“We must think the best”

July 18, 2015

“We must think the best & hope the best & do the best.” Jane Austen wrote this line in a …

Austen and Ambition (and Philadelphia)

June 12, 2015

I went to Philadelphia last weekend to speak on Jane Austen and ambition at a JASNA Eastern Pennsylvania meeting, and …

January 28, 2014

JASNA Nova Scotia members are meeting on Sunday, February 23rd in Halifax to discuss essays published in the most recent issue …

December 16, 2013

Jane Austen was born 238 years ago today, on December 16, 1775. Claire Tomalin imagines what must have been happening …

January 28, 2013

Jane Austen didn’t like the way her mother read Pride and Prejudice aloud. Mrs. Austen read too quickly, “—& tho’ …

October 16, 2012

On Wednesday, January 27, 1813, Miss Mary Benn dined with Jane Austen and her mother at Chawton Cottage, which happened …

July 29, 2010

Recently I’ve been re-reading Jane Austen’s Letters (1995, edited by Deirdre Le Faye), and I’ve been collecting some of my …