Blog - JASNA North Carolina

Discussing Beth Pattillo’s ‘Jane Austen Ruined My Life’ and Meeting the Author

Meetings· Uncategorized· Virtual Book Club

6 Dec

By: Linda Darden The JASNA NC Virtual Book Club returned in November, with a reading of Beth Pattillo’s 2008 novel Jane Austen Ruined My Life. JASNA members and guests participated in a discussion facilitated by club member Nancy Young before being joined by the author for a Q&A session. The story in this selection centers on the journey of English professor…
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The 2024 AGM Debriefing

6 Nov

The October 27th JASNA-NC Zoom debriefing on this year’s Annual General Meeting was small innumber, but great in enthusiasm. Those fortunate members who attended the meeting in Clevelandrocked to all things Jane. Listeners who did not attend enjoyed a sampler of the event’s highlights.Since the AGM’s 2024 focus was “Austen, Annotated,” Sara Tavela asked the group members to offertheir own…
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Book Review: Original Letters from India by Eliza Fay

8 Oct

By Dan Read My son found this book in a Free Library and gave it to me after he read it. I opened it and read the introduction and discovered that Eliza Fay (1755-1816) was an exact contemporary of Jane Austen. I had to read it then! In Austen’s novels, her “three or four families” are gentry. The work that…
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Discovering Brisé Fans with Candice Hern

8 Oct

By Bill Gaither Members gathered on September 22, 2024, for a delightful and memorable presentation by Candice Hern on “Brisé Fans: An Essential Accessory in the Time of Jane Austen.” Ms. Hern is a best-selling and award-winning author of Regency romances and of longer historical romances set in the Regency period. She is also a collector of Georgian and Regency…
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Discussing Inger Brodey’s Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness

3 Sep

By Elizabeth Jewell The August 25, 2024, meeting was to celebrate and discuss the recent publication of Inger Sigrun Bredkjær Brodey’s Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press in June of 2024. The book examines the endings of Austen’s novels, describing them as “rushed, ironic, and reluctant to satisfy readers’ thirst for romance.”…
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JASNA North Carolina

2 weeks ago

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life – Movie Meetups ... See MoreSee Less

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JASNA North Carolina

4 weeks ago

Our member Carolyn Brown is hosting an online event with JASNA-Mississippi, and we're all invited to attend! Join the Mississippi Region for a Zoom presentation by Laura Jones, a painter from Laurel, Mississippi, whose most recent paintings, titled "Filmscapes," were inspired by the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice. Jones will share her art and the story behind it. Her work has been featured in Season 8 of Home Town on HGTV and, in addition to her art, she serves as an executive assistant at Erin and Ben Co.Jones says the collection focuses on the background of the film. She says: "Often overlooked, the setting is not just a location; it becomes a vital, living part of the narrative. It supports the characters, enhances the drama, and sets the stage for their journeys. In this collection, I aim to spotlight these scenes, drawing attention to the environments that shape and influence the story, bringing them into their own moment of focus. These paintings transform the setting from a passive backdrop into a main character, and once they are hung in the homes of their new owners, they will become the background of a new story."Join Zoom Meeting on Wednesday, May 14th at 7 p.m. Central Time (8 p.m. Eastern):us02web.zoom.us/j/83517582795?pwd=PDndsbqMsUCHOmozNWceB52BC6X52V.1Meeting ID: 835 1758 2795Passcode: 745917 ... See MoreSee Less

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JASNA North Carolina

1 month ago

What: Virtual Book Club: What Jane Austen’s Characters Read (and Why) by Susan Allen FordWhen: May 4, 2025 from 2:00-3:30 p.m.Where: In the comfort of your home via ZoomRSVP: This event is open to members and interested guests; it is FREE but registration is required. Register for Zoom at jasnanorthcarolina.org/events/may-4-2025-virtual-book-club-susan-allen-fords-what-jane-austens-ch...Accessibility: We have auto-captions available in the Zoom meeting for our conversation and the author Q&A discussion, and accompanying slides with text and images that will be as clear and as high-contrast as possible. If you have accessibility needs we have not addressed here, please let us know.About the BookThe first detailed account of Austen’s characters’ reading experience to date, this book explores both what her characters read and what their literary choices would have meant to Austen’s own readership, both during her life and today.Jane Austen was a voracious and extensive reader, so it’s perhaps no surprise that many of her characters are also readers-from Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice to Fanny Price in Mansfield Park. Beginning by looking at Austen’s own reading as well as her interest in readers’ responses to her work, the book then focuses on each of her novels, looking at the particulars of her characters’ reading and unpacking the multiple (and often surprising) ways in which what they read informs our reading. What Jane Austen’s Characters Read (and Why) uses Austen’s own love of reading to invite us to rethink the ways in which she imagined her characters and their lives beyond the novels.About the AuthorSusan Allen FordSusan Allen Ford is Professor of English Emerita, Delta State University, USA. and has been editor of Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal and Persuasions On-Line since 2006.She has spoken at many AGMs and to many JASNA Regions and has published essays on Austen and her contemporaries, gothic and detective fiction, and Shakespeare. She was a plenary speaker at the 2016 AGM in Washington, D.C., and has served as a JASNA Traveling Lecturer. ... See MoreSee Less

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