Margaret C. Sullivan's Blog, page 6
November 3, 2013
Your Sunday Austen Meditation
This week’s lesson, from Northanger Abbey, Vol. I Ch. VI: Catherine, in some amazement, complied, and after remaining a few moments silent, was on the point of reverting to what interested her at that time rather more than anything else in the world, Laurentina’s skeleton, when her friend prevented her, by saying, — “For Heaven’s […]
REVIEW: Longbourn by Jo Baker
The publication of Jo Baker’s new novel Longbourn generated the same sort of excitement as the arrival of a single gentleman of good fortune. It has been described as being a cross between Pride and Prejudice and Downton Abbey. When we heard this premise, we were all admiration. What a brilliant idea! Two of the […]
October 28, 2013
Your Sunday Austen Meditation
A day late, because we just thought of it. From Sense and Sensibility, Volume I, chapter XVII: “What magnificent orders would travel from this family to London,” said Edward, “in such an event! What a happy day for booksellers, music-sellers, and print-shops! You, Miss Dashwood, would give a general commission for every new print of […]
October 24, 2013
Ridiculously photogenic children
There are cute babies all over the Internet, but I have a particular fondness for one of them. She is a princess–really: Princess Estelle of Sweden, the daughter of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel. I love this kid. She often wears a rather grumpy frown and tends to look at the press with an “Off with their heads!” sort of expression (which it appears she inherited from her grandpa, King Carl Gustaf). Her royalty comes very naturally. I have kind of an odd little enthusiasm for the S...
October 22, 2013
That sense of impending…something or other
The rewritten, modern-set Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope is due out later this month, and other distinguished authors have been lined up to rewrite Jane Austen’s novels for modern consumption: Val McDermid for Northanger Abbey, Curtis Sittenfeld for Pride and Prejudice, and Alexander McCall Smith for Emma, with two more authors to be announced […]
REVIEW: Henry Tilney’s Diary by Amanda Grange
It took Amanda Grange a long time to reach the sixth of Austen’s heroes for her series of retellings (and took us an even longer time to write this review. We are a bad Editrix and we feel bad). We are pleased to report that it was been worth the wait. In Henry Tilney’s Diary, […]
October 13, 2013
Your Sunday Austen Meditation
A reminder that Mr. Darcy knew perfectly well he was rude and superior to other people, and was able to change his behavior merely by determining to do so–because he finally had a good reason to do so. From Volume III, Chapter XVI: Elizabeth coloured and laughed as she replied, “Yes, you know enough of […]
A Diversion
With all the enthusiasm for The Big Bang Theory around here lately, we thought some of our Gentle Readers would enjoy this. While we were amused, Penny and Leonard are our OTP.
October 10, 2013
S!#ff Jane Austen Says
A bit of frivolity for a Friday…
Sick of the Very Name
There’s an article in the Daily Beast by Susan Ostrov Weisser that discusses Charlotte Brontë’s enmity for Jane Austen. This is probably coals to Newcastle for many of our Gentle Readers, but something struck us while reading this that we wanted to share. We know about Brontë’s opinion of Austen chiefly from her correspondence in […]
