Books
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Review: “Jane Austen’s Inspiration: Beloved Friend Anne Lefroy”, by Judith Stove
I’ve been lucky enough to start working with the lovely people at Pen and Sword books in reviewing history books – and could my first choice be anything but Jane Austen themed? Judith Stove’s “Jane Austen’s Inspiration: Beloved Friend Anne Lefroy” looks to Jane’s close friend (and aunt to the famous love interest of Jane’s, read more
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Walking in the footsteps of Jane Austen in Hampshire
Even though I wax lyrical on every single platform about how much I love Jane Austen, I’ve never visited her house at Chawton or her grave in Winchester Cathedral – until this week. We went on a lovely trip to Hampshire and had a beautiful day (helped by the British sunshine) exploring Jane Austen’s House read more
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REVIEW: “Only A Novel: The Double Life of Jane Austen”, by Jane Aiken Hodge
Today Agora Books are re-publishing Jane Aiken Hodge’s study of Jane Austen, and I was lucky enough to have been gifted an advance copy to review, so thank you Agora! As anyone who knows me might have guessed, I jumped at the chance to review a book about not only my favourite author but also read more
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Updating the Classics: Five Modern Retellings of Classic Stories to Read and Love
I swear one of my favourite genres of books could be called “modern retellings of classics”. I am always on the lookout for them, in particular Jane Austen retellings, which is why I am hoping that eventually the Austen Project, which paired Austen’s six novels with six contemporary bestselling authors, will eventually resurface with modern read more
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Eighteenth-Century Men mansplain Women’s History: William Alexander’s “The History of Women, from the Earliest Antiquity, to the Present Time”, 1796
A Man and a Woman seated by a Virginal, Gabriel Metsu, c.1665, oil on oak (National Gallery, London, NG839) My recent research has had me reading lots of histories of women written in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which has been a lot more amusing than it might sound. Of course, this is a really read more
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Raphael and La Fornarina
Rome, from the Vatican. Raffaelle, Accompanied by La Fornarina, Preparing his Pictures for the Decoration of the Loggia by J. M. W. Turner, exhibited 1820, oil on canvas (Tate Britain, N00503) For the three hundredth anniversary of Raphael’s death, which occurred on Good Friday in 1520 (supposedly the artist’s thirty-seventh birthday), J. M. W. Turner read more
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The Joys of Jane Austen: Lessons from a Georgian Lady
In celebration of Jane Austen’s birthday, I thought I’d write about the joys, wit and importance of her work. read more
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Charles II, the Restoration Court and an Abundance of Mistresses
The Restoration is immortalised as a period of decadence and debauchery – when Charles was restored to the throne in 1660, a new libertine age commenced following the Puritan years under Oliver Cromwell. read more
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A Mini Love Letter to Paris
Audrey Hepburn is often quoted as saying “Paris is always a good idea”. Why are we so in love with this beautiful historic city? read more
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Venturing into Austenland…
This evening I decided to watch Austenland, the movie where the regency comes to life and lifelong Austen fan Jane, played by Keri Russell, is swept up in her own Austen storyline, but ends up wondering what is real and what isn’t. I really enjoyed it – as I do with anything that concerns Jane read more
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Dr. Lizzie Rogers 