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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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P&P on the block
Once again, it’s time to play “If I Were a Rich Janeite.” (Cue klezmer music.) The British auctioneer Bonhams has announced that, later...
Deborah Yaffe
Aug 29, 2018
Retracing Louisa's steps
Jane Austen’s characters and situations feel so real to us that it’s easy to overlook the fact that many of her stories are set in...
Deborah Yaffe
Aug 26, 2018
On this day in 1809. . .
Thirty-fifth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters As a novelist, Jane Austen was one of the greatest writers...
Deborah Yaffe
Jul 25, 2018
Bringing up the rear
Six months ago, author and scholar Sarah Emsley launched a blog series dedicated to the two Austen novels marking their bicentenary this...
Deborah Yaffe
Jun 27, 2018
Graphing the plot
Back in high school, I did reasonably well in math. I may have trouble balancing my checkbook these days, but I promise I’m not one of...
Deborah Yaffe
Jun 24, 2018
On this day in 1813. . .
Thirty-third in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Although Jane Austen was, famously, not a big fan of Bath,...
Deborah Yaffe
May 23, 2018
The Darwinian Austen
If only “literary Darwinism” had existed when I was in school, I might have liked science a whole lot more. Yes, according to a story on...
Deborah Yaffe
May 9, 2018
P&P for foodies
Jane Austen’s mature novels are not, by and large, very foodie. Although important scenes occur over meals – think Mary Crawford’s...
Deborah Yaffe
May 6, 2018
Jane the MOOC-er
Janeites tend to know quite a bit about Jane Austen: her books, her characters, her family, her life and times. But hey – there’s always...
Deborah Yaffe
Apr 18, 2018
Jane Austen: Leading girls astray since 1811?
Back when I was writing Among the Janeites, I happened across two Facebook groups whose titles encapsulated a common set of attitudes...
Deborah Yaffe
Apr 11, 2018
On this day in 1809. . .
Thirty-second in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Publishers jerk authors around. This is not exactly news,...
Deborah Yaffe
Apr 4, 2018
Down on Up Lit
One of the most useful sentences Jane Austen ever wrote is surely this one: “Pictures of perfection as you know make me sick & wicked.”...
Deborah Yaffe
Apr 1, 2018
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