May - 2020

The Line of Thought

. . . to dream over books and loiter at street corners and let the line of thought dip deep into the stream.

--Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

Deborah Yaffe

On this day in 1817. . .

Fifty-fifth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. I recently finished reading my eighth biography of Jane...

Deborah Yaffe

The great (virtual) outdoors

Fresh off their successful Lockdown Literary Festival earlier this month, the indefatigable folks who run Chawton House, the stately home...

Deborah Yaffe

Listen up

Nothing beats hearing a soothing, familiar voice read an engrossing story aloud. I loved the read-aloud experience when I was a child...

Deborah Yaffe

Oh, to be in Paris

For some unaccountable reason, lately I find myself fantasizing longingly about travel to exotic destinations. (Not even that exotic! The...

Deborah Yaffe

Literature in lockdown

Like everyone else, the Janeite community has been battered by pandemic and lockdown, with iconic tourist sites closed and financially...

Deborah Yaffe

Color-coding

Better late than never: Although it appeared more than a month ago, I’ve only just stumbled across a cogent and fascinating analysis of...

Deborah Yaffe

On and off

For those of us who love our Jane Austen adaptations, the coronavirus quarantine has been the best of times and the worst of times. The...

Deborah Yaffe

Bummer :-(

When Elinor Dashwood learns (as she thinks) that the love of her life, Edward Ferrars, has finally married his longtime fiancée, she is...