To continue my rereading Austen series (find my blog on Sense and Sensibility here), here are my thoughts on Austen’s second novel, and my favourite, Pride and Prejudice. I’ve been rereading it in conjunction with writing a lecture on it, which has meant that more so than ever, I’ve been thinking about the novel in…
Continue reading ➞ Rereading Jane Austen | Pride and Prejudice
Happy 78th birthday to George Harrison, born on this day in 1943! This might seem like a bit of a departure from my usual posts - but alongside history, music is one of my big loves, and I'd really like to start sharing this alongside what I'm reading and learning about! I always liked the…
It’s Renoir’s 180th birthday tomorrow (but I have another on this day post to share too!) so here is an early post on him and my favourite of his paintings, The Umbrellas… (all those shades of blue are so wonderful!)
Two hundred years ago today, the poet John Keats passed away in Rome.
As it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought I'd write a post today about something I truly love, and that thing is prosecco.
Sixteen years ago today, Mary W. Jackson passed away. She was the first Black female engineer at NASA, and was an important advocate for women engineers, scientists and mathematicians.
On 14th November 1932, a play entitled “Dear Jane: A Comedy of Manners” opened at the Civic Repertory Theatre in New York. Staged by British-born Eva Le Gallienne and written by Eleanor Holmes Hinkley, it was the first dramatization of the life of Jane Austen.
William John Bankes, by Henry Bone, after George Sanders (Saunders). Pen and Ink, 1821 (1812). Creative Commons licence, image courtesy NPG London (NPG D17608). William John Bankes was once described as “the father of all mischief” by his friend Lord Byron: the traveller, collector and draughtsman was an MP before he inherited his family estate…
Continue reading ➞ Mini-Post | William John Bankes (1786-1855)
On this day in 1964, the Beatles got their first number one hit in the US with "I Want To Hold Your Hand" - the song that kicked off Beatlemania in America. (Also one of my favourites by them!) Written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon in the basement of Jane Asher's parents' house (McCartney's…
Continue reading ➞ Mini-Post | “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, the Beatles
Inspired by reading about others rereading Jane Austen in the order of publication, and the fact I began 2021 with a head full of Bridgerton (both the Shondaland show and the eight Julia Quinn novels that I binge-read in about two weeks) and Regency history books, I decided it was time to return to Austen’s…
Continue reading ➞ Rereading Jane Austen | Sense and Sensibility
