flower-speckled English countryside filled with lively characters and plot twists.  At some point, I thought to myself “What if there were a sequel to Pride and Prejudice?”  I had no idea at the time that hundreds of Jane Austen-themed books already existed, or I probably would have just bought one, but I was between novel projects and thought I’d write a sequel as a short story for my sister’s upcoming birthday.

                Shortly into my “short story”, I realized I would need a lot more space that a short story offered.  I wrote furiously, daydreaming about the book when I wasn’t writing.  I could only offer my sister the first volume by her birthday, which I printed off my computer with a cover featuring photos I copied and pasted from the internet.  I was able to give her the second and third volume within a year, but I was already thinking others might like to read the book I was calling “Expectations.” 

ELIZABETH'S BENNET FORGOTTEN SISTER - INTERVIEW WITH PAMELA MINGLE

The anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice has recently had Jane Austen fans around the world celebrating Elizabeth, Darcy, and the entire Bennet clan--well, perhaps not the entire clan. Mary Bennet, the bookish and often forgotten middle sister, gets a well-deserved fleshing out in author Pamela Mingle’s sequel to Austen’s works: The Pursuit of Mary Bennet. 

Read Kelly Gallucci's  interview with Pamela Mingle from Bookish Blog  

(thanks to Bookish Blog for wanting to share at My Jane Austen Book Club) 

GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY : THE COMPANION OF HIS FUTURE LIFE BY JACK CALDWELL

Hello, everybody, Jack Caldwell here. It’s been a while since I’ve been here. Last time I talked about my grand sequel to Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility, THE THREE COLONELS – Jane Austen’s Fighting Men.

Today, I’m going to introduce my latest book, a comic re-imagining of Pride & Prejudice called THE COMPANION OF HIS FUTURE LIFE.

Some of you may recognize this title. It was on the fan fiction boards several year ago, and was warmly received. For those unfamiliar with the book, I’ll give you a short synopsis.

One of the great "what-ifs" among Pride & Prejudice aficionados is: If Mr. Collins married Mary Bennet instead of Charlotte Lucas, how would that influence Mr. Darcy's dogged pursuit of the elusive Elizabeth?

I take that thought and run with it. In my story, Mr. Collins decides that a pretty and pious Mary would make him a better wife than a lovely and lively Lizzy. Because Mary is now living in Hunsford as Mrs. Collins, Jane joins Elizabeth visiting Rosings Park at Easter. Yep, Jane’s in Hunsford, too, right when Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam visit. Does that mean Jane is there when Colonel Big-Mouth spills the beans about Mr. Bingley? What do you think?

COUPLES WHOSE LOVE REMINDS US OF ELIZABETH AND DARCY

(from Bookish)

In vain they struggled, but it wouldn’t do. Their feelings would not be repressed, and as readers, we eagerly read on as their love overcame them and finally culminated in a moment of passion and truth. It's hard to believe it's been over 200 years since the publication of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. In honor of this anniversary, allow us to share how ardently we admire and love these literary lovers who remind us of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.

1.Tiger Lily

Though Neverland is “the second star to the right and straight on til morning” from the world of the English aristocracy, the same difficulties of love exist. Like Lizzie, Peter is energetic, social, and doesn’t often take in evidence that shakes his view of the world. Tiger Lily shares Mr. Darcy's stoicism and aloofness. Competition between these couples is fierce, with Darcy and Lizzie trying to best each other through wit, while neither Peter nor Tiger Lily would stand to be second bravest. All four should have “stubborn” as their middle names.

2. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows

“It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the ‘gar’ nice and long.” Since the day they met, Ron and Hermione have been getting under each other’s skin. It took them six years to get it together, so that when they first kissed at the end of the final Harry Potter book, there was not a single person who didn’t shout, “Finally!” Not even Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth were that stubborn. It’s easy to imagine that if Lizzie was a witch, she’d have sent conjured canaries at Mr. Darcy’s head, too.

TALKING JANE AUSTEN WITH ... AUTHOR JOANA STARNES + DOUBLE GIVEAWAY OF THE SUBSEQUENT PROPOSAL

Hello  Joana. I’m glad you accepted to join us here at our online book club to talk Jane Austen with us. Welcome!

Many thanks for inviting me, Maria Grazia – it’s a great pleasure to be here!

My first question is: when and how did your lucky encounter with Jane Austen take place?

If we’re talking ‘first encounters’, like many of us here, I began reading Jane Austen in my teens. Real appreciation, though, came much later. At first, I read her novels for the storyline, but as I grew older, I began to look for context, and reading them in context made me love them so much more!

And then came the 1995 adaptation, which I absolutely adored, not only for the usual reasons – i.e. Colin Firth J - but also for the fantastic attention to detail! Having watched the miniseries, I was left craving for more. Luckily, I came across ‘The Making of Pride and Prejudice’, a book explaining how the 1995 adaptation was put together and I was mesmerised by all the details it mentioned, from the endless hours spent looking for the perfect location, to the countless photographs and sketches done in order to get Lydia’s hairstyle right, or Mr. Bennet’s powdering gown, or the colour and the cut of Darcy’s coat! I was thrilled with the little inside stories too, like Benjamin Whitrow (Mr. Bennet) recounting how the period cook was kind enough to ask for his favourite pudding, so that it could be used in one of the scenes – and how he gorged himself on gooseberry fool during the first, second and third take, only to end up hating the very sight of it by the time that particular scene was finally ‘in the can’!

Then, having devoured the book, unlike Mr. Whitrow and his favourite pudding I was still left wanting more, so I began trawling the internet until one happy day I discovered JAFF – and the rest is history!

ANGELA PARISI - MENOUTIS' S GUEST POST: SOLUTION TO THE QUIZ AND WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

Mr Darcy and the Bingleys - Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Angela Parisi - Menoutis was my guest on January 13rd  (HERE). On that occasion she introduced herself to you,  as well as presented her Austenesque novel , Two Different Worlds: A Dance from Pride and Prejudice.

There was a quiz attached to a book giveaway contest. The question Angela asked was: "In the canon of "Pride and Prejudice", where is there inferred evidence that Darcy, like Caroline Bingley, may have also wished his sister to marry Charles Bingley? To be entered you had to answer that and to  email your guesses to her.  The contest is now over and ... she has finally picked the name of the winner 

among the ones who sent her the correct answer. 

Congratulations to J. June Williams for winning Angela's brilliant version of Pride and Prejudice!

"THERE WERE TWENTY DANCES AND I DANCED THEM ALL.." - MEET AUTHOR JULIE KLASSEN + BOOK GIVEAWAY: THE DANCING MASTER

“There were twenty dances & I danced them all…” –   Jane Austen

In Jane Austen’s time, dancing was one of the few ways young men and women could spend time together and court one another. “Every savage can dance,” Mr. Darcy says, but unless one wished to dance very ill (Mr. Collins comes to mind) lessons were crucial. Dancing was considered such an important social skill, that parents hired dancing masters to come into the homes and teach their sons and daughters not only dance steps, but also deportment and etiquette. So, as an author of half a dozen other books set in the Regency era—and someone who loves to dance-- it was probably only a matter of time until I wrote about a dancing master.

To research the book, I read old instructional guides and journals written by dancing masters of ages past. But the best and most enjoyable kind of research was actually learning dances from that time period. My dear, longsuffering husband and I went English country dancing several times. It was research, after all! We learned a lot and enjoyed ourselves.

I also attended the annual general meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America, held in Minneapolis in September 2013. It was my first time attending the conference, though I have been a JASNA member for several years. A sold-out crowd of nearly 800 gathered to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice—a favorite with Austen fans everywhere.

A MODERN DAY SENSE AND SENSIBILITY - INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR KAITLIN SAUNDERS & BOOK GIVEAWAY

A Modern Day Sense and Sensibility

Take a fresh look at the romantic Jane Austen classic in Kaitlin Saunders’s heartwarming new novel, A Modern Day Sense and Sensibility. After A Modern Day Persuasion proved a hit, this latest installment in Saunders’s successful series of Austen retellings will have readers swooning at the comical misunderstandings and classic romances that are newly envisioned for modern times.

After their father’s untimely death, Ellie and Marianne Dashwood must suffer the loss of both their beloved parent and their fortune when, together with their mother and younger sister, they find themselves at the mercy of their half brother and his greedy wife, Francil. Ellie temporarily finds solace in a new friendship with Francil’s brother, Edward. But as their connection deepens and Edward fails to make the next move, Ellie becomes increasingly confused. Eventually Francil’s manipulations become unbearable and the Dashwood ladies are forced to relocate to a dingy apartment building in Portland, Oregon, owned by their quirky cousin and his busybody mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings. Slowly, the women begin adapting to their newfound meager lifestyle. While cutting coupons and watching their budget, the Dashwoods welcome the chance to make new acquaintances in their new town. One such acquaintance is Mrs. Jennings’s friend Brandon, a wealthy thirty-something hotel entrepreneur who is immediately infatuated with Marianne. Turned off by their relatively large age gap, Marianne turns her attention to the suspiciously perfect Jim Willoughby. But just as things start heating up between them, she learns that the situation may not be exactly as it seems.

As the sisters struggle through secrets, illness, and broken promises, Ellie and Marianne must find the answer: Does love really conquer all? Find out in Saunders’s romantic rendition of a beloved classic.

INTERVIEW

Q: After retelling JA's Persuasion in a modern context, Kaitlin,  you decided to do the same with Sense & Sensibility. Are they your best favourites among Austen's major six? If not, what are the reasons of choosing them?

A: Yes, they are some of my favorites! After I read both novels, I couldn't help but wonder what they would look like if they were set in present day, or how it would be if I were Anne or Marianne or Elinor -- hence my modern day adaptations! My imagination penned for other woman to read!

SPOTLIGHT ON ... ANGELA PARISI - MENOUTIS AND HER "TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS: A DANCE FROM PRIDE AND PREJUDICE" + GIVEAWAY

Angela Parisi - Menoutis has long been an avid admirer of Jane Austen's works. The manner in which Miss Austen wrote, clearly delineated the good, bad, and the absurd in humankind, thus keeping her readers amused and totally absorbed in the characters she created. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in "Pride and Prejudice." Although the author appreciated all of Austen's books, her favorites remain "Sense and Sensibility", "Emma", "Persuasion", and, of course, "Pride & Prejudice."

In the writing of the book, "Two Different Worlds: A Dance From Pride And Prejudice", it was the author's desire to preserve the purity of Miss Austen's personalities at the same time as introduce someone new, Arianne Prescott. Initially, Miss Prescott, a 21st century chemist stepping into a fictional past, wished to preserve the integrity of the story while personally experiencing it. Therefore, some sections of the book were abridged versions of the original text. But as Arianne realized that altering the story was inevitable, there was more of a blending of Austen's writing with this author's.

PERSUASION, LYME AND THE COBB - GUEST POST BY HELENA FAIRFAX

The Cobb at Lyme Regis

My name’s Helena Fairfax. I’m a romance author and Jane Austen fan, and I’m thrilled to be here at My Jane Austen Book Club. I’m a British author, and I live in the north of England, in one of my favourite parts of the world – on the edge of the Yorkshire moors, the wild landscape which provided the setting for Emily Brontë’sWuthering Heights. 

My first two romance novels, The Silk Romance and The Antique Love, were published last year. (I’m proud to add here that The Silk Romance was described by one reviewer as ‘a mixture of Pride and Prejudice and Cinderella’. 

 As an Austen fan, her commentabsolutely thrilled me to bits.) This winter I spent some time on England’s south coast, in the county of Dorset. This part of the country was much loved by Jane Austen, especially the seaside town of Lyme Regis, which is the setting for Persuasion. If you follow me on Facebook you may already have seen some of my photos of Dorset on England's south coast, where I spent Christmas.

 On Christmas Day we visited Lyme Regis, a small town in Dorset, by the seaside. I was most excited about this, as I've never been to Lyme before, and anyone who's read Jane Austen's Persuasion will know it as the setting for her novel. It's also the setting for John Fowles The French Lieutenant's Woman, which features this famous scene between Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons on Lyme's Cobb. 

The Cobb is a man made wall that protects the harbour.  As quite often happens with these things, both the Cobb and the harbour were a lot smaller than I imagined.

BLOG TOUR - ALIAS THOMAS BENNET BY SUZAN LAUDER

In Alias Thomas Bennet, Thomas and Fanny Bennet travel to Bermuda in June of 1792. Very little is said in the book about what that trip might be like, since most of the book takes place in 1811, but the two chapters aboard the ship are pivotal to the back story. Today, I’ve used Fanny’s point of view to give you a flavour for their experiences during that trip.

Mr. Bennet’s late father purchased a home in Hamilton two years before the younger Bennets hasty relocation there, when the town was spurting with growth, in fact, before Sir Henry Hamilton had given the town his name. Thomas and Fanny sailed from Portsmouth aboard a ship called the Valhalla, which some might think an odd name for a boat, but Thomas was amused by the irony, so it suited him quite well.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... A LASTING LOVE AFFAIR: DARCY AND ELIZABETH BY P. O. DIXON + GIVEAWAY

From the Author: I never tire of imagining various ways for Darcy and Elizabeth to overcome their pride and prejudices and fall in love. I enjoy introducing challenges easily relatable to those faced by young lovers today especially. It speaks to the timelessness of Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship—a lasting love affair.

 P. O. Dixon 

The Book

                                                  

A Lasting Love Affair: Darcy and Elizabeth

It’s the centuries old love affair that keeps us coming back for more.

Darcy was not looking to fall in love. He thought he had it all: wealth, privilege, and ardent passion for his sport. Then he meets Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and soon thereafter he knows that she is the woman with whom he is destined to spend his life.

GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY - MARIA GRACE, TWELFTH NIGHT AT LONGBOURN

Book Introduction for ‘Twelfth Night at Longbourn’

Given Good Principles started as 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.

I thought I was finished after Vol 3, All the Appearance of Goodness, but the characters did not agree. In the editing process, Kitty Bennet’s story ended up cut out of the finished version, and apparently she did not like that. She would not leave me alone until I gave her a share in the conversation.

Bu even then, she was a difficult muse, stubborn and disobedient. I had to start to book over not once but five different times before she was satisfied enough to let me finish.  And even then, she would not let me see the end of the story until we got there. She took me on twists and turns that I did not expect, right up until the ending.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANE AUSTEN! MARY JANE HATHAWAY, WRITER

What would my life have been like without Jane Austen?

I read my first Austen novel at age 12, so 3/4 of my life has been impacted by her humor and sense of proper romance. I've aspired to her sly but gentle wit, looked to her for fashion sense, held strong to the romantic ideal of marriage for love alone, and above all, let Jane Austen guide my writing and reading.

What is a story without richly drawn characters and abiding passion? Nothing.

What kind of book would have action without thought, marriage without love, and society without a healthy dose of humor? Dry and boring.

In the end, even my career has been impacted by Jane. I aspire to writing the sort of witty romance than has one laughing, then sighing with satisfaction at the ending.

Mary Jane / Virginia

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANE AUSTEN! LAURIE VIERA RIGLER, WRITER

What would my life have been like without Jane Austen?

 Without Jane Austen, I would not have learned to laugh at myself as I do now. I would not remember Emma’s eponymous heroine when I am being a know-it-all. I would not realize I am Sense and Sensibility’s Marianne when I am being a drama queen. And I would not know that while I might walk into a party wishing to be Elizabeth Bennet, a wishwon’t always prevent me from being Fanny Price.

Without Jane Austen, I would not have gone to Bath to see where Anne Elliot sent subtexts to Captain Wentworth. I would not have learned English country dance to see why being “fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.”And I would never, in a million years, have done so in costume.

Without Jane Austen, I would not understand how children could want the same stories read to them countless times. I would not have believed I would read Persuasiontwenty-five times. And spent nearly as many hours with Austen’s other five novels. For without Jane Austen, I would never have experienced the deeply satisfying and always novel glimpses into her ever-unfolding brilliance.

Laurie Viera Rigler