Thanks for giving us a little background on those. The Austenesque novels are an interesting subject because the flow of them doesn't seem to stop these days. I is good to sort them out into subcategories a little bit. I started keeping my list in a separate document, so I could make more notes and categories for them. I will add them into my GoodReads shelf as I have more to say on them I think. Thanks very much Meredith.

Sarah wrote: "Thanks very much to Meredith for sharing a good list with us of Austenesque Novels published prior to 1995! Your blog is wonderful.

I have only found these that would qualify for the list. I have..."

You are welcome Sarah. I had found other novels pre 1995 but some of them are really only for the diehard fans because of their obscurity. Jane Gillespie is an author I would not recommend for everyone. First of all, her books are hard to find, second she focuses on minor characters and usually the main characters are not even present. I have read Brightsea and it deals mostly with Anne Steele, not one I particularly enjoyed. However, I have read Aunt Celia by Jane Gillespie and that is about the Weston's daughter and the children of Frank and Jane. That one was more enjoyable and I would recommend it to others, you may just have to find used copy or perhaps your library would have it.

What if we move The Man Who Loved Jane Austen into December and then start with "Emma" in January, when people might feel ready for some good discussions? "The Man Who" is a light read, as is "Mansfield Matters".

Also, forgot to make reference to the Austen Continuations List started by Tanja within the Fan Fiction/Continuations folder. She has listed several other Emma-related novels. Tanja, I wonder how available some of those are?

For Emma-related books, we have from Meredith's list supplied above

Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken (C) 1990
A Visit to Highbury (C) 1995 (first published in 1993 though)

We might rather skip the Joan Aiken since we read her Mansf. Rev., so as to give other authors a look-see.

On my list I also have:
Mr. Knightley's Diary by Amanda Grange
Emma & Knightley by Rachel Billington

Another was nominations placed on this thread by Tanja:
Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo

And Annie, did you delete your nomination or was it accidentally deleted?

Also, Sarah-Zizy may want to post a nomination before we close.

I propose that we take a voting poll for reads unrelated to Emma and they we go ahead and start an Emma series any time from mid December onward.

We already have The Man Who Loved Jane Austen proposed for a January discussion.

We can begin the Emma at whatever time we choose and continue onward with related continuations/variations.

We won't do an official poll for this one. However, all interested parties, let us know when would be good time to BEGIN. Is mid Dec a bad idea? Too many holiday conflicts? Too much end of year work? Final exams? Is everyone reading Dickens? ha ha

We WILL do an official voting poll for the non-Emma related noms that come in before Monday night. And schedule a time in January for the group read for that book. So we will have some simultaneous discussions, hopefully to suit various tastes.

SO, follow me over the the Choosing an Emma Series Discussion thread and we can discuss that over there and see what your views are.

I really like your grouping sequels around the reading of the original novel. Reading the Mansfield sequels with a clear picture of the original characters really helped follow what the sequel's author was going for with the character's development.

Maybe that's the way to go for future planning. Myriam Grace asked for "Emma" -- do you have a few Emma sequels on a list somewhere?

Cool, I will continue on with my idea of what I wanted to include it in.

Similar to Sarah-Zizy sorting through by era and influence (the Andrew Davies thing), I am sorting through the continuations to think about which ones might actually make the best discussions. There are SO many, and looking through some it seems that they might be good companion novels to the original novels, but not necessarily good discussions on their own. That is why I have been thinking toward grouping some of them -- my original intention in the Mansfield ones, too.

I have read Presumption An Entertainment and enjoyed it. I don't know the others. I'll see if I can add to the list over the weekend.

Thanks very much to Meredith for sharing a good list with us of Austenesque Novels published prior to 1995! Your blog is wonderful.

I have only found these that would qualify for the list. I haven't read any of them, so I can't recommend.

Presumption -Julia Barrett (1993)
Miss Abigail's Part (or Version and Diversion in the US) -Judith Terry (1986)
Brightsea: A Regency Novel in the Jane Austen Tradition -Jane Gillespie (1987)
Pemberley: Or Pride & Prej Continued -Emma Tennant (1993)

I have to say that I had Presumption by Barrett flagged for a themed series read for February or later, so if we could put it off until then, I would like to.

Let me know if you want to nominate any others of these we have listed. I will wait until sometime Monday to close the nominations for group discussion.

Thanks Sarah, for inviting me to this post. On my blog have been compiling lists for Austenesque Novels and would love to share some recommendations:

Emma:
- Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken (C) 1990
- A Visit to Highbury (C) 1995 (first published in 1993 though)

Sanditon:
- the one by Jane Austen and 'Another Lady' (C)1976

Pride and Prejudice: (I have not finished my list on P&P it is currently taking up 4 pages of a word document! But I have read two that I would recommend)

- Pemberley Shades (C) 1949
- Old Friend New Fancies (C) 1913

Sarah wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I like how Lady Sarah, our moderator, put it.
Group search - brilliant idea.

Austen fan fare predating 1995.


"

OK, we will have to come up with a title for y..."

I love the Zizy one -- I never had a great nickname like that. My middle name is Ruth, so I got that a lot. So when I refer to you, do you want to be Sarah-Zizy? (I personally like the hyphen.) I can be Sarah-Ruth anytime you want. Or my only other real nickname was Sally, which is such an old-fashioned nickname in the style of Fanny or Betsy, that it really went out of fashion for a while -- but maybe I'll try to bring it back!

Thanks for the feedback on the Fay Weldon, Bill and Jeannette. When I first put it in my notes a while back, I had in mind in future to do a "How Jane Affects Us" series of reads. So we might read it within a group of 3 or so books of that theme, without it necessarily being a cover-to-cover kind of read (in respect to your comments Jeannette). I had that in mind for 2010, so that will give us a little while to ponder on doing it that way, if that sounds good to you folk. Because there is a new book being released that might fall within the same area -- A Truth Universally Acknowledged. And then maybe even a set of essays to go along with it.

Jeannette wrote: "I am going to get the Fay Weldon book to see what it is about. She seems to be a feminist author as well as a screen-writer. The book is more of a "life-lessons from Jane Austen books" exchange o..."

I read Letters to Alice a few years ago and I think it would make a good group read. I would certainly reread it. It is a fairly short books.

I read the first chapet of Fay Weldon's book. It is definitely literary criticism, rather than any kind of story. She does have a few interesting "bon mots," and it would probably lead to some good discussions, but I don't think I could actually read it. It oozes with the eighties way of thinking all mixed up with literary allusions and imaginings. Way too many "notes" for my taste. I will skim it for the good bits about Austen's life and times.

Your call on this one Madam Moderator! :)

Sarah wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I like how Lady Sarah, our moderator, put it.
Group search - brilliant idea.

Austen fan fare predating 1995.


"

OK, we will have to come up with a title for you now also, Sarah! ha...".

I am a Sarah Elizabeth if that helps.
My old friends call me either Zizy or Puck, depending if they are freinds pre or post college.

Annie wrote: "This should qualify- it's published 1932. Jane Austen's Letters by Jane Austen"


Thanks Annie, I still have not read them myself. We were actually trying to account for early fan fiction, things not written by Jane Austen herself.

The other Sarah was wondering if later sequels or "variation" novels were too influenced by the screenplays of Andrew Davies -- which was such an interesting question. So many fan fiction novels were published after 1995, when the famous Pride & Prejudice miniseries came out.

So an example of an Austen "variation" that came out after 1995 would be An Assembly Such As This by Pamela Aidan, using Darcy's point of view throughout the story.

Annie wrote: "This should qualify- it's published 1932. Jane Austen's Letters by Jane Austen"


Thanks Annie, I still have not read them myself. We were actually trying to account for early fan fiction, things not written by Jane Austen herself.

Sarah wrote: "I like how Lady Sarah, our moderator, put it.
Group search - brilliant idea.

Austen fan fare predating 1995.


"

OK, we will have to come up with a title for you now also, Sarah! ha ha Or we'll give you a middle name of your favorite Austen character or something.

I like how Lady Sarah, our moderator, put it.
Group search - brilliant idea.

Austen fan fare predating 1995.

Yes, that is why I thought it looked so interesting.

I am going to get the Fay Weldon book to see what it is about. She seems to be a feminist author as well as a screen-writer. The book is more of a "life-lessons from Jane Austen books" exchange of letters between an aunt and her niece. (Well, that's a rather poor paraphrase, isn't it?) Anyway, I'm curious about it and will report back. It would certainly be a change from what we have been reading.

I haven't read the two you listed, J., but I have them on my to-read list -- the one stored on my computer, I don't have them listed in GoodReads yet. Eliza's D. is by our Joan Aiken, right? She seems to be one of the few authors who was ahead of the post-1995 surge, even though she completed some afterward also.

The Fay Weldon I don't know. I have never read the author, does she write period fiction or anything? I know this sounded like a memoir-type book (not the right word for it, but all I can think of right now) and I just wondered what her background in Austen was.

I searched around a little myself and haven't found much yet. I thought I would look more for any lost Austen-related novels that might have been written earlier -- of course they would not likely be in print, but it would be fun to find out they existed.

Anyone else no of early Austen sequels? We could make this into a "group search" as opposed to "group read" right now, right other Sarah?

Here are two that I haven't read, but fit the time period:

Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen
Eliza's Daughter

Has anyone heard anything about these two?

This thread is for posting nominations for group reads of books. Sarah (other Sarah) was interested in variations, sequels, etc. in book form of Austen's novels.

Andrew Davies wrote the screenplay for the big 1995 A&E miniseries. So we are curious about Austen-like novels written before Davies' influence on books and movies alike. It seems that after the 1995 film hit, Austenmania began!

Did I explain that right?

So you mean earlier than 1995? Very good idea. Very good idea. I will be looking around.

I am good for a sequel that predates any of the release dates of popular Austen movies.
I have been reading a lot Andrew Davies wannabes, not so much authentically inspired Austen.

We'll keep the nominations open through next week, so all other members please feel free to add more. Thanks, Annie, Tanja and M-G for your picks.

Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo

I've heard about this novel in other places and it looked good for a discussion.

I am a relatively new member to this Austen group so I don't know what you have discussed recently but I would like to nominate "Emma" for discussion.

Myriam-Grace. :-)

To nominate more JA group reads, begin listing your nominations in this thread. These can include Jane Austen classics that have not been discussed lately (*), sequels/continuations, Austen-inspired novels, bios, Austen's letters, etc.

(*) We most recently had group discussion of Pride & Prejudice and Mansfield Park.

Please limit one nomination per member for now.

Thanks everyone.