On March 17th, several ladies (and gents!) gathered at the Cleveland County Memorial Library in Shelby, NC for an afternoon tea and lively discussion on “Why Do We Love Jane?” for the library’s Women’s History Month series.
Emily Williams, Lecturer of English at Belmont Abbey College and JASNA-NC member, led a short presentation on Jane’s life followed by some in-depth Q&A. We talked about our favorite film adaptations and characters; why Austen’s novels continue to be so popular and why it keeps drawing us in and which of the character’s we would want to spend a week on a desert island with (hint: it wasn’t Mrs. Norris!).
A selection of teas were accompanied by whipped syllabub, scones, and desserts. We also watched a short preview of the second season of Sanditon on PBS, which got the whole crowd very excited! Everyone described the event as entertaining and refreshing. Thank you to everyone, particularly Emily and the Cleveland County Library, who helped this event happen where the love and appreciation of Jane Austen was felt!
