Deborah YaffeAug 20, 2018Collecting the uncollectedFifteen years ago, Silicon Valley gazillionaire and Janeite Sandy Lerner opened Chawton House, a research library dedicated to the...
Deborah YaffeMay 31, 2018Excellent women novelistsJane Austen is buried in Winchester Cathedral, as all good Janeites know, but it’s another prominent medieval English church that will...
Deborah YaffeMar 8, 2018On this day in 1814. . .Thirty-first in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Two centuries ago, Jane Austen had spent her day...
Deborah YaffeMar 5, 2018Women writers, popping upIn your average general-interest bookshop, a majority of the titles have probably been authored by men. No surprise there – historically,...
Deborah YaffeMar 9, 2017On the trail of great writersLogically, there’s no particular reason we dedicated readers should yearn to visit the houses where our favorite writers were born, grew...
Deborah YaffeJan 26, 2017Rabbie and JaneYesterday marked the 258th birthday of a giant of British literature. (No, not her! Her birthday was 242 years ago, and in December!) I...
Deborah YaffeApr 21, 2016Two hundred candles for CharlotteTwo hundred years ago today, one of the world’s greatest novelists was born in a small village in rural England. I refer, of course, to...
Deborah YaffeJun 4, 2015All in the familyWe writers are a shameless bunch. We don’t really care why our books are being bought and read (Mandatory class assignment? Gift from...
Deborah YaffeMar 23, 2015Pink covers, blue coversLast week, I ran across this interesting piece about gender bias in reading – or, more precisely, in the choice of whose books we read....