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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. . .
One hundred and second in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. The letter Jane Austen wrote to her 23-year-old...
Deborah Yaffe
Jun 23
On this day in 1811. . .
Eighty-fifth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Nowadays, when a new acquaintance turns out to be the...
Deborah Yaffe
May 29, 2023
On this day in 1814. . .
Seventy-eighth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. “Write what you know,” aspiring authors are counseled in...
Deborah Yaffe
Aug 18, 2022
On this day(ish) in 1814. . .
Seventy-seventh in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. The letter-writing culture of Jane Austen’s day was...
Deborah Yaffe
Jul 14, 2022
A Janeite passes on
Two months ago, I noted a Janeite milestone: the one hundredth birthday of Helen Lefroy, a dedicated Janeite with a familial link to Jane...
Deborah Yaffe
Jul 19, 2021
One hundred candles
Back in 2011, when the research for my book Among the Janeites took me on the Jane Austen Society of North America’s annual tour of...
Deborah Yaffe
May 17, 2021
On this day in 1814. . .
Forty-seventh in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Jane Austen’s letters, with their unpolished emphasis on...
Deborah Yaffe
Sep 9, 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 24, 2019
On this day in 1815. . .
Twenty-seventh in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Jane Austen’s books contain few young children, and those...
Deborah Yaffe
Oct 30, 2017
On this day in 1814. . .
Eighth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen’s letters. For those of us fascinated by Jane Austen’s novels, it’s a source...
Deborah Yaffe
Sep 28, 2015
Sanditon Summer: Anna Lefroy
Anna Austen Lefroy, the second-oldest of Jane Austen’s nieces, inherited the manuscript of Austen’s unfinished Sanditon and was the first...
Deborah Yaffe
Jun 20, 2013
Scones redux
Two weeks ago, I pointed out that, despite the Emporia Gazette's claims to the contrary, none of Jane Austen’s characters ever eats a...
Deborah Yaffe
May 20, 2013
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