You pierce my soul, I am half agony half hope. ~Jane Austen (Persuasion)
On this day Dec. 16th in 1775 the brilliant
Jane Austen was born. I am a huge fan, and have read every novel (I think) she has written.
Jane Austen was an amazing English writer born at Steventon rectory to a substantial gentry family. She had only 1 sister, but 6 brothers. Both her and her sister never married and both almost died from Typhus.
Jane Austen was said to be very fond of dancing. This of course makes us Kindred Spirits. 🙂 My favorite Jane Austen quotes is
“To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love” Pride and Prejudice.

My personal favorite Jane Austen novel is
Pride and Prejudice
(although Sense and Sensibility is one of
my favorite movies…)
Here is a great list of things you never knew about Pride and Prejudice:
http://article/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-pride-and-prejudice
Jane Austen died in Winchester on the 18th of July 1817, at only 41. The cause of death was somewhat speculative between Addison’s disease, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, bovine tuberculosis, and/or Brill–Zinsser disease. Persuasion and Northanger Abbey were both published after her death, by her parents Cassandra and Henry.
Fun fact: Her works, though usually popular, were first published anonymously and brought her little personal fame and only a few positive reviews during her lifetime, but the publication in 1869 of her nephew’s A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced her to a wider public. Janeite fan culture emerged in the second half of the 2oth century. (This fact was found via Wikipedia.)

I didn’t know the last part of this,
about her nephew.
Now I will HAVE to read
this Memoir!!!
What is your favorite Jane Austen book and/or movie?
“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.”
Lovely! I didn’t like the memoir. But I loved Darling Jane by Grawe.
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I’ll have to check that out! 🙂
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Did you read Jane way my best friend? Or Jane stole my boyfriend? They are cute. Fiction with a bit of biographical things.
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I haven’t read them, sounds interesting.
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💜
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I love Jane Austen! I think if I had to pick a favorite, mine would probably be Emma. Though Persuasion is a close second.
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I loved Emma as well, it’s hard to pick a favorite, as she wrote so many wonderful novels. I may be biased to Pride and Prejudice because it was the first one I read.
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Have you read Longbourn? It is a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice told by the maid. Very interesting book!
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I have not! I will most certainly be looking into it now though, thank you! 🙂
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Well that’s awesome! I’m going to have to find the memoir too. I liked Ann Hathaway’s performance in Becoming Jane. I don’t know how authentic the story line is, but I found it fascinating that she wrote about love conquering all odds, but she and her sister never married.
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I’ve always found that really interesting as well.
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Pride and Prejudice. I’m reading the spin off Mr Darcy Takes a Wife. I know die hard fans may not like these but it’s a fun way to get more story about our favorite characters. And it’s a little racy which can be fun!
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I don’t mind spin off’s they can be fun, I just make it a point not to take them seriously. I liked the BBC “Death Comes to Pemberley.”
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Exactly, if you take them seriously it will ruin it. I consider them my “fun” not thinking too much reads!
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I would suggest you look at the letters, great for dipping into, she had a wonderful wit and could come up with wonderful on liners. Such as, to her sister who was on holiday;
‘I know you didn’t see the king and queen, as I have had a letter from Mr Crawford who saw you in the act of not seeing them.’
( may have got that slightly wrong as I am quoting from memory)
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Yes, I have wanted to read those 🙂 She did have wonderful wit indeed, and charm.
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My favorite is Emma, with Pride and Prejudice coming on the second spot! Great idea with the Jane Austen tribute!
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I always imagined Jane Austen as being most like the character Emma. Although I suppose she probably put a little of herself in all her heroines.
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Yes, me too! I can see her playing the matchmaker in real life!
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🙂
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Great choice! Though I have to admit Emma is my favourite- I just *love* how Emma develops as a character in that one and I’m half in love with Mr Knightley. Also that’s the one that got me into Austen. My favourite TV/Film adaptation is the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice though- cos it’s just sensational!
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I agree about the BBC (Colin Firth) Pride and Prejudice, it is the best! I can’t stomach the newest one (although I love the actor who plays Mr. Darcy.) My favorite Jane Austen movie adaptation is by far Sense and Sensibility (with Emma and Kate), I adore that movie.
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No me too!! I was not a fan! That’s a great movie too, I’ve watched it sooo many times! I also like the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma- although I’m not sure that’s as popular a film as other adaptations of her books
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I love the Old Hollywood film Pride and Prejudice and I love how each individual actress took her character and made it a personality. The actress who played the mother makes me laugh when she gets the vapors as they said in the old days.
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I haven’t seen that one, but I’d like to. 🙂
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Love it! Only thing I haven’t read by her is Lady Susan. For some reason I have never been able to get through that.
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Yeah I haven’t read it either, but I just pretend that it doesn’t count 🙂 It is a short and an oddball. I would like to eventually read it though…
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Oh good. It’s not just me then. Thank God!
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🙂
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Lady Susan definitely isn’t up to the level of her others, but I think it’s entertaining to imagine her writing it when she was quite young, and experimenting with the genre in her juvenile sensibility.
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🙂
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With out a doubt Pride and Prejudice for both book and film. Chatsworth house is not that far from where I live and it is said she used that house as inspiration for Pemberley.
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Wow, that is so awesome!
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In the last couple of months I re-read all of her novels, except Sanditon…don’t think I could handle an unfinished one. For each book, I found something new to appreciate, though I’ve read them all multiple times. Favorite film adaptation, hands down, is the Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle Pride and Prejudice. Any other P&P is a stink-fest, in my opinion. Also love Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility, and Emma with Gwynneth Paltrow.
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I feel the same way about Sanditon, it would be too hard not to read something I can’t finish. Also feel the same way about film adaptations of P&P 🙂
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Oh, just remembered I gave one of our daughters a copy of “History of England” but never read it…will have to do that soon!
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Persuasion is my favourite, P&P a close second. I do have a soft spot for Northanger Abbey. I find Catherine a very adorable heroine. Have you read either Mr Darcy’s Diary or Me & Mr Darcy. The first is P&P through the eyes of Mr Darcy. The later, is by Alexander Potter and it is a modern tale about Darcy obsession. X
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I have heard of Mr Darcy’s Diary, and I am very intrigued by it. It’s going on my TBR list. 🙂 Me and Mr. Darcy looks interesting as well.
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My friends and I have always talked about how Jane Austen was our guide through adolescence. I should mention that I blame her for my failed relationship with a man who was exactly like Mr Darcy before he revealed himself as a decent person. It took me a while to realise that it was never going to happen and he was just arrogant. My favourite novel is Northanger Abbey, although Pride and Prejudice is not far behind!
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Lovely post:)
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Thank you! 🙂
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Pride and Prejudice, the film, with Kira Knightly…OMG…the very best thing. Mr. Darcy is amazing. There’s also LOST IN AUSTEN which is an incredible series from PBS. I bought it and watch it over and over again. Mr. Darcy is also fabulous in that one. I might have to watch it tonight, now that I mentioned it.
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I tried to find that. I’m gonna look on amazon later and see if they have it on instant video.
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I am ashamed to admit it but :Jane Austen is one author that I have never gotten around to reading. Do you have any suggestions of where to begin for a neophyte Austen reader? Charles
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Start with Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and then finish off with Sense and Sensibility. 😀 Don’t forget a cup of Darjeeling to get you in the mood.
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Thank you for your suggestions. The Darjeeling tea sounds good, but give me a mug of strong, black coffee anytime! Charles
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That was just a suggestion but you are welcome to any drink of choice. 🙂
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I do like tea, especially Earl Grey, but coffee is, if you will excuse the expression, my “cup of tea.” Charles
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ooo.. i love earl grey. a favorite of mine. i also like rose tea
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Rose tea smoothies are amazing!
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got a recipe for that? 😍
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I got it at a bubble tea cart, I would love to figure out how to make it. I imagine if you have rose tea, you could steam press it to get a denser concentrated liquid. Then you could add the concentrate to a sweet cream fro-yo or ice-cream depending on preference. This would probably taste pretty close to what I had… If I try it and get a good recipe down, I will let you know! 🙂
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thanks… 😀
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I understand that!
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Definitely Pride and Prejudice, or Emma. It is so worthwhile to read. Be warned though, if you read one it may well start a streak. 🙂
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Thank you for your suggestions. Do you have a coffee suggestion to go along with my reading? Charles
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Amerchaino
I always like drinking tea when reading Austen, it makes me feel more connected to the content. Lavendar Tea or Green tea being a favorites. However, if you prefer strong black coffee this is a nice combination. The Americhaino; Make an americano but with loose leaf chai (not the sweetened concentrate.) You would just steep chai tea and then add in a shot or 2 (whatever your preference) of espresso. You can then sweeten and/or use cream to taste (if at all.)
Here is a simple variations: add a shot of chai concentrate to black coffee.
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Sounds good! Charles
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i never thought that tea and coffee would go together! I’m not sure that I would like the two combined. For me coffee’s rich, smooth taste is good enough on its own.. Charles
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Yeah it only really works with chai tea, since chai tea is mostly just a combination of spices, but it’s definitely not for everyone.
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I remember early one morning when I was in university (a long time ago and all that sort of thing) a friend mistakenly pour coffee over his tea bag, He said that it was the worst thing he’s ever tasted. Charles
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Pride and prejudice is one of my all time favourite books 🙂
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It’s an amazing book! 🙂
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Here’s one more for your Austen collection! The great murder-mustery author P.D. James was also a huge Austen fan & as a tribute wrote “Death Comes to Pemberley.” Well worth reading!
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I watched the t.v. special based on the book, and I so wish I had known of and read the book first. It was very good.
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I have S&S; a gift from my cousin from the UK. I haven’t gotten round to reading Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and Northanger Abbey. Yet. But I watched the movie versions. 😀
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All great books!
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I didn’t like the female protagonist of Northanger Abbey. She is such a silly twit. Nevertheless, she learned her lesson that not all things in life are like the romances she reads.
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My favorite is ” Persuasion.” Love that book so, so much (and I see that you used a quote from Capt. Wentworth’s letter in the beginning). Wish I could go back in time and have tea with Jane, wouldn’t that be wonderful? Just a cozy hour or so of tea and talk. What I wouldn’t give, sigh, sigh. Cheers and thanks for a great post.
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Yes! 🙂 That would be lovely indeed.
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Pride and Prejudice is one of my fav. books… 🙂
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It is a brilliant book 🙂
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I don’t quite like the movie though!
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I did not like the movie at all. I did like the BBC mini series with Colin Firth, it was excellent.
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I LOVE Jane Austen and think she’s hilarious and cunning (rather than deserving of her status as nice, middle class woman, observant of manners). I particularly love her not-often-referenced PERSUASION (which you quote!), even as this is not her most humorous…it’s early, low-key feminism.
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Yes, Persuasion does get a bit unjustly shadowed 🙂 it is a great book!
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What a great post. How interesting. I love Jane Austen too. During my visit to England I went to the home she grew up in. Very special. Thanks Abbie.
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I would love to have an experience like that, how wonderful. 🙂
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Hands down, Pride and Prejudice!
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❤
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My oldest son and my husband love to watch Pride and Prejudice with me. I can watch that any time and they will watch it with me. We also love watching Sense and Sensibility. As far as the books go, my favorites is Pride and Prejudice…without a doubt!
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I could watch Sense and Sensibility over and over.
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We could, as well. 😀 Thanks for following my blog and you do such a great job on yours…keep it up! 🙂
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I must have read Pride & Prejudice 20 times, but I have also developed a great liking for Mansfield Park, in spite of the sanctimonious Fanny Price. It is a much fuller and ricker story that P&P – but that, of course, is perfection.
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I really like Mansfield Park as well. 🙂
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You’ve won me…I adore Jane Austen. Thanks for following me…I feel like I’ve made a new friend already😇
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You have indeed! 🙂
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Your name is good Abbielu.
I wish I went to the school where learned to write
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I was fortunate enough to have a great high school English teacher. He challenged me and encouraged me, which sparked my love of writing. Now my passion for writing is being fueled by great new friends like you, who inspire me with kind words and like minded intrigue. Thank you so very much!
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Well now you are my encouraging and inspiring teacher for English and your blog is my school campus.
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That is so great! Learn wherever you can, take inspiration whenever it strikes. Don’t let doubt hold you back, when I did I wasted years. When you let those encouragements guide you, and trust that your words have real worth (even with their mistakes,) your journey begins.
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Wow.never leave me alone or there will be one more ignorant individual on this earth.
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Just like you, my favorites are Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Both in novel and movie form lol. I thoroughly enjoyed your blog!
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I’m so glad!
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Pride and Prejudice, no question. Love the interactions between the characters and the love story.
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It’s pretty great, and Mr. Darcy is such an iconic character too.
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Besides linking to the book review, I also posted about the adaptation. Any other dark and brooding heroes you like besides Darcy?
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Thank you to follow my blog and like my poetry. Hope you enjoy it 🙂
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I’m really only familiar with Pride and Prejudice, having seem the movie and then on a whim read the book. Having struggled through some of Dicken’s novels in school, I found Jane Austen to be more accessible, relevant and funny. Happy Birthday JA
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Perfect way to describe her style. 🙂
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What about Longbourn?
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Seems very intriguing.
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I was thrilled to find a bilingual version of “Lady Susan” in France–a Jane Austen book that everyone else seems to hate, but that is my favorite!
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