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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 1808. . .
One hundred and fourth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Jane Austen, it seems, took a rather jaundiced...
Deborah Yaffe
Oct 2, 2025
In Jane Austen's handwriting
Physical copies of Jane Austen’s letters are rare commodities. Of the 160 letters whose text we have, seven are known only from copies...
Deborah Yaffe
Sep 25, 2025
Who's counting?
It’s fair to say that Jane Austen was a prolific letter-writer. Deirdre Le Faye, who edited the standard edition of Austen’s...
Deborah Yaffe
Sep 1, 2025
Sister act
If you spend any time online, you’ve probably encountered a version of that ubiquitous, tired clickbait, the “Which Jane Austen heroine...
Deborah Yaffe
May 26, 2025
On this day in 1801. . .
One hundred and first in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. How improper were Jane Austen’s letters? By...
Deborah Yaffe
May 5, 2025
The other talented Austen sister
Cassandra Austen’s family considered her a skilled artist, but for most Janeites, her claim to artistic fame rests, uneasily, on a single...
Deborah Yaffe
Apr 28, 2025
Good hair day?
What did Jane Austen look like? As I’ve noted before (for example, here and here ), we can’t be sure. We have only one portrait we know...
Deborah Yaffe
Apr 14, 2025
Putting it on
Seldom do I appreciate zippers more than when I’ve just watched actors in Regency costume recreate the rituals of Jane Austen-era...
Deborah Yaffe
Mar 13, 2025
Treasure trove
Jane Austen’s travelling writing desk , often described as the eighteenth-century equivalent of a laptop, is usually on display at the...
Deborah Yaffe
Feb 6, 2025
Branding exercise
A few weeks ago, I ran across a 2011 article in which the wonderful Scottish novelist Ali Smith explained why she seldom grants...
Deborah Yaffe
Feb 3, 2025
On this day in 1799. . .
Ninety-ninth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Exactly 226 years ago today, the 23-year-old Jane Austen...
Deborah Yaffe
Jan 9, 2025
On this day in 1798. . .
Ninety-eighth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Mary Lloyd was a friend of Jane and Cassandra Austen...
Deborah Yaffe
Dec 2, 2024
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