Jane Austen July 2025 discussion

A thread to discuss our current reads! What are you starting with this Jane Austen July?

I am starting easy this year. I want to make sure I have time to read all I have plans for. So my first nonfiction is Who Was Jane Austen? by Sarah Fabiny. It is a middle grade and I am sure I will learn something about her.

Yours Forevermore, Mr. Darcy and Sense and Sensibility.

I have started 'Sense and Sensibility' as well as two collections of poetry by contemporaries of Austen: William Wordsworth and, of course, William Cowper.

Edit: Thanks to Zuzana, I also discovered the The Thing About Austen podcast and learned something about Mrs Dashwood's linen today 😊

I gave up on Yours Forevermore, Darcy by Mackrory. It isn't my cup of tea. Had it been so bad it was good I'd have stuck it out, but I mostly wanted to hide in a hole on account of second hand embarrassment on behalf of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett being written in the female equivalent to the Male gaze.

I skipped to the end of the one I gave up on. The ending was cute. I now wish it had been written as a epistolary novel where Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy keep accidentally leaving notes about each other around the various locations. absurd, yes, but the author can actually write letters well.

As I'm still on holiday in Sweden and all my Jane Austen related books are at home in Germany, I'm currently reading a book by the Swedish literary scholar Vivi Edström about Jane Austen's life and work. The title is 'Livets gåtor' (The Mysteries of Life), it was published 2009, and I don't think there are any translations, which is a pity, because it's very interesting.

I am reading The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler and listening to both Sense and Sensibility and Frankenstein.
Every time I read or listen to Sense and Sensibility, I realise I watch the film far too often as very basic differences always surprise me. it does mean every reread is like rediscovering an old friend

I started
My Dear Cassandra : Selections from the Letters of Jane Austen

and looked at the pictures and read the introduction of Jane Austen's Wardrobe

I'm reading S&S, and when I'm done, I intend to go on to S&S and Sea Monsters, just for giggles. I'm also reading the excellent Northanger Abbey in a Val McDermid retelling at the Edinburgh Book Festival (Oh! Dreams!). I'm also reading Jane on the Brain By Wendy Jones, which is my first non-fiction for the JAJ. Oh! My day is almost over and I can't wait to snuggle with NA and read 50 pages! :)
I am so enjoying this JAJ! My second, but not my last!

I've read The Watsons, re-listened to Lady Susan, and have started a re-listen to P&P. Tonight I plan to start Jane Austen's Wardrobe.

I started to read ' Northanger Abbey" for challenge 1 on the 1st of July.
I thought I may read " the mysteries of Udolpho" by Ann Radcliffe (for challenge 5) to stay in the atmosphere and watch again "Northanger Abbey" mini series with Felicity Jones playing Catherine Morland. (challenge 6) :)
Happy to join Sanditon Readalong when the times comes !

I am doing the SS readalong using a lovely illustrated annotated edition by Patrica Meyer Spacks. from Harvard University Press.
https://archive.org/details/sensesens...

In addition I am reading 2 NF books even though I had planned to cut down on my usual high NF count. I now have 4 in the line up and will update my TBR.

Right now I am reading an old literary criticism on JA (part of a series by Cambridge University Press) which had been standard undergraduate background reference for English majors, especially in Australia where the writer had been honoured with the highest civilian honour for contribution to literature studies, as the English Literature chair at Monash University.

The book traces JA sources, and the development of her craft, alongside her life and personal experiences - using JA letters and Juvenalia to start off the study, before touching on the major works.
This is quite ground breaking for the time the book was written, and actually even now for undergraduate study material on JA. This level of birds eye view is only for specific books usually.

However JASNA and JSTOR have deeper and incisve critical material, so the chapters on the major works are not that riveting.
A free copy is available on Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/janeauste...

The Goodreads link is not useful yet though. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

I am currently reading:

Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë

I am currently reading

Jane and Dorothy by Marian Veevers
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
Jack and Alice by Jane Austen (in a collection of her juvenilia)

I recently finished The Murder of Mr Wickham. It was fun to have all of Janes main characters together at one party. Currently I’m reading Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England by Brenda Cox. The July challenge is my motivation to get it finished. It is bringing me new understanding about vicars and livings, etc. I’m looking forward to reading one of her novels again when I finish this although I remain undecided about which one I want re-read first.

I'm currently reading Belinda and liking it so fat. It's like a cross between Evelina and a Georgette Heyer novel rather than Jane Austen.

I love the first half of Belinda! It’s full of so much clever dialogue. The second half is like a whole different novel; will be interested to hear what you think.

Belinda is a fascinating one!

I just finished to re-read "Northanger Abbey" and started "Jane Austen at home" by Lucy Worlsey. I may read "Evelina" instead of "Mysteries of Udolpho", changing my mind!

This July I want to read all the novels that I didn't complete in the past. Many are in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice world.

The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch ✔
Most Ardently
The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh
Pride and Premeditation ✔
Mary B: An Untold Story of Pride and Prejudice
Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance
Pride
The Pursuit of Mary Bennet: A Pride & Prejudice Novel
The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet
By Book or By Crook

Renuka wrote: "I am doing the SS readalong using a lovely illustrated annotated edition by Patrica Meyer Spacks. from Harvard University Press.
https://archive.org/details/sensesens......"

Love that annotated edition--my favorite in that series is Mansfield Park, but the S&S is excellent, too.

Right now I am reading an old literary criticism on JF (part of a series by Cambridge University Press)

Who (or what) is JF?--you mention it several times in your post. Did you mean JA, or someone/something else?

I started The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet. I didn't get too far yet.

I've just discovered that Jane Austen's Juvenilia is available for free on my Audible account so I may be adding that to the mix this month as well if I have time. I've had a copy on my shelf for a while but haven't gotten to it.

Kathy wrote: "Renuka wrote: "I am doing the SS readalong using a lovely illustrated annotated edition by Patrica Meyer Spacks. from Harvard University Press.
https://archive.org/details/sensesens......"

Oops sorry! Yes I did mean JA (face palm!)
Mind palying tricks because of the NF non-fiction, and JF Jane Fairfax who I was again comparing with Emma in my mind ...
Thanks for pointing it out - have edited the post now.

Read again a JASNA article on Tom Lefroy and Jane.
https://jasna.org/persuasions/on-line...

Can't help but see traces of their relationsship in SS, with similarity of Marianne's behaviour to Jane's according to her letters.

As well as in all the novels of course, the non-engagement engagement scenario, in one form or another.

Artcle on Daylesford, Cotswolds, UK.
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch...

The property belonged to the Hastings family, of which Waren Hastings the first Governor General of India (and the possible father of Eliza de Feuillade Jane Austen's cousin) was the last.

Daylesford is suggested as the Delaford of Colonel Brandon, also a former colonial of India.

I found the article extremely interesting - there are some black and white sketches of the buildings too.
As there are no descriptions of Marianne and Elinor's later homes, these give some idea of what they may have been at the time, and so, in JA mind.

I’m up to chapter 43 of S&S and have watched the Emma Thompson version.

I think I’ll read P&P next.

I’ll be watching Austenland as the modern take task.

I’m reading the Castle of Otranto, and MAN! The drama! I can see why Austen parodied it with Northanger Abbey. Obviously, Austens writing is much better.

But I can’t help but feel like I’m running though a medieval house like Haddon Hall to save my good reputation and escape through hidden passageways assisted by a local labourer 😂

WEEK 1 update

READ ONE OF THE SIX NOVELS
* Sense and Sensibility
* Pride and Prejudice
✔ Emma

READ ONE OF THE OTHER WORKS
* Sanditon
* The Watsons
* Lady Susan
* Selected Letters

NON-FICTION BOOK ABOUT AUSTEN OR HER TIME
* Jane Austen at Home - Lucy Worsley (currently reading)
* Jane and Dorothy - Marian Veevers
* A Truth Universally Acknowledged
✔ Jane Austen Cover to Cover - Margaret C. Sullivan

RETELLING OR SET IN LIFETIME
* Jane Fairfax - Joan Aiken

BOOK BY CONTEMPORARY
✔ The Old English Baron (1778) - Clara Reeve
✔ "The Rivals" (1775) - Richard Brinsley Sheridan (mentioned in Mansfield Park)
* Cecilia (1782) - Frances Burney
* Evelina (1778) - Frances Burney
* The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) - Ann Radcliffe
* The Antiquary (1814) - Walter Scott

WATCH DIRECT ADAPTATION
* Pride and Prejudice miniseries (1995)
✔ Emma (2020)
* Sense and Sensibility miniseries (2008)
✔ Emma (1996)

MODERN VIDEO RETELLING
* Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (not expecting much)
✔ Clueless

OTHER RELATED ACTIVITIES
✔ Jane Austen jigsaw puzzle

OTHER RELATED BOOKS
* The Female Quixote (1752) - Charlotte Lenox -- book that influenced Jane Austen.

Hannah wrote: "I’m reading the Castle of Otranto, and MAN! The drama! I can see why Austen parodied it with Northanger Abbey. Obviously, Austens writing is much better.

But I can’t help but feel like I’m running..."

I read The Castle of Otranto last year and I unexpectedly enjoyed it. This year I read The Old English Baron which its author Clara Reeve described as "the literary offspring" of Otranto. It still has some Gothic vibes but is much more grounded in reality with most of the supernatural events being explainable. Set in the reigns of Henry IV, V, and VI.

Watched 1971 SS.
Nice - but a bit wooden acting.
Patricia Routledge as Mrs Jennings was good - reminded of her acting as Mrs Bucket / Bouquet in Keeping Up Appearances :)

The 1971 had some good performances. I liked that your view of Colonel Brandon shifts just based on how they film him. I don't know how to explain it but in both the 71 and 80's versions they manage to convey how Marianne's view of him shifts by taking the viewer on a similar shift in perspective. Or maybe it was just that way for me. I can't recall if it was the 70's or 80's version that had the actress who played Elizabeth Bennett's aunt in the 95 P&P.

Rebecca wrote: "The 1971 had some good performances. I liked that your view of Colonel Brandon shifts just based on how they film him. I don't know how to explain it but in both the 71 and 80's versions they manag..."

Mmm.. now that you mention.. I think 95 PP Mrs Philips is actually Fanny Dashwood in 71 SS!!
Much younger of course but the pinched sharp look is there :)

Though I hadn't read SS for decades I've watched the Ang Lee version 2-3 times in the meantime - not fascinated in the 90s but in last 2 viewings more apprecively - or more complacently... not so critically.

In this reading though I'm trying to stay stricltly on the book to form my assesment

I understand what you mean by films taking the viewer and Marianne together in a Brandon re-assessment journey.

I noticed it myself in the 71 version, with Brandon able to interest a dutiful, bored, but polite Marianne in the fascinating beauty of Donne, Marlowe poetry...
As I absolutely love Donne poetry myself, I was softened too - but did remind myself 'is it given so in the book? wait and see' :)

The other Aunt is Elinot in 80's production I think.

Rebecca wrote: "The other Aunt is Elinot in 80's production I think."

Ohohoh Poor Elinor!

BarbaraBrubru wrote: "I may read "Evelina" instead of "Mysteries of Udolpho", changing my mind!"

I enjoyed Evalina in my first read a couple of years ago. Story moves along nicely with no lagging.
Well drawn characters too and believable.
The JA depth and layering is not there but it works very well as what it is.
Havent read Udolpho so can't compare them.
Enjoy it!

Renuka wrote: "Watched 1971 SS.
Nice - but a bit wooden acting.
Patricia Routledge as Mrs Jennings was good - reminded of her acting as Mrs Bucket / Bouquet in Keeping Up Appearances :)"

I haven't seen that one, but I'd be very keen to see Patricia Routledge as Mrs Jennings!

Katie wrote: "I haven't seen that one, but I'd be very keen to see Patricia Routledge as Mrs Jennings!..."

She was superb!.
Also the girls are the correct age and the contrast between the quieter but still sprightly Elinor, and the emotional but intelligent Marianne was there.
The men are too old - well, Edward is too old.
The original Poldark Ross actor but older or seems older and wooden mostly.
Brandon is ok - is shown softer, more appealing therefore.
Mrs Philips from 95 PP is Fanny :)

As I'm not in the mood to read Frankenstein at the moment, which I had on my TBR for challenge 5, I just finished to read The Rivals by Sheridan. This is not my favourite challenge and I'm glad I've done with it. But I really enjoy my reread of Sense and Sensibility and the non-fiction work I'm reading.

I rewatched I Have Found It. I had a lot of fun watching it. It finds a way to make Colonel Brandon a more consistent character in Major Bala. The Edward character Manohar (sp?) Isn't my favorite. The Willoughby character is an interesting update. I'll avoid saying more lest I give away spoilers for either the film or the book.

Summer Party for JA Sense & Sensibility - a series of articles by different authors.
NOT academic - more accessible.
A different article every other day, from 20 June till end of Summer.

https://sarahemsley.com/celebrating-a...

I started Love and Marriage in the Age of Jane Austen by Rory Muir.
I love Muir's writng style but this book didnt grip me as much as his book on Younger Sons in Regency era did.

I've read a few chapters but will stop now and continue after the challenge is over, because it maybe suffering from my flipping back and forth between different books.

I am not looking for a broad, bird's eye view of the topic - but for the exact courting rituals, and the do and dont's, the stages of it's progression etc.

That seems such an important point in SS - so much room for misunderstandings ...
Reminds me now of the wisdom of how Jane Bennet behaved in PP - protecting her name and her feelings, until as is advised, the man declares himself.
And loving only thereafter - strange though it is to us today..

Especially when a single gentleman, for whatever reason, seeks out the company of a single girl repeatedly.
As also Brandon does with Elinor.
How is a girl to know what they intend, how their intentions may have changed even while their wishes stay the same, or vice versa.

As happened to Marianne vs. Lucy ...
Willoughby intended differently while his wish stayed same, Edward intended same while his wish had changed.
What a conundrum for the watching society, and the poor ladies concerned.

And it seems a pair of single individuals repeatedly being in each other's company alone, whatever the ostensible pretext, was taken as a prelude to a change of status- and was seen so by society.

No wonder - because see what happened with Robert and Lucy!!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Kate Winslet reads Sense & Sensibility
Softer, warm as honey voice well modulated, and more appealing to listen to over a longer period than even the Rosamund Pike version.

Volume 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2AI8...

Volume 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY5Ls...

Volume 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2rpI...

Katie wrote: "I'd be very keen to see Patricia Routledge as Mrs Jennings..."

@Katie
Here are the 4 part series of 1971 SS with Patricia Routledge as Mrs Jennings.
Also the girls are superbly chosen - both fair and very beautiful, and very alike to be sisters, but Elinor with a cool reserve, a touch-me-not look, Marianne a prettier, more open face yet with a slight hauteuer - exactly as the book charcters are.
The difference clearly seen when they meet the Palmers in Part 2 @13.30

Part1/4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D45Vv...

Part 2/4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GShE...

Part 3/4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83cAO...

Part 4/4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPDA3...

I finished my non-fiction book, which was a Swedish book about Jane Austen's life and work (Livets gåtor by Vivi Edström). It was very interesting. Now I've started The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow for challenge 4. The beginning is very promising.

(replying to Gaby) The Other Bennet Sister was quite possibly my favorite read of 2020 and is in my top three Austen retellings. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Some update:
1. Re-read Northanger Abbey, then watched the BBC film for challenge 6 :)
2. Read Lady Susan but may participate to Sanditon Readalong soon!
3. Read Jane Austen at Home, found it very interesting and so pleasant to read.
Now I wish to read What Matters in Jane Austen?: Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved again but will surely focus on other parts of the challenge this month ;)
4. Just started Miss Austen to know more about Cassandra :)
5. Still hesitating for that one...
6. Northanger Abbey BBC fim and P&P with Keira Knithley because I liked Matthew Macfadyen in "Succession" and wanted to see him as Darcy.
7. Need to find what to watch...

1. Finished Sense & Sensibility today (physical copy). Still listening to the audiobook, which I started with a few days delay because I struggled to get into the right mood for the book. Now that I have begun, I feel obliged to finish it, of course 😄 However, I find it an enriching experience to listen again to the same scenes which I have just read. Or maybe it is just the wonderful reading of Juliet Stevenson, which is always a treat.
2. Spontaneously read "The History of England" (remembering Margaret reciting the Kings and Queens of England in the 2008 miniseries)
3. Coming next: Reader, I married him: A study of the women characters of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot
4. Read Georgette Heyer's Cotillion (in June)
5. Still reading two poetry collections by Wordsworth and Cowper. Wordsworth is really not to my taste, but Cowper is growing on me.
6. No plans to do that, but had the 2008 miniseries in my head for every scene that I read. It's one of my very favourite Jane Austen adaptations.

WEEK 2 update

READ ONE OF THE SIX NOVELS
* Sense and Sensibility
* Pride and Prejudice
✔ Emma

READ ONE OF THE OTHER WORKS
* Sanditon
* The Watsons
✔ Lady Susan
* Selected Letters

NON-FICTION BOOK ABOUT AUSTEN OR HER TIME
* Jane Austen at Home - Lucy Worsley (currently reading)
* Jane and Dorothy - Marian Veevers
* A Truth Universally Acknowledged
✔ Jane Austen Cover to Cover - Margaret C. Sullivan

RETELLING OR SET IN LIFETIME
* Jane Fairfax - Joan Aiken

BOOK BY CONTEMPORARY
✔ The Old English Baron (1778) - Clara Reeve
✔ "The Rivals" (1775) - Richard Brinsley Sheridan (mentioned in Mansfield Park)
✔ "The Duenna" (1775) - Richard Brinsley Sheridan
✔ "A Trip to Scarborough" (1777) - Richard Brinsley Sheridan
✔ "The School for Scandal" (1777) - Richard Brinsley Sheridan (mentioned in Mansfield Park)
✔ "The Critic" (1779) - Richard Brinsley Sheridan
* Cecilia (1782) - Frances Burney
* Evelina (1778) - Frances Burney
* The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) - Ann Radcliffe
* The Antiquary (1814) - Walter Scott

WATCH DIRECT ADAPTATION
* Pride and Prejudice miniseries (1995)
✔ Emma (2020)
✔ Sense and Sensibility miniseries (2008)
✔ Emma (1996)
✔ Love and Friendship (2016) - adaptation of Lady Susan

MODERN VIDEO RETELLING
✔ Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (not expecting much)
✔ Clueless

OTHER RELATED ACTIVITIES
✔ Jane Austen jigsaw puzzle

OTHER RELATED BOOKS
* The Female Quixote (1752) - Charlotte Lenox -- book that influenced Jane Austen.