Margaret C. Sullivan's Blog, page 73

Holiday gift suggestions for Janeites (and prospective Janeites)

USA Today (via Yahoo) has some suggestions for low-tech holiday gifts, including some of interest to Janeites.

We are astonished we had not previously thought to link to Paperdolls.com. The Jane Austen paper doll is delightful, as are the dolls portraying Jane's heroines and heroes. The dolls are suitable for framing and a portion of the profits from every sale is donated to charity. If you've ever wanted an opportunity to dress Mr. Darcy (yes, we know, you'd rather undress him, you guttersnipes)

Emma in the footlights

The East Bay Express favorably reviews the stage production of EMMA currently being staged by the Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, California.

Suggested by some as the predecessor to today's vast wave of "chick lit" — thin novels with bright covers usually chronicling the struggle of hip single girls with fancy publishing jobs to pick the right shoes and husbands — Austen did in fact write about young women trying to make a place for themselves in a changing world by marrying well. But she did

Getting Local With Jane: Performance Edition

Here's the latest listing of upcoming events of interest to Jane Austen fans. One of them might just be in your neighborhood! (And we love post-event reports!)

July 18, 2008, Pasadena, California: Laurie Viera Rigler will give a reading from her book, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, at Vroman's Bookstore at 7 p.m.

August 8 and 11, 2008, Edinburgh: "An Evening at Pemberley": As part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, soprano Patrice Boyd will sing music from Jane Austen's time period.

The music