On the Sofa with Jane Austen


Book Description

On the Sofa with Jane Austen is a collection of essays that first appeared in the Regency World magazine. They celebrate the quirkiest corners and cleverest contrivances of Jane Austen's art. The twenty-one topics range from coiffure to crime, from gossip to grandmothers. The title comes from the first essay, but it is also an invitation to spend time with a well-loved author in a relaxed and intimate way. The essays are: On the Sofa; The Hair was Curled; Lady Bertram's Fringe; A Very White World; The Silence of Mr Perry; Plump Cheeks and Thick Ankles; Reading Aloud; Arms and Legs Enough; November in the Novels; Words Overheard; Home Comforts; Shoelaces and Shawls; The Freshest Green; Neighbourhood Spies; She is Pretty Enough; Small World; Devoted Sisters; Theft and Punishment; Heroes and Husbands; Only a Grandmother and finally, Dear Mary. This will be of interest to all Jane Austen enthusiasts, especially undergraduates and those studying English Literature at A-level, as well as History and Economics.




The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide


Book Description

Magnificent reproduction of 1788 folio of Hepplewhite furnishings. Classic, highly valued work depicts chairs, stools, sofas, sideboards, beds, pedestals, desks, bookcases, tables, chests of drawers, wardrobes, fire screens, and many other items. 128 plates.




The Task


Book Description




A Most Clever Girl: How Jane Austen Discovered Her Voice


Book Description

For fans of I Dissent and She Persisted -- and Jane Austen fans of all ages -- a picture book biography about the beloved and enduring writer and how she found her unique voice. Witty and mischievous Jane Austen grew up in a house overflowing with words. As a young girl, she delighted in making her family laugh with tales that poked fun at the popular novels of her time, stories that featured fragile ladies and ridiculous plots. Before long, Jane was writing her own stories-uproariously funny ones, using all the details of her life in a country village as inspiration. In times of joy, Jane's words burst from her pen. But after facing sorrow and loss, she wondered if she'd ever write again. Jane realized her writing would not be truly her own until she found her unique voice. She didn't know it then, but that voice would go on to capture readers' hearts and minds for generations to come.




Jane Austen at Home


Book Description

A trip back to the world of Jane Austen and the homes she lived in with noted historian Lucy Worsley.




Accomplished


Book Description

Georgiana Darcy gets the Pride & Prejudice retelling she deserves in Amanda Quain's Accomplished, a sparkling contemporary YA featuring a healthy dose of marching band romance, endless banter, and Charles Bingley as a ripped frat boy. It is a truth universally acknowledged that Georgiana Darcy should have been expelled after The Incident with Wickham Foster last year – at least if you ask any of her Pemberley Academy classmates. She may have escaped expulsion because of her family name, but she didn’t escape the disappointment of her big brother Fitz, the scorn of the entire school, or, it turns out, Wickham’s influence. But she’s back for her junior year, and she needs to prove to everyone – Fitz, Wickham, her former friends, and maybe even herself – that she’s more than just an embarrassment to the family name. How hard can it be to become the Perfect Darcy? All she has to do is: - Rebuild her reputation with the marching band (even if it kills her) - Forget about Wickham and his lies (no matter how tempting they still are), and - Distract Fitz Darcy — helicopter-sibling extraordinaire — by getting him to fall in love with his classmate, Lizzie Bennet (this one might be difficult...) Sure, it's a complicated plan, but so is being a Darcy. With the help of her fellow bandmate, Avery, matchmaking ideas lifted straight from her favorite fanfics, and a whole lot of pancakes, Georgie is going to see every one of her plans through. But when the weight of being the Perfect Darcy comes crashing down, Georgie will have to find her own way before she loses everything permanently—including the one guy who sees her for who she really is.




Jane Austen's Transatlantic Sister


Book Description

In 1807 genteel, Bermuda-born Fanny Palmer (1789–1814) married Jane Austen's youngest brother, Captain Charles Austen, and was thrust into a demanding life within the world of the British navy. Experiencing adventure and adversity in wartime conditions both at sea and onshore, the spirited and resilient Fanny travelled between Bermuda, Nova Scotia, and England. For just over a year, her home was in the city of Halifax. After crossing the Atlantic in 1811, she ingeniously made a home for Charles and their daughters aboard a working naval vessel and developed a supportive friendship with his sister, Jane. In Jane Austen's Transatlantic Sister Fanny's articulate and informative letters – transcribed in full for the first time and situated in their meticulously researched historical context – disclose her quest for personal identity and autonomy, her maturation as a wife and mother, and the domestic, cultural, and social milieu she inhabited. Sheila Johnson Kindred also investigates how Fanny was a source of naval knowledge for Jane, and how she was an inspiration for Austen's literary invention, especially for the female naval characters in Persuasion. Although she died young, Fanny's story is a compelling record of female naval life that contributes significantly to our limited knowledge of women's roles in the Napoleonic Wars. Enhanced by rarely seen illustrations, Fanny's life story is a rich new source for Jane Austen scholars and fans of her fiction, as well as for those interested in biography, women's letters, and history of the family.




Jane Austen and the Morality of Conversation


Book Description

An ingeniously innovative analysis of Jane Austen's work, a highly respected and engaging critical study.




Jane Austen, Young Author


Book Description

In her lively and accessibly written book, Juliet McMaster examines Jane Austen’s acute and frequently uproarious juvenile works as important in their own right and for the ways they look forward to her novels. Exploring the early works both collectively and individually, McMaster shows how young Austen’s fictional world, peopled by guzzlers and unashamed self-seekers, operates by an ethic of energy rather than the sympathy that dominates the novels. A fully self-conscious artist, young Jane experimented freely with literary modes - the epistolary, the omniscient, the drama. Early on, she developed brilliantly pointed dialogue to match her characters. Literary parody impels her creativity, and McMaster’s sustained study of Love and Friendship shows the same intricate relation of the parody to the work it parodies that we later see with Northanger Abbey and the Gothic novel. As an illustrator herself, McMaster is especially attuned to the explicit and sometimes hilarious descriptions of bodies that preceded Austen’s famous reticence about physicality. Rather than focusing on the immaturities of the juvenilia, McMaster maps the gradual shifts in tone and emphasis that signpost Austen’s journey as a writer. She shows, for instance, how the shameless husband-hunting in The Three Sisters and the vigorous partisanship of The History of England lead on to Pride and Prejudice. Her book will appeal to Austen’s critics and to passionate general readers, as well as to scholars working in the fields of juvenilia, children’s literature, and childhood studies.




Jane Austen Collection: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Persuasion and More


Book Description

The ultimate bundle for Jane Austen Fans This collection contains 10 of Jane Austen's works ranging from her most famous to her early letters and unfinished novels. Included in this bundle: • Emma • Pride and Prejudice • Sense and Sensibility • Mansfield Park • Northanger Abbey • Persuasion • Sanditon • The Watsons • Lady Susan • Love and Friendship This bundle also includes a BONUS Book Club Discussion Guide and list of over one hundred questions perfect for customizing your next book club, class, or discussion group. This Jane Austen Collection has been professionally formatted for e-readers and includes a linked table of contents. We hope you’ll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it. t Pu