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1.24.2014

Book Beginnings - Among the Janeites by Deborah Yaffe


This is a meme hosted by Rose City Reader.  They ask that you post the first line(s) to the book you are currently reading and share some feelings on the book.  I'm tweaking this a bit and I'm going to share first lines of books/stories, written by, about, or in the theme of Jane Austen.

My pick for this week is Among the Janeites: A Journey Through the World of Jane Austen Fandom by Deborah Yaffe

Chapter 1 - Dressing The Part

The bottom drawers of Baronda Bradley's dresser are filled to overflowing with kid gloves, ballet slippers, stockings, feathers, lace collars, nineteenth-century coins, smelling salts, period playing cards, drawstring reticules, a vintage sewing kit - all these accessories with which she augments the breathtaking Regency outfits she wears to each year's Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America. A walk-in closet holes her thirty size 6 gowns - the green-and-orange with stripped silk overlay, which premiered in Seattle in 2001; the flowered silk brocade day dress, from Los Angeles in 2004; the square-necked, pale-pink georgette with hand-embroidered bodice; the dark red with cutout sleeves and matching long velvet coat; the lace-and-silk confection so daringly low-cut that, at the Vancouver ball in 2007, she armed her friends with the cod word ("Shakespeare!") to deploy if they noticed a hint of areola peeking out.

And so begins this Deborah's account of her journey through the fandom she calls her own. You can find Deborah's book through all major book sellers.  She will also be speaking at the Cherry Hill Public Library in March. 

4 comments:

  1. Not an Austen fan...

    Here is my post

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    Replies
    1. Jane isn't for everyone. Thank you for sharing your post, the book sounds very interesting, I'm going to have to check it out!

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  2. This memoir sounds like fiction! I think it would be fun to take a look inside the world of a Jane Austen fan who seems to be obsessed with the author. Thirty gowns???
    Here's the link to my Friday post: PICTURING PERFECT.

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    1. Sandra, the book is more a memoir of the fandom than of an individual person. Deborah takes a look at the similarities and differences among the fans. I think Baronda is unique among the fandom.

      Thank you for sharing your post, that series sounds like the perfect weekend read for me!

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