By Bill Gaither Members gathered on June 23, 2024, for an engaging and in-depth discussion of Jane Austen’s unfinished novella or novel The Watsons. The discussion was led by members and scholars Mary Jane and Betty E., and Mary Jane created the helpful study guide. This was a Virtual Book Club meeting. Also leading the meeting was emcee for the day Rose C. and…
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By Elizabeth Jewell It was a small but fascinating group in Mebane yesterday–here we are: Elizabeth Jewell, with Pamela Hale (if I’m reading her handwriting correctly?) next to me, and Connie Eble across from me, with Carolyn Brown next to her. We talked about Eudora Welty and linguistics and the 200th anniversary of passenger railroads. And Jane Austen! One area…
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By Bill Gaither On April 24, 2024, members gathered via Zoom to hear an expanded version of Sue Scott’s insightful and entertaining talk, “Is My Idiolect Showing? Individualized Speech Patterns in Austen’s Novels,” which Sue originally delivered at the 2023 JASNA Annual General Meeting (AGM). This talk discusses the distinctive speech patterns, or idiolects, that Jane Austen created for her…
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By Laine Wood The North Carolina region of JASNA welcomed several guests to the March 2024 meeting featuring a presentation from Professor Heather Meek. The meeting’s focus was on the epistolary account of author Frances Burney’s mastectomy in 1811. Meek’s scholarly niche is literary and medical cultures of the long 18th century, specifically the study of women’s health in the…
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By Elizabeth Jewell Regional Coordinator Sara Tavela was the moderator for our meeting and said in an email following the meeting, “We had a rousing discussion of Austen contemporary Charlotte Lennox’s The Female Quixote [1752], and it was so wonderful to talk with you about this novel that can pose two very different reading experiences (either you find it hilarious…
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