Work 2/16

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

Center of celebration

If next year’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth has an epicenter, it would surely be Jane Austen’s House , the...

Deborah Yaffe

Oct 24, 2024

Creepy Lizzy

The newest Lizzy Bennet is a peculiar creature. True, her Regency-appropriate curls are lovely, and her dark eyes might pass for fine,...

Deborah Yaffe

Sep 23, 2024

Love among the stacks

Is Jane Austen a romance novelist? Discuss. Or, if you’re not interested in revisiting your test-taking days, you could just travel to...

Deborah Yaffe

Sep 19, 2024

The luxury of time

Summer is winding down, but there’s still time to squeeze in some vacation reading. And if you prefer that your books come in beautifully...

Deborah Yaffe

Aug 26, 2024

Yankee Doodle Darcy?

In the past two centuries, Jane Austen has been called many things. Her fans have called her brilliant, witty, and insightful. Her...

Deborah Yaffe

Jul 29, 2024

Freedom

The arrival of Independence Day has reminded me of the worst writing advice I ever got. Bear with me as I explain the connection. Long,...

Deborah Yaffe

Jul 4, 2024

Celebrating S&S

Over the past decade-plus, as Jane Austen’s novels reached their publication bicentennials, writer and scholar Sarah Emsley invited...

Deborah Yaffe

Jun 27, 2024

Acquired taste

Mansfield Park’s status as the most polarizing of Jane Austen’s novels is by now well-established. It’s the black-olives-and-anchovy...

Deborah Yaffe

Jun 6, 2024

Not so historical

Jane Austen’s novels make it onto a lot of best-of lists, and I am usually happy when they do. But not last month, when both Pride and...

Deborah Yaffe

Apr 11, 2024

On this day in 1816. . .

Ninety-third in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Just when you think it’s safe to go back in the water. . ....

Deborah Yaffe

Apr 1, 2024

On this day in 1814. . .

Ninety-second in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Those of us who spend a lot of time thinking about Jane...

Deborah Yaffe

Mar 21, 2024

Kiddie lit

Back when I was young and stupid, I didn’t think much of Jane Austen’s Juvenilia, the short sketches and fragments she wrote between the...

Deborah Yaffe

Jan 29, 2024