Diana Birchall

Now retired from her career as a story analyst at Warner Bros Studios, Diana is the author of Jane Austen sequels Mrs. Darcy's Dilemma, The Bride of Northanger, In Defense of Mrs. Elton, Mrs. Elton in America, and the forthcoming The Darcys in Venice, as well as Austenesque plays, stories, articles, and pastiche. Diana's scholarly biography of her grandmother, Onoto Watanna, the first Asian American novelist, was published by the University of Illinois Press. Diana grew up in New York City, and now divides her time between California and England.

Most commented posts

  1. 12 Days of a Jane Austen Christmas: A Book of Days — 62 comments
  2. Throwback Thursday with Diana Birchall — 59 comments
  3. Leap into Love – an Excerpt by Diana Birchall — 55 comments
  4. The Darcys and Lord Byron in Venice, Part 8 — 53 comments
  5. Persuasion 200: Mary Musgrove’s Complaint — 48 comments

Author's posts

Persuasion 200: Can We Retrench? by Diana Birchall

It had not been possible for him to spend less: he had done nothing but what Sir Walter Elliot was imperiously called on to do; but blameless as he was, he was not only growing dreadfully in debt, but was hearing of it so often, that it became vain to attempt concealing it longer, even …

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Jane Austen in Tarrytown

  The New York JASNA branch held a very tempting weekend conference March 21-22 in Tarrytown, NY, and I was fortunately able to attend, tying it in with a family visit. Tarrytown is such a pretty, old community on the Hudson River, spectacular in springtime, but New York’s long winter this year meant that springtime …

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Work in Progress: Jane Austen and Lord Byron, a play by Diana Birchall

As my first post for the new Austen Variations blog, I thought I’d share an excerpt from the climactic scene in my short play about an imagined meeting between Jane Austen and Lord Byron. This historic meeting (I suppose I must make the disclaimer) never actually took place, but I have set the scene at …

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