Jane Austen July 2025 discussion
Currently reading (2025)
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Katie
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Jun 30, 2025 08:17AM

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I actually... started early again!


My mini-review if you are interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Have fun (?) with Mary!
I finished my first Austenesque, Brinshore, the second book in Ann Mychal’s series based on The Watsons. Mychal writes “Austenese” quite well and I really admire her dialogue, but I don’t love the characters of this one. Moving on to #3 in the series next.

Yeah, definitely not bad for a debut. I think my main thing was that it really could have been edited down some. And in Year in Between she was really succesful with drawing the characters, which I don't think she pulled of in Remedy. I think I maybe have a minor reading slump right now, because I struggled with finishing it (which rarely happens to me with books like this), so I might have been harsher than I usually would have been. I'm definitely going to check some more of her books in the future.
Have fun (?) with Mary!
Haha, yeah. I saw your review earlier today although I didn't read it yet, saving that after I finish it. I did start on the text and so far, I think I'm having better time than you did (having additional context helps I think) but this is definitely much weaker work from her. But I already wrote quite a bit about this in the BR thread so I guess I won't repeat it here again.
Good luck with your Watsons escapades!


Currently reading:
- Emma by Jane Austen
- The Georgian Gentleman by Michael Brander
- Jane Austen's Families by June Sturrock
Currently watching:
- Emma Approved (webseries) - progress: 50/72 episodes
- for fun and giggles: Blackadder the Third (1987 TV series) - progress: 2/6 episodes


Also just started Wuthering Heights! I had no idea what the story was about so I was a bit surprised

Also just started Wuthering Heights! I had no idea what the story was about so I was a bit surprised
"
Oh wow! The 2005 film is nowhere near accurate and is a thin outline of the story. It lacks Jane's beautiful langauge.
And oh wow again! Never read Wuthering Heights? Brace yourself. The story features an unreliable narrator and a very toxic relationship. I loved it in high school but then I grew up and realized how twisted Heathcliff was and the Bronte sister had man issues.

Haha though I can acknowledge the inaccuracies of the 2005 film, it just has my heart. Something about the cinematography/actors :D
As for Wuthering Heights, wow that makes me more interested! The only other Brontë sisters book I've read was Jane Eyre, which I was not the biggest fan of, so hopefully I like this more!


I can recommend this web series - a smart modern take on Emma, and it has mostly kept to the text and very much to the spirit of the original.
I have also finished reading the last one of my 3 NF - the JASNA article on Mme de Genlis Adelaide and Theodore on Emma.
Already in Chapters 3- 4 I can see this in Emma’s efforts to ‘mould’ Harriet, to a prescription ideal in her own mind.

Walking in Jane Austen's Footsteps (2 hours)
https://youtu.be/-sZgPZoOVnw?si=jHum9...
Jane Austen's House (1/2 hour)
https://youtu.be/NQ9CPE21cm8?si=BXnIu...
Lucy Worsley, author of Jane Austen at Home, talks about Jane's home, life and death (1/2 hour)
https://youtu.be/tqgJZPF_m0o?si=0-CPs...

Hi, Kathy. I watched this course for JAJ 2022. I found the lectures a nice way to get inside JA's world.




Finished Jane Austen's Families by June Sturrock.

This book is essentially a collection of seven essays (six chapters and a conclusion), each exploring recurring themes across Jane Austen’s novels, all centered on family dynamics. The structure is clear and thematic:
1. The Functions of Dysfunctional Families — Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice
2. Spoilt Children — Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma
3. “Usefulness and Exertion” — Mothers and sisters in Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion
4. Money, Morals, and Mansfield Park
5. Speech and Silence in Emma
6. Dandies and Beauties — The issue of good looks in Persuasion
7. Conclusion: “Creative Attention”
I enjoyed it well enough. It reads very much like a set of scholarly articles compiled into a book—which it essentially is. Some arguments are more compelling than others, which is to be expected in a work of literary criticism. 3.5 stars
The standout for me was the chapter on spoilt children. The comparison between Mr. Darcy, Maria Bertram, and Emma Woodhouse was insightful and well-supported by quotes from the books. I was especially struck by the parallels between Darcy and Emma—something I hadn’t fully appreciated before.
Finished Emma Approved (2014) – Web Series (Modern Adaptation) - 72/72 episodes
- Writer/Director: Bernie Su
- Cast: Joanna Sotomura, Brent Bailey

A surprisingly clever modern adaptation of Emma. It stays fairly true to the book, and I really enjoyed the performances. Every actor was solid in their role.
That said, it did feel a bit too long (over 70 episodes), and I really missed Mr. Woodhouse. He’s such an essential part of the novel, and his absence was noticeable. The reason given for the concealment of (view spoiler) doesn’t quite hold up. No matter how the characters try to justify it, it just doesn’t make much sense in a modern context.
Still, overall, it worked. I found it charming and enjoyable.
Finished Blackadder the Third (1987 TV series) - 6/6 episodes

It's so much fun. I thought it fitting as a companion piece to reading Emma. Afterall, the book was dedicated to the Prince Regent and the Prince played by Hugh Laurie is one of the main characters. It's historically wildly inaccurate, but that's not the point. It's only 6 episodes but if you can watch just one, please pick Ink and Incapability (episode 2): It's about Samuel Johnson's Dictionary; Byron, Coleridge and Shelley make a cameo, and Jane Austen is mentioned: (view spoiler) ["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>


If you want more of my thoughts I wrote a review for this one: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...



Agree!! I gave it inky 2 stars on GR. Superficial book. So much more solid information *even on JA housing* in le Faye and Tomalin books.
Worsley is only taking advantage off her job position to self promote and push her half baked, barely researched books.

Agree!! I gave it inky 2 stars on GR. Superficial book. So much more solid information *even on JA housing* in le Faye an..."
Though, I think it's a good starting point. It's "light" reading, it flows nicely, but if you want something more meaty, look elsewhere.
What also helps Lucy Worsley's book is a nice documentary Jane Austen - Behind Closed Doors, it adds visuals to the written word.
BTW There is a revised edition of Jane Austen at Home, so maybe some of the things you didn't like got improved.

--- Emma. (2020 Movie)

Highly stylized. Leans heavily into the comedic aspects of the novel. I liked it but can understand why it's not everyone's cup of tea.
---- The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Originally published in 1774 - before Jane Austen was even born - but the English translation appeared in 1779, so I say it counts! Plus, Werther gets a name-drop in Austen’s Love and Freindship, which gives it an Austen-adjacent seal of approval.
What can I say about the book? The prose is beautiful, the protagonist completely overwrought. It’s easy to see why the champions of the cult of sensibility adored it. I can see Marianne Dashwood crying uncontrollably over poor Werther's fate. It shares themes with Henry Mackenzie’s The Man of Feeling, but with a more focused tone and far superior writing (it’s Goethe, after all, so no surprise there).
Here's the quote from Love and Freindship:
"They said he was Sensible, well-informed, and Agreable; we did not pretend to Judge of such trifles, but as we were convinced he had no soul, that he had never read the sorrows of Werter, and that his Hair bore not the least resemblance to auburn, we were certain that Janetta could feel no affection for him, or at least that she ought to feel none."
Oh, Jane, you absolute queen of creative spelling!

Earlier this year I read Discipline by Mary Brunton, just to read more women Scottish novelists, it was a bit weird carrying around a book called Discipline, I got a few questions about what it was about! The narrative is a first person self-flagellation but provides an interesting insight in the first half into how a young woman, without parental guidance can get caught up in a social whirl that can get them into trouble. So if anyone is still looking for a contemporary to read that might of interest.

Yeah, I gave it three because I thought there were some good parts, but definitely a book that gets more hype than it's worth in my opinion. I'm adding the Tomalin book to my tbr for when I'm in mood for more JA biography.
Zuzana wrote: "BTW There is a revised edition of Jane Austen at Home, so maybe some of the things you didn't like got improved."
To be fair, I am not certain which edition I read (I listened to audio) so that is certainly possible. Some of the faults are I think very ingrained, but maybe at least the non-sense surrounding women's undergarments could have been fixed.
But yeah, I agree that it's quite readable and as introduction it worked fine for me.

Finished Jane Austen's Families by June Sturrock.

This book is essentially a collection of seven essays (six chapters and..."
Thanks for all the info on what you’re reading, Zuzana! That’s really helpful.

Moving on to my nonfiction selection, A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen.





I also find the information a little thin. The first chapter (Meeting) lists places where young people could meet prospective partners: at home, visiting friends and family, in town. Not exactly a revelation when you have read Jane Austen's novels. And if you have not yet read all the novels, you really should not read this book because of spoilers! I hope there'll be more meat to the book when we come to legal and financial issues of marriages.
Initially, I was interested in reading Muir's Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune: How Younger Sons Made Their Way in Jane Austen's England, but it was not available in my library. If anyone has read both these books, could you share your thoughts, please?

Here's to unexpected days off! 🫖

I am currently listening to The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, which is truly wonderful!

I liked that one OK and also The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen

I didn't read Muir previously, so can't offer any opinion, but I am definitely interested in your thoughts since this book is definitely more toward the top in my pile of Jane Austen Related non-fiction to read.




Anyway, I'm currently really enjoying my non-fiction reading and am already pondering what to pick up next. There is a librivox recording of Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman because it has been on my radar for so long and this might be the perfect oportunity. Also thinking about picking up The Female Quixote because it took up my interest and it has a modern audiobook where the narration doesn't irritate me terribly. (Sadly can't be said for Burney's books.)

Will add The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen to my Jane Austen TBR list ☺️.
I am now listening to Persuasion.

Thank you Zuzana. I will read it if I can do so at the library or borrow (not easy here) from someone - not going to pay any more for her books !!
Well, maybe after I’ve read it :)

I wonder if it’s in anyway connected to the Wentworth-Woodhouse mansion.
Once the largest residential building in the UK with a facade twice as long as that of Buckingham Palace!

No wonder we are told in Emma that the Woodhouses were ‘the younger branch of a very ancient family’ (Chapter 16).
And in Persuasion, Sir Walter Elliot wonders during a conversation about Mr Wentworth the former curate at Monkford, how the name of one of England’s foremost families has come to be used by me of kesser worth.
I parapharse - I don’t have the book to hand right now.

I absolutely loved Gentlemen - full of academic research meat, and yet high readability.
But I ran through it eagerly during JAJ 2-3 years back, when the book first appeared - and have always meant to reread more slowly, savouring the details - but haven’t got down to it yet - therefore my GR rating is not up, I think.
But I recommended it highly in the JAJ of the year it was published.
I still stand by it.
Haven’t read the Love and Marriage to the end - just started, so sorry can’t say anything much - but it’s very readable, collects info we know about the topic all in one place - but I think it may not be as rich in detail as Gentlemen.

Nice for a little dreamy virtual walk with JA.
My copy has a different cover than here with JA on the top left and 3 buildings below.
But I guess the contents are the same.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

My copy has a different cover"
I read that book earlier this year and my cover is like yours:
In the steps of Jane Austen

—Read half of Emma
—Watched the 2020 film
—Watched the BBC version
Would love to read JA’s Bookshelf but may save it for later. It sounds fantastic.

Probably not, since I live in the US. 😎

In the “have read” pile this month is “Northhanger Abbey”and “The Prayers of Jane Austen”
Watched - Emma 2020
Currently watching the BBC 4 part adaptation

Probably not, since I live in the US. 😎"
You never know until you look it up. The early colonists were quite prolific.
I've been doing some research on my family tree. SUPPOSEDLY I'm related to an Anne Wentworth and Emma Woodhouse (from Yorkshire). There was large landowning family named Wentworth-Fitzwilliam there until 1979! The Wentworths died out before Persuasion was written but within Jane's lifetime.
My ancestors pre-date the Wentworth-Woodhouse stately home. Apparently the ancestors originated in the village of Wentworth in Yorkshire. Emma Woodhouse married a Wentworth. At some point, my ancestor became a Puritan, denounced the Massachusetts Puritans, got kicked out of Boston and went to New Hampshire where his granddaughter married a non-Puritanical sort.
Further discussion on those names
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Ginny, in one way it is a good fast page turner and in another sense it is very irritating. I can't say much else without ruining it for someone.
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