Hail and farewell

The first blog post I ever wrote about Jane Austen appeared here on February 4, 2013, nearly thirteen years ago. Today’s post is my 1,354^th—and my last.

I’m not wrapping up the blog because Jane Austen no longer makes waves. On the contrary: This next year is already shaping up to deliver the usual onslaught of Austen-related news:

* Three new Austen-themed adaptations will hit screens large and small: The BBC’s ten-part series The Other Bennet Sister, based on a Pride and Prejudice spinoff novel by Janice Hadlow, is coming in the spring. The Working Title Sense and Sensibility feature film is scheduled for a September release. And the six-episode Netflix Pride and Prejudice is also headed our way, although no air date has yet been announced.

* From January to April, the UK’s National Archives will put Jane Austen’s last will and testament on display, in an exhibit of documents embodying declarations of love.

* Sometime soon, a review board will decide whether to greenlight the proposed Lego Pemberley. (Fingers crossed!)

* Another development battle is brewing in Hampshire, England, as locals fighting new housing enlist the help of Janeites across the globe, in an effort to preserve the rural landscape that Austen knew.

* Beloved annual Austen gatherings will reconvene in 2026, from Bath, England, to Tucson, Arizona, while Austen pilgrimage sites—most notably, Jane Austen’s House and Chawton  House--continue to offer programming about her work and her world..

And that’s just the stuff I’m already aware of! If I were sticking around, I’d surely stumble across other Austen tidbits both delightful and annoying. (Somewhere, a lowly intern—or an obedient AI—is preparing an online listicle misattributing a quote from an Austen movie.) If nothing else, while I’ve blogged about 105 of Austen’s surviving letters, that still leaves another 55.

So why not stick around? No single reason--the close of this momentous anniversary year just seemed like the right moment to call it a day. The conversation about Austen will surely go on for another 250 years, if the planet survives that long, but I’m not sure I have anything new to add. It’s time to let the other young ladies exhibit.

Still, it’s been fun saying my twice-weekly piece about Jane Austen, and I’m grateful to all of you for reading. I hope I’ll run into you one of these days, at a ball, a tea, a conference, a movie—or perhaps in a cozy library somewhere, curled up with a battered copy of Persuasion. Those brilliant novels aren’t going anywhere, and that’s what really matters.