The third book in the One Thread Pulled series features the challenges Elizabeth faces as a new bride and is set largely at Pemberley. It will be released in autumn of this year if all goes according to plan. The current working title isn’t the final title, but I thought that the Austen Authors’ readers… Read the full blog post …
Charity is a theme woven into each of Jane Austen’s six novels, with various facets of this virtue woven into characters and communities in ways that illuminate the best and worst of its meanings. We’ll take a look at a few examples of these themes in her works, including the contradictions inherent in her illustrations.… Read the full blog post …
If an earworm is a musical tune that you hear playing over and over in your mind, a bee in a bonnet is a parallel idiom, expanding to a thought or topic that one can’t quite set free, like a bee buzzing around in the brain, trapped. The host subject proceeds to bring the topic… Read the full blog post …
I must make a confession in order to broach today’s topic. It’s a difficult thing to admit because I initially promised myself I wouldn’t do it. After weeks of adamant resistance, however, curiosity overcame my objections. Yep. I watched the Bridgerton series on Netflix. This program will never win an award for historical accuracy. Its… Read the full blog post …
You may have noticed that I spent the past few months taking a look at medical advancements against smallpox that took place in the Regency era. This third post is the final one on this topic. After learning about the proven success of the new cow-pox-based method of vaccination against smallpox that was advocated and… Read the full blog post …
Four weeks ago, my post in this blog was about the innovation of the cow-pox vaccination and how smallpox and vaccination may have intersected with Jane Austen’s life. There were so many interesting stories I came across while doing the research for that post, I’ve decided to share just a few of them today. The… Read the full blog post …
Was Jane Austen vaccinated against smallpox? I expected that the answer to this question was a simple internet search away. I was wrong. After extensive searching, I am answerless. I located no mention of her ever having received either the smallpox variolation or vaccination procedures online. Although many of her illnesses were documented, there are… Read the full blog post …
When we hear that Christmas trees and decorations didn’t go up before Christmas Eve in the Regency household, it might lead us to assume that Christmas celebrations involved little advance preparation. The reality belies that supposition, as stillroom work for Christmas would actually begin up to a year in advance. This early activity is because… Read the full blog post …
Take a look in your medicine cabinet and consider with awe the treasure it truly is. Whether we are referring to prescription medications or over-the-counter treatments, you know that the products have been standardized, and must at least meet minimum standards for safety and efficacy. But where did these products come from? A phrase in… Read the full blog post …
Welcome back to the Regency stillroom, where a bountiful harvest has put the staff into a frenzy of work. Every day is a race against the clock to get it all done before spoilage or frost diminish or taint the yield. In addition to producing the alcoholic beverages and aromatic waters I discussed in my… Read the full blog post …
When Harriet Smith is has a cold, Mr. Elton reports that she was given a cordial. When Mr. Knightley is giving instructions on how to make spruce beer, Mr. Elton breaks his pencil. When Louisa Musgrove has fallen in Lyme, she is taken back to the house and given cordials and restoratives. When Marianne Dashwood… Read the full blog post …
Social connection. It’s the pulse of civilization, the foundation of community, and a deeply held human need. You might have guessed that I’m not necessarily talking about networking with influential people here. I’m talking about friendship, camaraderie, recognition, love, and belonging. Jane Austen was particularly adept at infusing the relationships in her novels with an… Read the full blog post …
Jane Austen continues to astonish me. We turn again toward her use of clothing to inform her characters, this time focusing on the handful of references to lace and/or finery in her novels. Lace appears to be, in Austen-speak, a euphemism for empty-headed, trivial, vain, self-centered, and even vulgar. Perhaps this is due to the… Read the full blog post …
