Deborah YaffeMar 27, 2019Promising news about EmmaThe upcoming big-screen adaptation of Emma has acquired a complete cast list, and for those of us who delight in fine British character...
Deborah YaffeMar 24, 2019On this day in 1817. . .Forty-second in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Those of us who feel strongly about books sometimes subject...
Deborah YaffeMar 20, 2019Jane Austen PurimToday is Purim, the Jewish version of Mardi Gras, on which we eat a big meal, dress in silly costumes, read the Biblical book of Esther,...
Deborah YaffeMar 17, 2019Eternally Mr. DarcyPity poor Colin Firth. His IMDB page lists more than seventy-five film and TV credits in a career stretching back thirty-five years, and...
Deborah YaffeMar 13, 2019Life imitates Northanger AbbeyThe bitterest pill that Janeites must swallow is the knowledge that Cassandra Austen kept dozens – nay, perhaps hundreds! – of her sister...
Deborah YaffeMar 10, 2019Elizabeth Beeblebrox, anyone?Just a few days after my uncharitable swipe at those who promulgate Austenian misinformation, a reminder of human fallibility crossed my...
Deborah YaffeMar 7, 2019Getting it wrongJane Austen, it seems safe to say, is one of the most famous writers who ever lived, especially in English-speaking countries. Yet out...
Deborah YaffeMar 4, 2019Another bicentenary girlBack when I was in elementary school, ranking one’s friends – best friend, second-best friend, third-best friend – was a popular pastime....