Jill Pitkeathley’s CASSANDRA AND JANE (Harper; Trade Paperback Original; On Sale September 9, 2008; $13.95), a
debut novel that is sure to satisfy fans of all things Jane Austen. This story is a fictional account of the relationship between Jane Austen and her beloved older sister Cassandra, her constant confidant and supporter. Based on known facts about the two sisters, as well as the author’s imagined details of their letters and lives, this novel offers an inspired insight into the relationship between the two, allowing us to get closer to the spirit of one of England ’s finest novelists.

It is suspected – and often lamented – that many of the letters which Jane Austen wrote to her family and friends were deliberately destroyed by Cassandra after Jane’s death, thereby erasing the historical record of their close relationship. Thus, many of Jane’s most intimate and often controversial comments on her family, friends, lovers and enemies, as well as the established social customs of the 18th and early 19th centuries were erased from the public’s eye.
CASSANDRA AND JANE skillfully blends fact and fiction into an authentic and revealing novel about Jane Austen, as seen through the eyes of the one who knew her best, Cassandra. Both sisters were at one time engaged to be married, but after the death of Cassandra’s fiancé, and Jane’s change of mind about her suitor, the two women spent their lives with their mother. They suffered from a lack of income and were forced to be dependent on their relatives, which was a common fate for single women with meager social status during that era. These circumstances inspired much of her famous fiction, and Pitkeathley illuminates Jane’s independent spirit and progressive, intelligent mind for the added benefit of the legions of Jane Austen fans looking to speculate about her innermost thoughts.

Cash to improve Jane Austen's former home

The home of Hampshire's most famous author has been awarded £500,000 of Lottery money. Jane Austen House Museum in Chawton will now be able to undertake further development at the historic property.

The project marks the second stage of work at the museum, where Lottery money was first used to fund the re-interpretation of Jane Austen's house in 2005. A museum spokesman said: "This time we are aiming to fulfil, and hopefully exceed, 21st century visitor expectation. "The money will be spent moving all sales out of the house to create an even more homely feel, and, to enable the long awaited reopening of the kitchen. "A new learning centre will perform the function of the old Granary meeting room and will have the added bonus of some interactive exhibits while demand for an audio/visual facility will also be realised.'' The Heritage Lottery Fund award comes as the museum prepares to mark next year's bicentenary of Jane Austen's arrival in Chawton in 1809.

Jane Austen had spent the previous two years living in Southampton at a "commodious old-fashioned" house in Castle Square, which was rented from the Marquess of Lansdowne. It was at Chawton that Austen revised her three early novels, including Pride and Prejudice, and wrote completely her three other works, including Emma. Michelle Davies, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in the south-east, said: "This award will help the museum meet the demands of visitors and inspire new generations with glimpses into her life and times.''
By Keith Hamilton
www.thisishampshire.net
11:33am Wednesday 25th June 2008

The Dutchess Screening in NY on Sept 15

JASNA-NY has invited us to a movie screening. A movie called The Dutchess based on the Dutchess of Devonshire will be coming to New York Theaters toward the end of September. Thanks to the efforts of the Byron Society, Paramount Vantage has agreed to a free screening for the Jane Austen Society members and their guest on Sept 15th.

An invitation with registration information will follow in an email shortly. But for right now, please put the following information on your calendar.

Sept 15th at 7pm at the DGA Theater at 100 West 57th Street.
There will be a panel with Amanda Foreman, Jonathan Gross and Caroline Weber.

The Good Wife: Mrs. Ben Franklin--a play

The Grenville Inn in Bayhead, NJ will be presenting a play called The Good Wife: Mrs. Ben Franklin on Thursday, Sept 25 from 1:30 to 4pm. If you are interested and to RSVP, please call (732)892-0392 or (732)282-1021

Please participate: Ten Words...

Ten Words: Yes, just ten words. Please think of ten words we think best describe Jane Austen and her works.
Click on the link below that says comments to add your contribution...

Sept. 6 Afternoon Tea in Toms River

Our upcoming event is an Afternoon Tea in Toms River at a historic home which features High Tea on Sept 6 at 3pm. The cost is $22 per person and includes taxes and gratuity. Please RSVP to Meredith by Aug. 22 if you plan to attend.

We will also have a little bit of time during the event, if you would like to bring donations for Henrietta’s Boutique. The proceeds go to our chapter to help offset costs such as mailings, speaker’s fees, etc. At last check, the Boutique has some JA action figures (donated to us by JASNA-NY), some videos, and a few books. These are all available for purchase at the tea.

To the left under Upcoming Events is the website to Victoria on Main, our destination.

First Edition of Emma sells for $354,267

From the Shelf Awareness daily newsletter of 6/25/08:
A rare first edition of Jane Austen's Emma sold for a record-breaking £180,000 (US$354,267) during an auction at Bonhams in London. According to the Guardian, the "triple-decker edition was inscribed on behalf of Austen to her close confidante, the governess Anne Sharp. One of only 12 presentation copies printed, which otherwise went to family members and publisher John Murray's contacts, it was the only one given to a friend of the author."
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/

Young Master Darcy

Did you know that Pamela Aidan (author of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman Series has posted at her website http://crownhillwriters.com/YMD/Chap2.html Chapter 1 and 2 of her prequel Young Master Darcy. She plans to post much of it like her previous books but hold back the last few chapters before publishing. For those that enjoy her writing and perspective on some of JA's characters, this is worth a read!

A Recipe for Syllabub

"Her face as white as a Whipt syallabub."

--JA, Lesley Castle from Volume the Second

Syllabub

juice and grated rind of one lemon

1 c. sherry, white wine, or brandy

1 tblsp. sugar

1 c. whipping cream

freshly grated nutmeg

Infuse the liquor with the lemon rind for several hours. Whip cream until stiff, fold in other ingredients. Serve chilled.

Little-known fact about Jane #11

Little is known about the life of Jane Austen. Her life is notable for its singular lack of events. However, this has not deterred biographers. A recent biography by leading American feminist and professor in media studies Hermione P. Hackenbacker suggests that Austen committed suicide, having been let down by men; another, by leading conservative historian Alkin V. Halkin, argues that Jane Austen was in fact Jim Austen, and that he secretly adopted a female pseudonym in order to sell more copies of his novels. A forthcoming work, Austen: Riddle Solved, suggests that all Jane Austen's novels were in fact written by Stratford-born playwright William Shakespeare.
By Craig Brown The Telegraph 26/01/2008 www.telegraph.co.uk

Who is your favorite author?

"Some years ago I was participating in a voir dire for a criminal trial. The judge asked me, "Who is your favorite author?" When I replied, "Jane Austen," she said, "In thirty years on the bench, no one has ever given that response to me." I responded, "More's the pity," and she agreed. I was seated on the jury." --Gene Gill

Inspired by Jane Austen

Best-selling author Stephenie Meyer has written the phenomenal teen series that is fast becoming Harry-Potteresque in popularity. The main character in her novel is Edward. She states, "For my vampire (who I was in love with from day one) I decided to use a name that had once been considered romantic, but had fallen out of popularity for decades. Charlotte Bronte's Mr. Rochester and Jane Austen's Mr. Ferrars were the characters that led me to the name Edward. I tried it on for size, and found that it fit well. " Check out her books on http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/

Thinking of Jane Austen

When I think of Jane Austen I think of opulence and sophistication.
--Beatrice Arthur

NY Times Article compares Obama to Darcy

OPINION August 3, 2008 Mr. Darcy Comes Courting By MAUREEN DOWD Barack Obama is a modern incarnation of the clever, haughty, reserved and fastidious Mr. Darcy, cherished hero of chick-lit. Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/opinion/03dowd.html?ex=1218427200&en=3bb54a38cb695e45&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Thanks to BM for sending in...

Vermont inn planning Jane Austen weekends

The proprietors of an eight-room bed and breakfast in a Georgian-style mansion in Vermont say they are planning a series of Jane Austen-themed weekends. Four weekends are scheduled at the Governor's House in Hyde Park between August and next January. Each will concentrate on Austen's novel "Persuasion" with talks, book discussion, a comparison of the novel to the movies, afternoon tea and carriage rides. The topic for the following year is "Pride and Prejudice."

"I'm hoping each weekend will be a mix of young people who might know only the movies and are ready to discover the original prose and readers who consider Jane an old friend and can't wait to argue the merits of the new interpretations over breakfast," Suzanne Boden, who runs the inn, said in a statement.

Although the interior of the 1893 mansion is the typical late Victorian style of the period, its Georgian exterior is a copy of the Longfellow House in Cambridge, Mass., a style that was popular during the Regency period when Jane Austen wrote her beloved novels, Boden said.

http://www.onehundredmain.com/jane_austen.html

***Wet White Shirt Alert***

P&P Pin-up Colin Firth-yes, you may not remember every line he uttered from P&P, but you will be hard pressed to find a woman who doesn't recall the scene in which Mr. Darcy rises out of the lake in a wet white shirt. Well, for those of you who keep tabs on this pin-up, please check him out in the role of Harry Bright in Mamma Mia! the ABBA musical hitting theatres now. There is even a wet white shirt scene for those who are wondering...