I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend


Book Description

Secrets, intrigue, and meddling in love – I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison is a historical romantic comedy, perfect for fans of Bridgerton. Jane says that if I am to be the heroine of this story, something will throw a hero in my way . . . I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend is the secret diary of Jenny Cooper, Jane Austen’s teenage friend and confidante. Their evenings are a blur of beautiful dresses, balls, gossip and romance; their days are spent writing about them – Jenny in her diary, Jane in her first attempts at fiction. When Jenny falls utterly in love with a handsome naval officer, obstacles stand in their way. Who better to help her than Jane herself, who already considers herself an expert in love and relationships?




Jane Austen's Best Friend


Book Description

The story of Martha Lloyd—recipe collector, housekeeping expert, and Jane Austen’s dearest friend. Fans of Jane Austen often feel that the beloved author is like a best friend—and this book shines a light on what it meant to be exactly that. Jane Austen’s Best Friend: The Life and Influence of Martha Lloyd offers a unique insight into Jane’s private inner circle. Through this heartwarming examination of an important and often overlooked person in Jane’s world, we uncover the life-changing force of their friendship. Each chapter details the fascinating facts and friendship-forming qualities that tied Jane and Martha together. Within these pages we relive their shared interests, the hits and misses of their romantic lives, their passion for shopping and fashion, their family histories, their lucky breaks, and their girly chats. This book offers a behind-the-scenes tour of the shared lives of a fascinating pair and the chance to deepen our own bonds in “love and friendship” with them both.




The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen


Book Description

When a time-traveling Jane Austen gets stuck in modern-day Bath, only Rose Wallace can save her. Rose Wallace of Bath loves all things Austen. So when her new neighbor turns out to actually be Jane Austen—whose time-travel adventure has left her trapped in the 21st century—she is both thrilled and horrified. Jane's time travel means she never published her works! Rose must help Jane get back home to write her renowned novels because a world without Mr. Darcy? It's not worth living in. The fun and light-hearted novel is perfect for fans of The Jane Austen Book Club and Austenland. See what readers have to say about The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen: "This book was just so much fun to read." "A fabulous book, beautifully written. I shall be buying more from these authors." "This story has adventure, charming characters and a unique premise. It's a great romcom historical fiction read." "The story was different from anything I've read recently and really captured my attention. It was so well written and the characters were fantastic." "I absolutely loved this novel. I started reading it assuming it was a straightforward romance so was really pleasantly surprised with the unpredictable twists that this book contained."




Love & Friendship


Book Description

***THE NOVEL OF THE HIT INDIE FILM*** 'If, like me, you like your Austen subversive, cruel, funny and outrageous, then you will love Stillman's Love & Friendship' The Times 'Lady Susan is finally getting some long overdue respect' New York Times 'Lady Susan remains deliciously wicked' Vogue With a pitch-perfect Austenian sensibility and wry social commentary, filmmaker and writer Whit Stillman cleverly re-imagines and completes one of our greatest writers' unfinished works. Love & Friendship is a sharp comedy of manners, and a fiendishly funny treat for Austen and Stillman fans alike. JANE AUSTEN'S FUNNIEST NOVEL IS ALSO HER LEAST KNOWN - UNTIL NOW. Impossibly beautiful, disarmingly witty, and completely self-absorbed: meet Lady Susan Vernon, both the heart and the thorn of Love & Friendship. Recently widowed with a daughter who's coming of age as quickly as their funds are dwindling, Lady Susan makes it her mission to find them wealthy husbands - and fast. But when her attempts to secure their futures result only in the wrath of a prominent conquest's wife and the title of 'most accomplished coquette in England', Lady Susan must rethink her strategy. Unannounced, she arrives at her brother-in-law's country estate. Here she intends to take refuge - in no less than luxury, of course - from the colorful rumors trailing her, while finding another avenue to 'I do'. Before the scandalizing gossip can run its course, though, romantic triangles ensue. A SPECIAL EDITION FEATURING JANE AUSTEN'S ORIGINAL NOVELLA AS ANNOTATED BY THE NARRATOR. PRAISE FOR LOVE & FRIENDSHIP THE FILM 'A RACY DELIGHT' Guardian ***** 'FIND ME A FUNNIER SCREEN STAB AT AUSTEN, AND I'M TEMPTED TO OFFER YOUR MONEY BACK PERSONALLY' Telegraph ***** 'TREMENDOUSLY WITTY' Independent ***** 'MAY JUST BE THE BEST JANE AUSTEN FILM EVER MADE' London Evening Standard *****




Austenland


Book Description

Jane is a young New York woman who can never seem to find the right man-perhaps because of her secret obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. When a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-obsessed women, however, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become more real than she ever could have imagined. Is this total immersion in a fake Austenland enough to make Jane kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?In this addictive, charming and compassionate story, Shannon Hale brings out the Jane Austen obsessive in all of us.




Love and Friendship


Book Description

The new hit movie Love and Friendship starring Kate Beckinsale is based on two early works by Jane Austen, Lady Susan and Love and Freindship - both of which are included here. Fans of the movie will find the bulk of the plot has been taken from Lady Susan and the title from Love and Freindship.




Unmarriageable


Book Description

“This inventive retelling of Pride and Prejudice charms.”—People “A fun, page-turning romp and a thought-provoking look at the class-obsessed strata of Pakistani society.”—NPR Alys Binat has sworn never to marry—until an encounter with one Mr. Darsee at a wedding makes her reconsider. A scandal and vicious rumor concerning the Binat family have destroyed their fortune and prospects for desirable marriages, but Alys, the second and most practical of the five Binat daughters, has found happiness teaching English literature to schoolgirls. Knowing that many of her students won’t make it to graduation before dropping out to marry and have children, Alys teaches them about Jane Austen and her other literary heroes and hopes to inspire the girls to dream of more. When an invitation arrives to the biggest wedding their small town has seen in years, Mrs. Binat, certain that their luck is about to change, excitedly sets to work preparing her daughters to fish for rich, eligible bachelors. On the first night of the festivities, Alys’s lovely older sister, Jena, catches the eye of Fahad “Bungles” Bingla, the wildly successful—and single—entrepreneur. But Bungles’s friend Valentine Darsee is clearly unimpressed by the Binat family. Alys accidentally overhears his unflattering assessment of her and quickly dismisses him and his snobbish ways. As the days of lavish wedding parties unfold, the Binats wait breathlessly to see if Jena will land a proposal—and Alys begins to realize that Darsee’s brusque manner may be hiding a very different man from the one she saw at first glance. Told with wry wit and colorful prose, Unmarriageable is a charming update on Jane Austen’s beloved novel and an exhilarating exploration of love, marriage, class, and sisterhood. Praise for Unmarriageable “Delightful . . . Unmarriageable introduces readers to a rich Muslim culture. . . . [Kamal] observes family dramas with a satiric eye and treats readers to sparkling descriptions of a days-long wedding ceremony, with its high-fashion pageantry and higher social stakes.”—Star Tribune “Thoroughly charming.”—New York Post “[A] funny, sometimes romantic, often thought-provoking glimpse into Pakistani culture, one which adroitly illustrates the double standards women face when navigating sex, love, and marriage. This is a must-read for devout Austenites.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)




Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad


Book Description

A London mum and Iraqi teacher should have nothing in common. Yet now, despite their differences, they're the firmest of friends . . . Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad by Bee Rowlatt and May Witwit is a touching and poignant portrait of an unlikely friendship. Would you brave gun-toting militias for a cut and blow dry? May's a tough-talking, hard-smoking, lecturer in English. She's also an Iraqi from a Sunni-Shi'ite background living in Baghdad, dodging bullets before breakfast, bargaining for high heels in bombed-out bazaars and battling through blockades to reach her class of Jane Austen-studying girls. Bee, on the other hand, is a London mum of three, busy fighting off PTA meetings and chicken pox, dealing with dead cats and generally juggling work and family while squabbling with her globe-trotting husband over the socks he leaves lying around the house. They should have nothing in common. But when a simple email brings them together, they discover a friendship that overcomes all their differences of culture, religion and age. Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad is the story of two women who share laughter and tears, and swap their confidences, dreams and fears. And, between the grenades, the gossip, the jokes and the secrets, they also hatch an ingenious plan to help May escape the bombings of Baghdad . . . Bee Rowlatt is a former show-girl turned BBC World Service journalist. A mother of three and would-be do-gooder, she can find keeping her career going while caring for her three daughters (and husband) pretty tough, even in leafy North London. May Witwit is an Iraqi expert in Chaucer and sender of emails depicting kittens in fancy dress. She is prepared to face every hazard imaginable to make that all-important hairdresser's appointment.




A Jane Austen Education


Book Description

An eloquent memoir of a young man's life transformed by literature. In A Jane Austen Education, Austen scholar William Deresiewicz turns to the author's novels to reveal the remarkable life lessons hidden within. With humor and candor, Deresiewicz employs his own experiences to demonstrate the enduring power of Austen's teachings. Progressing from his days as an immature student to a happily married man, Deresiewicz's A Jane Austen Education is the story of one man's discovery of the world outside himself. A self-styled intellectual rebel dedicated to writers such as James Joyce and Joseph Conrad, Deresiewicz never thought Austen's novels would have anything to offer him. But when he was assigned to read Emma as a graduate student at Columbia, something extraordinary happened. Austen's devotion to the everyday, and her belief in the value of ordinary lives, ignited something in Deresiewicz. He began viewing the world through Austen's eyes and treating those around him as generously as Austen treated her characters. Along the way, Deresiewicz was amazed to discover that the people in his life developed the depth and richness of literary characters-that his own life had suddenly acquired all the fascination of a novel. His real education had finally begun. Weaving his own story-and Austen's-around the ones her novels tell, Deresiewicz shows how her books are both about education and themselves an education. Her heroines learn about friendship and feeling, staying young and being good, and, of course, love. As they grow up, they learn lessons that are imparted to Austen's reader, who learns and grows by their sides. A Jane Austen Education is a testament to the transformative power of literature, a celebration of Austen's mastery, and a joy to read. Whether for a newcomer to Austen or a lifelong devotee, Deresiewicz brings fresh insights to the novelist and her beloved works. Ultimately, Austen's world becomes indelibly entwined with our own, showing the relevance of her message and the triumph of her vision.




Martha Lloyd's Household Book


Book Description

This is the first facsimile publication of 'Martha Lloyd's Household Book', the manuscript cookbook of Jane Austen's closest friend. Martha's notebook is reproduced to scale in a colour facsimile section with complete transcription and detailed annotation. Introductory chapters discuss its place among other household books of the long eighteenth century. Martha Lloyd befriended a young Jane Austen and later lived with Jane, her sister Cassandra and their mother at the cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, where Jane wrote or revised her novels. Martha later married into the Austen family. Her collection features recipes and remedies handwritten during a period of over thirty years and includes the only surviving recipes from Mrs Austen and Captain Francis Austen, Jane's mother and brother. There are many connections between Martha's book and Jane Austen's writing, including white soup from 'Pride and Prejudice' and the author's favourites - toasted cheese and mead. The family, culinary and literary connections detailed in the introductory chapters of this work give a fascinating perspective on the time and manner in which both women lived, thanks to this extraordinary artefact passed down through the Austen family.