Deborah YaffeDec 3, 2020In lieu of a pear treeIt’s a tough year for traditional Christmas celebrations. The eight maids are a-milking in masks. The ten lords are a-leaping six feet...
Deborah YaffeDec 24, 2018'Twas the night before ChristmasTomorrow is Christmas, the day on which a larger-than-life personage employing semi-equine transport suddenly appears in our homes,...
Deborah YaffeDec 25, 2017Christmas tranquility and tedium at Mansfield ParkFor those of us with school-age children, Christmas week provides a delightful break from the rhythms of the academic calendar: No rising...
Deborah YaffeDec 24, 2015The worst Christmas ever?Despite the New York Times’ efforts to persuade us otherwise, Jane Austen is not a Christmassy writer. It’s true that the word...
Deborah YaffeNov 23, 2015A very (expensive) Jane Austen ChristmasIf you are a Janeite with no 2016 Christmas plans – and a whole wad of cash left over from this year’s gift shopping – the New York Times...
Deborah YaffeDec 25, 2014A Jane Austen ChristmasJane Austen is famously careful about the chronology in her stories – Ellen Moody has mined the text to produce working calendars for all...
