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Journalist and author
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
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On this day in 1816. . .
Forty-sixth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Jane Austen’s brothers were a reproductively prolific lot, at...
Deborah Yaffe
Jul 14, 2019
Fragments of news, news about fragments
The Janeite word of the moment, it would appear, is “fragment.” * Last week, Jane Austen’s House Museum launched an urgent appeal for...
Deborah Yaffe
Jun 26, 2019
A letter to Anna
Six years ago, the singer Kelly Clarkson was forced to part with a charming little piece of jewelry she had just picked up at auction in...
Deborah Yaffe
Jun 23, 2019
On this day in 1808. . .
Forty-fifth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters It’s hardly news to dedicated Janeites that the Jane Austen we...
Deborah Yaffe
Jun 19, 2019
On this day in 1817. . .
Forty-fourth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. In May of 1817, the gravely ill Jane Austen left her home...
Deborah Yaffe
May 26, 2019
On this day in 1805. . .
Forty-third in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. "It is a period, indeed!” Captain Wentworth exclaims to Anne...
Deborah Yaffe
Apr 10, 2019
On 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 Yaffe
Mar 24, 2019
Life imitates Northanger Abbey
The bitterest pill that Janeites must swallow is the knowledge that Cassandra Austen kept dozens – nay, perhaps hundreds! – of her sister...
Deborah Yaffe
Mar 13, 2019
On this day in 1817. . .
Forty-first in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Only hindsight makes anything remarkable out of the letter...
Deborah Yaffe
Jan 24, 2019
On this day in 1816. . .
Fortieth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. It’s not always easy to tell when Jane Austen, master of irony,...
Deborah Yaffe
Dec 17, 2018
On this day in 1812. . .
Thirty-ninth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Talk about burying the lead. The letter that Jane Austen...
Deborah Yaffe
Nov 29, 2018
On this day in 1813. . .
Thirty-eighth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Some writers fill their letters with detailed responses to...
Deborah Yaffe
Oct 10, 2018
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