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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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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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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By Laine Wood The North Carolina region met for its July meeting themed Fun and Games: Pride and Prejudice Adaptations Chat and Trivia. The meeting began with a few polls about adaptations, with the 1995 and 2005 versions being the most hotly debated as straight adaptation favorites. Favorites for modern day retellings included Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) and Bride and…
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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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