A friendly meeting place to read and discuss anything Austen...
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Celebrate Jane Austen’s 250th with “To Mark the Occasion: Birthday Tales for Jane Austen’s 250th”
This December, literature lovers and Jane Austen fans have a very special reason to celebrate. In honor of Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, a new anthology, To Mark the Occasion: Birthday Tales for Jane Austen’s 250th, brings together ten talented Austenesque authors who reimagine the lives, loves, and festivities of some of Austen’s most beloved characters.
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Maria Grazia, thanks so much for having me. It is such a great pleasure to be here! While I have visited, read and enjoyed your blog many times over the years, this is my first blogpost and I am thrilled about it.
Story quote from Lory Lilian’s story, The
Gallery of Second Chances
A year ago, Elizabeth had left behind Pemberley, Mr Darcy and all her hopes. Now, she was returning with her soul burdened by a gratitude she had no chance of expressing and the sorrow of a lost happiness.
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Today, on the very day of
its release—25th September 2025—we are delighted to celebrate Dr Helena Kelly’s
new book, The Worlds of Jane Austen (Frances Lincoln). Published to
coincide with the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, this fascinating
work invites readers to step beyond the familiar image of drawing rooms and tea
parties, and instead discover the turbulent world of revolution, war, and
social change that shaped Austen’s life and writing.
Helena Kelly, already well
known to Austen readers for her groundbreaking Jane Austen, the Secret
Radical, brings her characteristic insight and lively style to this
beautifully illustrated volume. Drawing on the latest research, she shows us an
Austen who is sharper, bolder, and more engaged with the great issues of her
time than many have imagined—an author whose voice still resonates powerfully
today.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Helena about her new book, Austen’s enduring relevance, and the surprising connections between the novelist’s world and our own.
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Just when you thought you knew everything about Jane Austen—her novels, her needlework, her famously “quiet” life—along comes a book that turns the tea table upside down. In Wild for Austen, acclaimed scholar (and roller derby alter ego Stone Cold Jane Austen) Devoney Looser invites us to meet a bolder, brasher version of the beloved author—one who was far more entangled with radical politics, wild relatives, and unexpected cultural legacies than many of us ever imagined.
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| Jonny Lee-Miller and Frances O'Connor in Mansfield Park 1999 |
As Jane Austen fans, we are never short of new adaptations to enjoy. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and Persuasion have each had numerous film and television versions—sometimes several within a single decade. Austen’s wit, her timeless themes of love, class, and social ambition, and her cast of unforgettable characters continue to capture audiences worldwide.
The English edition has just been released worldwide, with versions in Castilian Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese on the way — proof that Austen’s wit and romance continue to speak across languages and cultures.
Sebastian Faulks, in an essay
marking Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary, offers a provocative re-reading of Pride
and Prejudice — one that may challenge even the most ardent Mr Darcy
admirers.
Faulks paints Darcy in stark terms: “mostly miserable” and, at times, “unforgivably cruel.” While modern adaptations have polished him into a brooding heartthrob, Austen’s own text is far more complicated. Faulks argues that Darcy is arrogant, socially tone-deaf, and even manipulative — especially in his treatment of Jane and Bingley. His famed proposal to Elizabeth, which many read as romantic tension, is framed by Faulks as a shocking display of class-conscious cruelty.
We are thrilled to welcome
author Natalie Jenner back to My Jane Austen Book Club to discuss her
latest novel, Austen at Sea. Known for her captivating historical
fiction and her deep love of all things Austen, Natalie Jenner’s new book takes
readers on a transatlantic adventure filled with literary intrigue, romance,
and the enduring spirit of Jane Austen herself.
In Austen at Sea, readers will follow the Stevenson sisters and the Nelson brothers as they journey to England in 1865, lured by the promise of a rare Austen artifact and the chance to meet her last surviving brother, Sir Francis Austen. Alongside historical figures like Louisa May Alcott, Jenner masterfully weaves a tale of adventure and self-discovery, all under the guiding influence of Austen’s legacy.
On the occasion of Jane Austen’s 250th birthday,
internationally renowned novelist and scholar Janet Todd offers readers a
unique gift: a book that blends personal memoir with a deep and thoughtful
engagement with Austen’s timeless works. In this intimate and insightful volume,
Todd reflects on how Austen’s novels have guided her through different phases
of her life, offering lessons on patience, humour, beauty, and the meaning of
home.
With a distinguished career that spans feminist
literary scholarship and acclaimed fiction, Janet Todd is one of the foremost
voices in Austen studies. Her latest work not only highlights Austen’s
relevance in today’s world but also reveals how living with Austen’s characters
and stories can shape our understanding of ourselves and our surroundings.
In this interview, Janet Todd shares her inspiration, her personal connection to Jane Austen, and why Austen’s wisdom remains as powerful today as it was over two centuries ago.
I’m delighted to welcome Sophie Reynolds, the curator of Jane Austen’s House, and the mind behind this beautifully illustrated volume, to My Jane Austen Book Club. In our conversation, we discuss the treasures of Austen’s home, the inspiration behind the book’s unique structure, and the remarkable moments that shaped the author’s life. Join us as we step into Austen’s world, one season at a time, in this very special anniversary year.
