Deborah YaffeDec 28, 2017Shades of PemberleyJane Austen’s name and image have been appropriated for so many ancillary items – fridge magnets, tote bags, coffee mugs, temporary...
Deborah YaffeDec 25, 2017Christmas tranquility and tedium at Mansfield ParkFor those of us with school-age children, Christmas week provides a delightful break from the rhythms of the academic calendar: No rising...
Deborah YaffeDec 21, 2017Christmas comes early for JaneitesPeople who do not write fiction often have trouble believing that novelists just, you know, make stuff up. These readers seize upon every...
Deborah YaffeDec 18, 2017Jane Austen, flyin' highIt’s not every day that you get to put Jane Austen and Freddie Mercury in the same sentence. But thanks to Norwegian Airlines, a budget...
Deborah YaffeDec 14, 2017Another Austen anniversaryThe year marking the bicentenary of Jane Austen’s death is almost over, but one more major Austen anniversary lies ahead of us: 2018 is...
Deborah YaffeDec 11, 2017On this day in 1815. . .Twenty-ninth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. It’s an occupational hazard of the writing life that people...
Deborah YaffeDec 7, 2017Golden fiver on the blockHow time flies. It’s been exactly a year since a Scottish art gallery announced that Graham Short, an artist known for his teeny-tiny...
Deborah YaffeDec 4, 2017Good news (at last!) for Chawton HouseThe past year’s drama at Chawton House Library has sometimes seemed more appropriate to one of the Gothic romances Jane Austen satirized...