I can’t remember now who it was that first asked the question, just that I remember being surprised by it. I was at an author event — a book club, where According to Jane was the novel being discussed — when someone there asked me why I liked Pride and Prejudice so much. At first …
For 15 years, I’ve dreamed of getting to return to Europe. I even wrote a whole book (known these days as A Summer in Europe) about a woman spending several weeks there, visiting cities from Rome to London and drinking in the amazing atmosphere of every fabulous site. I wistfully daydreamed my way through the …
Every once in a while something happens in my day-to-day life – or someone tells me a story about an incident in his or hers – that makes me think about how we develop and maintain friendships. That happened again this past week when I got an email from an old friend. In our modern …
When I was a kid, I had a fascination with Tyco Toys/Mattel’s Magic 8-Ball. The anticipation as I waited for the answer to reveal itself in that murky blue fluid left me breathless – it was just so cool and mysterious. When my son was given one as a gift a few years back, I’m …
“There are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement.” ~ Charlotte Lucas, Pride & Prejudice Charlotte may have been speaking of courtship in the quote above — Jane Bennet’s and Mr. Bingley’s in particular — but she could almost be talking about writers as well, as there …
What do Shakespeare’s Mercutio and Austen’s Lady Catherine have in common? To me, both are secondary characters who, while they’re onstage or on the page, tend to steal the show. They’re both so compelling that I find myself looking forward to their next lines. And, when their respective stories are being performed in the theater …
I fell in love with Mr. Darcy for the first time when I was a 14-year-old high school freshman. We were assigned Pride and Prejudice in English class, and there was a cute but pesky boy sitting near me. Up until then, I’d kinda had a crush on the boy (even though I knew he …
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