COVER REVEAL - Murder at Donwell Abbey by Vanessa Kelly (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

Do you like cozy historical mysteries, Jane Austen, and great characters? Then you may be interested in a new novel, Murder at Donwell Abbey by Vanessa Kelly. I'm happy to share all that I know about this new novel and reveal the beautiful cover.  This new novel will be available on November 25, 2025.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

In this latest Regency-era mystery, Jane Austen’s clever Emma Knightley navigates shocking changes in her family—while meeting her match in a deadly adversary . . . 

Emma’s spirits are elevated after she and husband George Knightley host a joyful holiday celebration at the Hartfield estate. But it’s instantly a bitter January when her father makes an unexpected announcement—he and Miss Hetty Bates have decided to marry. Not only must Emma relinquish her role as mistress of the household, but also accept the reality that the excitable Miss Bates will become her stepmother . . .

More unwanted news arrives during an extravagant betrothal ball at Donwell Abbey, the grand Knightley estate where Emma and George will soon permanently reside. Nearly every villager in Highbury revels in the dazzling affair—except Emma’s hardworking lady’s maid, Prudence Parr. To Emma’s horror, Prudence is found dead, sprawled across the stones of the library terrace . . .

The woman’s tragic fall is quickly ruled a terrible accident and whispers circulate around personal troubles leading up to her untimely demise. But Emma’s instincts tell her that something far more sinister is at play. Now, Highbury’s matchmaker-turned-sleuth vows to outwit a cunning criminal before an innocent man loses his freedom—or Donwell Abbey plunges into a darker mystery . . .

AND THE BEAUTIFUL NEW COVER .....

What do you think? This is the second novel in the Emma Knightley Mysteries series. I am so looking forward to this follow-up novel!!

Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding

 

Title:  Emma of 83rd Street

Author:  Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding

Narrated by:  Brittany Pressley and Teddy Hamilton

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 40 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio. 

What character from a classic novel can you imagine living a great life in modern times?  Emma Woodhouse from Jane Austen’s classic novel, Emma, has always seemed to me to be a woman that could make it in any time period.

Emma Woodhouse is beautiful, rich, and clever.  She lives with her father in an Upper East Side neighborhood in Manhattan.  Emma successfully matches her sister with their childhood friend, Ben.  Ben’s brother, George Knightley, is their neighbor.  Will Emma successfully find a match for her new friend Nadine? Will she find a love of her own?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read this audiobook last month for the March pick for the JASNA Northwoods book club.  Our club all enjoyed this book.

·       I loved Emma’s love for the classic Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful love.  She takes Nadine to a showing at Christmas.

·       There are dual narrators in this novel, Emma and Knightley.  This worked wonderfully on audiobook with two different narrators.

·       I love how Emma can be made modern in so many different ways.  My gold standard is the 90’s classic movie, Clueless, but I loved the characters and settings for this modern-day version.

·       I thought this novel did a good job of keeping true to Austen’s characters while making its own story and characters.

·       The novel was steamy towards the end.  It got to be a bit much for me as I am more a closed-door romance fan.

·       There was a nice set-up at the end of the next novel, Lizzie of East Hampton. This is a modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice.  The first chapter was also shared.

·       This novel was the first in the “For the Love of Austen” series.

·       This novel was a friends-to-lovers romance although at times it seemed liked enemies-to-lovers as Emma and George liked to bicker.

·       It was a fun lighthearted novel that I really needed at the time I was reading it.

·       Emma and George Knightley had great chemistry.

·       This book would make a fun romcom movie.

·       I loved Emma and George’s character growth throughout the novel as Emma tries to get a job and stand on her own two feet.  George must leave his past behind and learn to not be so critical of himself and others.

Overall, Emma of 83^rd Street by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding is a delightful modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma with great characters, story, setting, and chemistry.

Pickering Place by H.M. Jones

 

What is a debut novel that you loved?

Chloe Mora is eighteen years old and has grown up in a small town in Iowa.  Her Tia Miranda has had surgery on her foot and could use help from Chloe getting around Boston.  Chloe can also use the opportunity to visit colleges.  She has never left home, and this will be quite the adventure.  Will Chloe find herself and love?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read this book last month for a March pick for the JASNA Northwoods book club.

·       This was a modern retelling of Northanger Abbey. 

·       I enjoyed the great introduction where the author describes her love of the original novel.

·       I enjoyed that Chloe Mora loves all things paranormal like Twilight.

·       It was an interesting modernization of Northanger Abbey.  It kept all of the elements of the original story and brought it into modern times.  The General Tilney character, Mr. Bath, sends Chloe back to Boston on her own on a train with no money or cell phone.  This gave the same vibe as Catherine’s dismissal in Northanger Abbey.

·       I enjoyed Michael and Mindy Bath and their friendship with Chloe. 

·       This was a quick read.  I could call it a coming-of-age novel and a romantic comedy. 

·       I liked the multi-cultural aspects of this book.  It was nice to learn about what it was like for Chloe being of the two “brown” girls her age in her small town and the delights of going to a large much more diverse city.  Although there was a minus to this as a book club member pointed out that the Spanish phrases were use incorrectly in the dialogue.

·       The dialogue was very stilted.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, but the writing seemed amateurish with one-dimensional characters.  This read like a first-time author’s work, that holds the promise for more interesting work in the future.

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com

Living with Jane Austen (Austenprose PR Book Tour) by Janet Todd

 

What author would you like to learn more about?  I always love learning more about Jane Austen.

Living with Jane Austen is Janet Todd’s journey through Austen.  It was written to celebrate the 250^th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth this year.  It is Todd’s relationship with Austen throughout her life as well as a deep dive into different topics in Austen’s life and in her novels.

My thoughts on this book:

·       I thought this was interesting and it gave me a lot to ponder about Austen. For example, it made me want to read Sir Charles Grandison by Samuel Richardson.  Austen enjoyed the novel and apparently the estate in it has similarities to Pemberley.  It is one of the longest novels in the English language which sounds daunting.

·       This was a literary analysis mixed with memoir.

·       Todd compared and contrasted Mary Wollstonecraft and Jane Austen’s lives and works.  I thought that was interesting.  Their lives were so very different but were around the same time period.

·       The book is arranged by themes such as:  The Brightness of Pemberly, the Darkness of Darcy, Poor Nerves, Into Nature, How to Die, etc.  I liked this arrangement and learning more about these topics.

·       This was a slower read for me, but it was thought provoking and fascinating.

Overall, Living with Jane Austen by Janet Todd is part scholarly literary analysis part memoir, but 100 % intriguing.  It’s a great book for anyone that is interested in Jane Austen and her works.

Book Source:  Review copy from Cambridge University Press as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Fanny Price, in Mansfield Park, tells her persistent suitor that “we have all a better guide in ourselves...than any other person can be.” Sometimes, however, we crave external guidance: and when this happens we could do worse than seek it in Jane Austen's own subtle novels.

Written to coincide with Austen's 250th birthday, this approachable and intimate work shows why and how - for over half a century - Austen has inspired and challenged its author through different phases of her life. Part personal memoir, part expert interaction with all the letters, manuscripts and published novels, Janet Todd's book reveals what living with Jane Austen has meant to her and what it might also mean to others.

Todd celebrates the undimmable power of Austen's work to help us understand our own bodies and our environment, and teach us about patience, humour, beauty and the meaning of home.

ADVANCE PRAISE

“Intimate, knowledgeable and frequently unexpected, this is a book for all Jane Austen's readers by one of the very best of those readers.” —Richard Cronin, Emeritus Professor of English Literature, University of Glasgow

“Sharing a mind is as exciting as sharing a bed. In this gentle, witty, semi-memoir, Janet Todd reveals her eccentric encounters with books and shows us why the novels of Jane Austen should matter to all of us now.” —Miriam Margolyes, OBE, renowned British and Australian actor

“A timely, moving and masterful book by one of the English-speaking world’s foremost literary historians and a trailblazing scholar-heroine in Jane Austen studies.” —Devoney Looser, author of The Making of Jane Austen

AUTHOR BIO

Janet Todd is an internationally renowned novelist and academic, best known for her non-fiction feminist works on women writers including Jane Austen, Aphra Behn and Mary Wollenstonecraft. In recent years, she has turned her hand to writing novels, publishing Lady Susan Plays the Game (2013), A Man of Genius (2016) and Don’t You Know There’s a War On? (2020).

Janet has worked in universities around the world including Ghana, Puerto Rico, North America and India. She was a professor of English Literature at UEA, Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities, before becoming president of Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge (2008-2015), Cambridge where she established the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. She is now an Honorary Fellow of Newnham and Lucy Cavendish Colleges. In 2013, Janet was given an OBE for her services to higher education and literary scholarship. Connect with her online at www.janettodd.co.uk.

Miss Austen Investigates: A Fortune Most Fatal by Jessica Bull (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

What real life person would you like to see as an investigator?  I love seeing Jane Austen as a sleuth, but I also like stories where Agatha Christie is an investigator.

Jane Austen is visiting her brother Edward to help with his children as his wife Elizabeth will be delivering another child soon. The year is 1797.  Jane has recently had a romance with Tom Lefroy, and Cassandra’s fiancé, Thomas Fowle, has just died from yellow fever while in the Caribbean on a military expedition.  Jane has taken Cassandra’s place visiting Edward so that Cassandra can have time to grieve.  Edward’s adopted mother, Mrs. Catherine Knight, has taken in a woman who proclaims that she is a foreign princess.  As Jane realizes that Edward’s future fortune may be settled upon this “princess,” she decides she must discover who she really is before it is too late.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I loved reading a book with Jane Austen as a main character living in her world.  She is at a hopeful period of life, still young enough to hope for love and marriage, and working on her novels.

·       I loved when Jane Austen was reading her novel (the first draft of Sense and Sensibility) to Mrs. Knight and she falls asleep.  It made me laugh.  I wish I could have been around to listen to Austen reading her own work and providing voices!

·       Edward “Neddy” and Elizabeth were interesting.  Elizabeth annoyed me at times, but I can see why you would be upset about your inheritance that you are counting on to support your family potentially being ripped away.  She also thought she was being helpful with trying to find Jane a husband.

·       I enjoyed the mystery within this book and it kept me riveted all of the way through. I don’t want to ruin it for someone else – but I did enjoy it and its resolution.

·       Jane at times reminded me of Catherine Morland in this novel with all sorts of interesting theories.

·       This is the second book in the series.  I have the first book, The Hapless Milliner, and I need to read it soon!

·       There is a great author’s note at the end of the novel on changes to history made for this historical fiction novel as well as real life inspirations.

·       The elephant in the room is that this is the second series with Jane Austen as the sleuth that I have read.  I loved the Jane Austen mysteries by Stephanie Barron. That series has ended with Jane’s death.  This new series is telling different stories in a different way.  The real-life characters have different personalities, which is interesting. 

Overall, Miss Austen Investigates:  A Fortune Most Fatal by Jessica Bull is a wonderful historical mystery that puts you firmly into the Regency world of Jane Austen.  It was an interesting mystery and I loved the historical time period and characters.

Book Source:  Review copy from Union Square & Co as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

A witty, engaging murder mystery featuring Jane Austen as an intrepid sleuth—the second installment in the Miss Austen Investigates series.

1797: A broken-hearted Jane Austen travels to Kent to look after her brother Neddy’s children and further her writing. She soon realizes it’s imperative she uncovers the true identity of a mysterious young woman claiming to be a shipwrecked foreign princess before the interloper can swindle Neddy’s adoptive mother out of her fortune and steal the much-anticipated inheritance all the Austens rely on.

ADVANCE PRAISE

“It’s rare to encounter a book that brings fresh delight with most every page, but such is the case with A Fortune Most Fatal. The reader is immersed in the world of Jane Austen, and what a fascinating world it is. Crisply written, sharply observant, and with a self-deprecating wit, Jessica Bull delivers a twisty and intriguing mystery that is delightfully Austenesque.” —Vanessa Kelly, bestselling author of The Emma Knightley Mysteries

“A delightful return to the world of Jane Austen’s sleuthing! Jessica Bull delicately balances the details of Jane’s life alongside a richly developed set of mysteries. Rendered in Jane’s signature wit and equal parts light and dark, I enjoyed every moment I got to spend with Jane in this brilliant follow-up.”— Kristen Perrin, international bestselling author of How To Solve Your Own Murder

AUTHOR BIO

Jessica Bull lives in South East London with her husband, two daughters, and far too many pets. She’s addicted to stories and studied English Literature at Bristol University, and Information Science at City University, London. She began her career as a librarian (under the false impression she could sit and read all day), before becoming a communications consultant.

Her debut novel, Miss Austen Investigates, sold to Penguin Michael Joseph at auction for six figures and is published in 18 territories worldwide. A Fortune Most Fatal, the second book in her cozy crime series exploring the life of Jane Austen, will be published in March 2025. Connect with her online at www.jessicabullauthor.com.

Without Undue Pride by Heather Moll

 

What is the last book that you read in one sitting?  I started Without Undue Pride and read it in one sitting.  I haven’t done that for a while – but I could not put this book down!

Elizabeth Bennet has met the dashing Colonel Fitzwilliam while visiting her Uncle and Aunt Gardiner in London.  They have a whirlwind romance and are quickly married before Colonel Fitzwilliam must go overseas as part of the Napoleonic Wars.  The Fitzwilliam family is not happy about Colonel Fitzwilliam’s “unsuitable” marriage, but his cousin, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, is his only family member that does attend his wedding.  He promises to be friends with Elizabeth.  After Colonel Fitzwilliam is killed in battle, a pregnant Elizabeth is set adrift in the world with no one to help her.  Mr. Darcy steps up to help his best friend and cousin’s widow.  Will love bloom after such tragedy?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I LOVED this variation.  It was such an interesting twist.  I was intrigued throughout the novel with Elizabeth’s tragedy and wanted to know what exactly happened to her while she was overseas with Colonel Fitzwilliam.  It was a painful story that she was finally able to tell Darcy over time.

·       The characters all felt true to their original characterization in Austen’s novels.  The only question I had was, would Mr. Bennet really leave Elizabeth widowed, pregnant, and alone in Spain?  I know he didn’t like to exert himself too much, but he did go to London to look for Lydia.  I pondered this through the novel.

·       The growing love between Elizabeth and Darcy was so romantic.  I loved the slow build to a couple of steamy chapters at the end.  The friends to lovers and mutual respect between them was the type of relationship everyone should have.

·       After all that happened to Elizabeth in Spain, she has trust issues.  Every man in her life has let her down, and in Regency England, woman do not hold any power.  Elizabeth has a hard time being able to trust a man after this and clings to her independence.  I did want to shake some sense into her a couple of times, but I could understand her point of view.

·       I like how Darcy was portrayed as a kind and considerate man, but also that he knew he had faults and worked on them.  Colonel Fitzwilliam had made him promise to try to be a better person and to put himself out there socially.  Darcy considered that almost his dying wish.

·       I don’t want to spoil the plot, but there is some definite peril in this novel and Darcy must come to the rescue.

·       The cover of this novel is beautiful.  I showed it to my JASNA Northwoods book club on Sunday and they all liked the cover as well.

Overall, Without Undue Pride by Heather Moll was an intriguing and unique Pride and Prejudice variation.  I enjoyed the romance, plot, and characters.

Book Source:  Review copy from author Heather Moll as part of the Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Good Samaritan by Toni Halleen (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @harperperennial for the review copy of The Good Samaritan by Toni Halleen.

Have you ever been helped by a good Samaritan, or have you been one yourself?  I spun my mom’s car and slide off the highway while driving through a snow storm when I was in college.  A good Samaritan stopped and made sure I was okay, which I greatly appreciated.

Matthew Larkin is a sociology professor at St. Gustaf in Minnesota in 1992.  While driving home one night, he comes across a young passed out boy underneath a tarp in the rain.  Trying to be a good Samaritan, he decides to take the boy to the hospital himself.  The boy wakes up and runs off before Matthew gets him to the hospital.  Who is this boy and why was he passed out in the rain?  Why does he remind Matthew of the poor choices he has made in his own life that led up to his own son’s death?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was an interesting domestic suspense thriller.  I would call this a family drama or slow burn domestic thriller as didn’t have a lot of stunning twists and turns.  It did have a lot of character and family development.

·       I liked the 1992 and Minnesota setting. 

·       The story was told through many people including Matthew, his daughter Claire, the missing boy, Seaver, and Kira a social worker that is looking for Seaver.

·       The stories were all separate, but intwined.  I liked the resolution at the end.  I thought that the mystery was solved and that the characters also had great growth towards a positive solution to the problems in their lives.

·       I didn’t always think Matthew made the right choices, but I felt for him.  He tried to do what was the right thing at the time.  He kept harkening back to the worst moment of his life, his son’s death, and the aftermath which included the destruction of his marriage. 

·       Claire is trying to navigate life as a teenager from a broken family.  She has a crush, but when her crush takes things too far, what will she do?

·       Seaver had to leave his foster home suddenly, but what he wants most is to get back his mother.

·       Kira wants to find Seaver, but she also has ties to Claire and gets to know Matthew.

·       There are some trigger warnings and heavy themes for this book including sexual assault, the death of a child, alcoholism, drug addiction, divorce, grief, foster care, and runaways.

·       The book does make you think, what would you do in such a situation?  Now with cell phones, I would just call the police immediately.  It’s interesting how technology has change our society so much since the 1990s.

·       I enjoyed these characters and would love another novel to catch up with them a few years down the road.

Overall, The Good Samaritan by Toni Halleen was a good domestic suspense thriller with interesting characters and premise.

Kate Landry Has a Plan by Rebekah Millet (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Title: Kate Landry Has a Plan

Author:  Rebekah Millet

Narrated by:  Susan Bennett

Publisher: Recorded Books

Length: Approximately 12 hours and 24 minutes

Source: Audiobook Purchased from Audible and physical book from Bethany House Books as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.  Thank-you!

Are you a planner?  I’m an engineer so I definitely like plans and lists.  I am a day behind on posting this review as I wasn’t feeling so well yesterday.

Kate Landry is the forty-year-old owner of a café in New Orleans. She is raising her niece Hayley after her beloved sister’s death.  Kate and her sister had a plan for growing their café business and Kate is determined to stick to the plan.  Carefully laid plans don’t always go as imagined.  Kate’s first kiss, Micah, is back in town and is working at her local library.  Hayley spends a lot of her time at the library.  Her ex-fiancé and nemesis, Ryan, is also back in town.  Will Kate be able to realize her and her sister’s plan for a second café location while also keeping the rest of her life on track?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I love the New Orleans setting - it was so fun.

·       Kate Landry being forty made me love all her flashback references such as Sarah McLachlan’s song “Angel” on the sad animal commercials, Uncle Jesse from Full House, Paula Abdul, and more.

·       I love her clean epithets such as Sarah McLachlan!!

·       This novel had excellent well-developed three-dimensional characters with great growth through the novel.

·       The characters seemed very real, and the story was unique.  A woman who is raising her sister’s daughter, difficult relationships with parents, grief, trust issues, caring for elderly parents/grandparents, and bad ex-boyfriends were all themes.

·       Faith was important for Kate and was discussed throughout the novel.

·       I didn’t realize this was a series until I finished the book and looked to add my review to Goodreads.  It was great as a standalone, but I need to read the first book which is the story of Kate’s best friend Julia and her romance. This series is called Beignets for Two.

·       I love the great love story between two mature forty-year-old adults.  Micah is an understanding and caring male librarian.  AKA – every woman’s dream man.

·       The novel had many real world difficult and emotional conversations.

·       This book had the theme of family is what you make of it and not what you are born into.

·       The audiobook narrator was excellent and I enjoyed listening to this on audiobook.

Overall, Kate Landry Has a Plan by Rebekah Millet is a delightful rom com with wonderful three-dimensional characters and a wonderful overall story.  I want to read more of this story!

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Forty-year-old Kate Landry's carefully planned life has become as messy as the powdered sugar on her famous beignets. Juggling the responsibilities of running her café, raising her teenage niece, and the emotional baggage from her breakup, Kate finds her world once again turned upside down when her first-ever crush, Micah Guidry, returns to town as the hunky local librarian.

As Kate struggles to implement her plans to expand her café amid the New Orleans Mardi Gras madness and the meddling of her conniving ex-fiancé, Micah becomes the unwitting hero of her misadventures, stirring up feelings she thought she'd long buried. How can falling in love in the Big Easy be this hard?

Rebekah Millet spins a delightful tale, set against the vibrant backdrop of New Orleans, proving that sometimes the messiest of situations can lead to the sweetest outcomes.

AUTHOR BIO

Rebekah Millet is a Selah Award, Cascade Award, and ACFW First Impressions Award–winning author of southern inspirational romance novels. A New Orleans native, she grew up on beignets and café au lait, and loves infusing her colorful culture into her stories. Her husband is an answer to prayer, who puts up with her rearranging furniture and being a serial plant killer. Her two sons keep her laughing and share in her love of desserts. Visit her at http://www.rebekahmillet.com/.

Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  Three Act Tragedy

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Hugh Fraser

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 6 hours

Source: Checked out with Libby through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

Do you have a favorite play?  I enjoy plays and really like mysteries.  I don’t really have one favorite play, although seeing A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare with my best friend Jenn at American Player’s Theatre twenty plus years ago was one of my favorites.

I am participating in the #ReadChristie2025 Challenge.  The challenge this year is exploring Agatha Christie’s works through her characters and their careers.  The theme for March is performers and I read Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie for the first time.  One of the main characters is a famous actor, Sir Charles Cartwright.  He has other folks that are associated with the theatre over to his home.

Sir Charles Cartwright holds a dinner party at his home.  One of his guests is Hercule Poirot.  When the local vicar, Babbington, suddenly dies, Sir Charles is sure that he was poisoned.  Later, many of the same guests are together for a party when yet another guest dies after drinking port.  He was discovered to have been poisoned by nicotine.  Who is poisoning people in their drinks and why?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This novel was published in 1935.

·       I enjoyed the way this book was set up.  The First Act or part of the book was suspicion, the second act was certainty, and the third act was discovery. 

·       This mystery has a love story in with as Hermoine Lytton Gore (nickname Egg) loves Sir Charles who is thirty years her senior.  She tries to make him jealous by flirting with a younger man, and Sir Charles leaves the country much to her dismay. Sir Charles and Egg help Poirot with his investigation.

·       Hercule Poirot can’t help himself again.  He is retired and as a young child observes, you can only look at the sea so much.  He gives a history of losing the woman he love, coming out of retirement to work, growing rich and famous, and then retiring again.

·       At the end of the novel, Poirot discusses that he often uses a thick accent even though he speaks perfect English so that people will overlook him and be at ease.  I enjoyed these types of snippets that rounded out the character of Poirot.

·       I was totally caught off guard by the killer in this one.

·       Once again, Hugh Fraser was a wonderful narrator for this novel.

Overall, Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie was a solid and entertaining mystery.  I like how Christie tried out new formats and different ways to write her mysteries through time.

A Jane Austen Year curated by Jane Austen’s House (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

What was the last book you purchased just because of Instagram?  Frozen River for me!

A Jane Austen Year celebrates Jane Austen’s 250^th birthday year by exploring her life through her letters, objects, and manuscripts.  This is put together by the curators of Jane Austen’s house in Chawton – a place that is on my bucket list to visit.

The introduction talks about how this book was written from Jane Austen’s house in Chawton and how it has “an unparalleled collection of Austen treasures including items of furniture, paintings, and household objects.  Visitors can discover Jane’s personal letters and first editions of her novels, items of jewelry, portraits of her friends and family, and the tiny writing table at which she wrote.”

This book shows us fragments of Jane Austen’s life.  It is split up into twelve months.  Each month details events from her books and life that happened in that month.  For example, in January:

·       The Dashwood sisters take a trip to London the first week of January.  Artwork is shown of this trip and an excerpt from the novel.

·       A picture of the miniature of Tom Lefroy and a written description of Jane dancing with Tom in January.

·       Pride and Prejudice was published on January 28, 1813.

·       On January 14, 1817, Jane wrote a friend asking for her orange wine recipe.  The recipe is shown as well as a beautiful picture.

·       A letter is written out that was sent from Jane to Cassandra on January 29, 1813.

·       A picture of Jane’s piano and a description of the two books of sheet music that were copied by Jane.

·       A picture and description of the French Revolution including snippets of a letter Jane wrote to her cousin Phila Walter about her poor cousin Eliza’s husband, the Comte de Feuille, who was executed in France during the revolution.

I loved all the Christmas information that was listed in the month of December.  The book is both informative and beautiful.  There is also a great index at the end of the book and more detailed information about Jane Austen’s house.

Overall, A Jane Austen Year is a fantastic book for any Jane Austen lover in your life (including yourself).  It would be fun to read throughout a year but was also great to read all at once.  It’s a nice conservation book for like minded Jane Austen loving friends.

Book Source:  Review copy from @janeaustenshouse @batsfordbooks as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

This beautifully illustrated book charts the life of one of the world’s most beloved authors through the letters, objects, and manuscripts that shaped her life.

Published in partnership with the curators of Jane Austen’s House, the enchanting Hampshire cottage where Jane Austen’s genius flourished that now attracts thousands of visitors every year.

Arranged over the course of a calendar year, from snowy scenes in January to festive recipes in December, specially commissioned photography of Austen’s home and possessions are brought together with extracts from her books, reproductions of her letters, and stories of her life throughout the seasons. Highlights include the first time Austen read a published copy of Pride and Prejudice to an enraptured audience in her drawing room, affectionate letters to her sister Cassandra reproduced in full and an exquisite miniature portrait of Tom Lefroy, the man she nearly married.

Read this book for a unique and intimate insight into Austen’s world. Dip into it as you will, or visit each month, and enjoy a full year of Austen—her life, works and letters, people and objects she knew, and of course her idyllic, inspiring home.

CURATOR BIO

Jane Austen’s House is the inspiring Hampshire cottage where the beloved author lived for the last eight years of her life. It houses an unparalleled collection of Austen treasures. Highlights include Jane’s jewelry, letters, first editions of her novels, and the table at which she wrote her much loved novels. Visitors can step back in time to 1816 and follow in Austen’s footsteps as they explore the rooms where she lived and wrote. It has been open to the public as a museum since 1949 and is an international center for Jane Austen studies.