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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

All in the family

We writers are a shameless bunch. We don’t really care why our books are being bought and read (Mandatory class assignment? Gift from...

Deborah Yaffe

Jun 3, 2015

The Jane Austen diet plan

We Janeites hail our beloved author as a witty social critic, a source of romantic escapism, a harbinger of a more civilized age, a...

Deborah Yaffe

May 31, 2015

Kissing in Jane Austen! Oh, my!

The mainstream media are convinced that Jane Austen’s work is a giant No Sex Zone. Nothing seems to shake this perception, no matter how...

Deborah Yaffe

May 27, 2015

If your Mr. Right is Mr. Darcy

Was Jane Austen’s Mr. Darcy always seen as the quintessential romantic icon, even in that misty prehistoric time known as B.C. (Before...

Deborah Yaffe

May 24, 2015

On this day in 1801. . .

Fifth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen’s letters. Reading Jane Austen’s letters – as I do for this occasional blog...

Deborah Yaffe

May 20, 2015

Dollies for Janeites

I was one of those little girls who loves dolls. But none of your affordable Barbie nonsense for me. No, I had the toybox equivalent of...

Deborah Yaffe

May 17, 2015

Jane Austen meets Spinal Tap

Readers of my book Among the Janeites will recall that one of its protagonists, English professor Devoney Looser, has a not-so-secret...

Deborah Yaffe

May 13, 2015

What's in a name?

I love names – perhaps because I’m terrible at faces, perhaps just because I’m a verbal person in all respects. Whatever the reason, I...

Deborah Yaffe

May 10, 2015

Mr. Darcy's six-pack

The British actor Matthew Macfadyen – whom many Janeites remember fondly as Darcy in the 2005 feature-film version of Pride and Prejudice...

Deborah Yaffe

May 6, 2015

Cassandra's grief

Cassandra Austen gets a bad rap from Janeites. As I’ve noted before, many of us just can’t forgive her for burning who-knows-how-many of...

Deborah Yaffe

May 3, 2015

Mr. Darcy revealed! (Or not)

Another day, another Mr. Darcy. Over the years, various ambitious authors and breathless journalists have informed us of their amazing...

Deborah Yaffe

Apr 29, 2015

On this day in 1817. . .

Fourth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen’s letters The letter-like document that Jane Austen addressed to her sister,...

Deborah Yaffe

Apr 26, 2015