“Jane Austen” from Women Who Made History: Writers and Artists by Julia Adams
I was shelving this series at the library and when I saw that it had a profile on Jane Austen, you know I had to read it.
Th series Women Who Made History is split into four books on influential women in different occupations: Activists and Leaders, Adventurers and Athletes, Inventors and Scientists, & Writers and Artists.
This book, Writers and Artists, is split into the following sections:
Awesome Women
Artists and Writers
Making History
Nina Simone
Sonita Alizadeh
Joan Armatrading
Anne Frank
Kiri Te Kanawa
Angelina Jolie
Nadezda Petrovic
Melba Liston
Miriam Mekeba
Björk
Virginia Woolf
Frida Kahlo
Simone de Beauvoir
Joanne J.K.) Rowling
Xian Zhang
Arundhati Roy
Maya Angelou
Laverne Cox
Maria Callas
Millo Castro Zaldarriaga
Grace Cossington Smith
Coco Chanel
Zaha Hadid
Quiz
Research Project
Glossary
Further Information
I thought there would be more on Jane Austen but there is only a half page located in the Making History section.
It is two paragraphs giving a basic and brief overview of Jane Austen’s writing life. I was a little disappointed as all the other writers in the book were all given a full page or two pages and much more description on their life and works.
It’s not bad little book and is a great resource if you want to have children read a snippet of influential women in order to find one that captures their interest; later supplementing it with a longer biography.
I also really enjoy the illustrations as they are adorable and very cute.
If you want a more in-depth biography of Jane Austen, this book isn’t for you; but if you are looking for something small or an “appetizer” this is one for you.
When I returned the Emma audiobook, I did a search to see what other Jane Austen audiobooks popped up and when I spotted Austenland. I decided to give it a listen.
Austenland (2013)
I have already done a lengthy review on the book, but as I have said before I like giving the audiobooks a listen as well as sometimes you hear something new, or you make a connection you hadn’t before.
For those who haven’t read the story, Austenland follows Jane Hayes; secret Jane Austen fan who is unlucky in love (a lot of her own doing). After her last disastrous relationship she has decided to give up on men altogether. When her rich aunt dies, one of the few who knows about her affection for Colin Firth/Mr. Darcy, it turns out she has left Jane a dream trip to England and the resort Austenland. As it is non-refundable and non-transferable Jane takes the trip, although it’s not exactly what she dreamed of, as she connects more to the gardener than the gentlemen. Will Jane finally get her storybook romance, or will this vacation turn into a nightmare?
I really enjoyed the audiobook as Kellgren did a great job switching between the American and British accents; along with giving a unique voice to everyone. Martin was especially smarmy and slimy.
The only thing I didn’t enjoy with the audiobook are the things I didn’t like in the book itself. Such as Jane’s strange embarrassment of Jane Austen. I also don’t understand why she dislikes her vacation so much, it’s a free trip abroad and it sounds awesome. And why is she embarrassed to love Jane Austen? Jane Austen is awesome.
If you like the book you’ll like this audiobook, especially Mr. Nobely.
Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables #1) by L. M. Montgomery
I know I have already written a post on my love of Anne of Green Gables, but after my book club had reread Anne of Green Gables i wanted to write a post on why I recommend it as a Non-Austen Read for Austen Readers. I just realized we read the book about two years ago and I never got around to posting (you know me, I have 100s of drafts of posts I need to complete.)
From The Iron Giant
I was looking for said draft when I discovered two older Anne of Green Gables drafts. I decided let’s clean house and combine all three.
Or class. Or lunch. Or anything!
Older owners of Green Gables, Matthew and Marilla Cutbert, have decided that in order to continue running their farm they need extra help. They decide to adopt an orphan boy, sending the message through the daughter of a friend. When Matthew goes to the station to pick him up, it turns out there was a serious miscommunication and they have a girl waiting.
Matthew takes her home, where Marilla is upset and determined to send her back. When she meets the woman who will take Anne instead, and sees how horrible she is, Marilla decides she will do her best to raise her.
Sigh!
Anne has had a hard life, her parents dying at a young age in poverty, then being shipped from family to family; mostly being used as a free baby-sitter than treated as a member of the family. She has spent a lot of her time alone or with children much younger than her, and has created habits that some, at that time, find strange. She has an extensive imagination, creates imaginary playmates, and when she does get with people just talks and talks and talks.
Marilla has no idea how to raise children, let alone this girl; so at first she tries to stop this behavior, but eventually it grows on her. Anne gets into all kinds of troubles, making mistakes as she transition from unwanted, uneducated, accident prone girl; to a confident, loved, intelligent, and wonderful woman.
I recommend this book for Austen fans as Anne Shirley is very similar to Fanny Price, Marianne Dashwood, Catherine Morland, and a little of Mr. Darcy. Like Fanny, Anne didn’t grow up as a member of the household in a regular way, often both girls were treated as higher than a servant but not a “real daughter”; that is until Fanny’s aunt and uncle see how much she means to them and is a part of their family; along with Anne finally finding a home in Green Gables.
Like Marianne and Catherine, Anne is a huge fan of reading and a romantic with an overactive imagination. She, like Marianne and Catherine, often has these romantic impulses get in the way of her common sense. Anne does many things, but her most “romantic impulse” is pretending to be The Lady of Shallot and almost drowning in a boat. Marianne also participated in many romantic notions and Catherine’s overactive imagination caused her to suspect Mr. Tilney’s father, General Tilney, of killing Mrs Tilney.
I know a lot of people compare Anne to Elizabeth because both have their pride wounded when they receive an insult about their appearance but to me I think Anne is more similar to Mr. Darcy as both’s temper would be described as:
“My temper would perhaps be called resentful. My good opinion once lost is lost for ever.”
-Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice
A lot of people use the interaction between Anne and Gilbert, (him cracking a joke calling her carrots and she smacking him over the head with her slate and from that moment on thinking of him as an enemy)-to compare Anne and Elizabeth Bennet; and while I can see why they would do so I think you could use that same interaction to compare Anne to Marianne. Anne dreams of a romantic hero who is tall, dark, and handsome; Gilbert fits the bill but while it is obvious to us Anne can’t see it as all she has is her wounded pride. Marianne is just as prideful, choosing to dislike Colonel Brandon because Mrs. Jennings wanted to pair them up; and she is insulted that Mrs. Jennings would dare think to do such a thing for Marianne with someone so “old”. Even though Colonel Brandon fits Marianne’s idea of what a man should be, she can’t see past her own wounded pride.
One of my original posts was to share my view on a Bookriot article which compared Jane Austen characters to L. M Montgomery’s, as I disagree with the author. In the article it compared Gilbert to Mr. Knightley, but I don’t see Gilbert and Mr. Knightley being the most similar characters as Gilbert never tried to “help” improve Anne because no one else cared about her moral state. Unlike Emma, Anne had many adults ( Miss Stacy, Mrs. Lynda, Marilla, the pastor’s wife, Matthew, the Barrys, etc) who cared about encourahing her but also helping her grow into a fully developed person; so Anne’s love interest wouldn’t be one who would take on that role. Instead to me, Gilbert is more similar to a Jane Austen character that loves the girl and accepts her, and enjoys her silly qualities and romantic notions. I think a better comparison of Gilbert can be made to Mr. Darcy, (in the way he keeps loving her and tries his best to improve his character and hoping she will see it); but I would say Gilbert is much closer to Mr. Tilney or Colonel Brandon. Both Mr. Tilney and Gilbert have joking sides and are willing to be imaginative but not quite as much as Anne or Catherine. Both, while having these vibrant personalities also choose professions were they have to be a bit more serious; Gilbert with becoming a doctor and Tilney a minister. Both men encourage imagination to a point, realizing there has to be a cap such as Gilbert telling Anne that her boat ride as Eleanor wasn’t the best thought out plan; and Tilney warning Catherine to be wary of letting her thoughts run away with her as they could have serious consequences. Both men never try and change the woman they love but embrace her romantic side.
Gilbert and Colonel Brandon both have had great tragedies in their lives that caused their dreams to not come to fruition. Both are older than the women they fall for, but also encourage them and don’t want to crush their fantastical and imaginative sides; instead loving that about them.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know below.
Either way I strongly recommend this book and the other novels in the Anne of Green Gables series for Jane Austen fans.
I received this book for free quite a few years ago and just never got around to reading it. This year I have decided to read everything in my kindle and decide to whether to keep or delete it.
So this book is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, taking place after Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy, Caroline, and the Hursts have left Netherfield to return to London. Jane is heartbroken:
Elizabeth is furious and doesn’t quite know what to do to help her sister feel better. When the Gardiners invite Jane to London, Jane refuses and Elizabeth decides to take her place. Her mission? Find Mr. Bingley and makes things right. And if she can’t find Bingley, she’ll appeal to Mr. Darcy.
However, when she meets with Caroline Bingley, Caroline is polite but tells Elizabeth that Mr. Bingley is out of town. This doesn’t deter Elizabeth who decides she will head over to Darcy’s house and show up unexpectedly-forgetting about proprietary for her mission.
But Mr. Darcy’s sister should be there, right? It should all be fine.
Meanwhile at the Darcy townhouse none of Darcy’s servants are there, his sister is also not there, and Darcy is trying to set things right as his house did not expect him so early. Elizabeth arrives on his doorstep, the very person he did not want to see as he ran away from his attraction to her.
He doesn’t want to receive her alone for fear it will damage her reputation, but with her sopping wet he doesn’t see any other options. Elizabeth begs Darcy to tell Mr. Bingley that Jane cares for him but Mr. Darcy has decided to stay out of the matter and tells her he refuses to be an intermediary but also will not do anything to stop her plans. This isn’t good enough for Elizabeth and she plans to storm off, but the rain and her missing carriage force her to stay in Darcy’s home. Darcy makes her some tea and plans to send her in his carriage after it returns from its errands. However, before that happens she collapses from fever.
That’s not good.
Mr. Darcy takes her upstairs into the only bed with a fire, the one that just happens to be his own, until he can light the fire in the best room-the lady of the house’s room. He then removes her wet clothes, no impropriety as he makes sure he doesn’t see anything, fetches a doctor, and brings his sister home to protect Elizabeth’s reputation.
Elizabeth wakes up and insists on going to her uncle and aunt’s house. She is determined to continue hating Mr. Darcy although she is upset his sister came to see her but he doesn’t come; he only sends fruit and flowers.
Why you acting like that?
A relation of Elizabeth’s Aunt Gardiner, Lady Susan, offers to sponsor her this London season. Originally Elizabeth had planned to return home as soon as she completed her mission, but decides to take Lady Susan up on her offer as it’s the only way to come into contact with Mr. Bingley (and it’s not like there are a lot of eligible men at home.) If she happens to meet someone, it’s two birds one stone.
But does she run into Mr. Bingley? Nope. Instead she keeps encountering Mr. Darcy.
Lord Latham is a long time friend of Mr. Darcy and his sister, Lady Gwendolyn, is head over heels for Darcy. Lady Gwendolyn is set on winning Darcy this season. She arranges for a house party and invites the usual suspects; along with Mr. Darcy and his friend Mr. Bingley (at Darcy’s request.) She also invites Elizabeth as she met her at a party and enjoyed her company at several others occasions. Unfortunately for her, Darcy doesn’t look at Lady Gwendolyn at all, he only has eyes for one lady.
Lady Gwendolyn gets very jealous and tries to sniff out any dirt around Elizabeth. Her maid had a relation that used to work at the Darcy house and was let go. Before they were fired, they witnessed the night Elizabeth came and shares this with Lady Gwendolyn’s maid, who in turn shares it with Lady Gwendolyn. Lady Gwendolyn tells her brother and hopes it will be the piece de resistance that helps her win her man.
Mr. Bingley arrives after the others but before Elizabeth gets a chance to talk to him she goes for a walk with Lady Gwendolyn who drops a bomb on her: Darcy took Bingley away from Netherfield to keep him from marrying into her family. Lady Gwendolyn doesn’t out and admit it is Elizabeth’s fmaily, but she does drop enough hints that Elizabeth pieces this all together.
In Lord Latham’s study he and Darcy are having a discussion and Lord Lathan shares the rumor he heard about Darcy and Elizabeth. Darcy professes his innocence, but is determined to do the right thing in order to save Elizabeth’s reputation. He proposes to Elizabeth “in order to protect her” and not only does she refuse him; but she also throws Wickham’s situation at him. Yep, yikes.
Elizabeth and Lady Susan leave early; along with Darcy and Bingley. This party turned out to be a real downer and not at all what anyone was hoping for.
Georgiana wants to host a party, planning to invite Elizabeth and the Gardiners, but Darcy tells her a little bit of what happened and how poorly Elizabeth thinks of him. Georgina wants to fix this and goes to Elizabeth to tell her the truth about Wickham and his evil ways.
While there, Elizabeth receives a letter from her family and finds out that Lydia has run off with Wickham.
Lydia right now
Elizabeth returns home, but luckily all is fixed. Lydia and Wickham marry, Mr. Bingley returns to Netherfield and all is looking good; except Elizabeth has fallen for Darcy and doesn’t have him.
Will she be able to win his heart again? Or has she lost him forever?
I enjoyed this retelling a lot, except for Elizabeth. I felt her character was rather annoying at times (especially in the beginning) and I still couldn’t believe that someone who would be embarrassed so much at her family’s lack of propriety would completely ignore it herself.
But other than that I found myself caught up in the story and wanting to finish it. I enjoyed the new characters although I did feel Lady Gwendolyn was living in bit of a dream world when the truth was obvious. Although like Charlotte said:
So it has been over a year since I last reviewed one of these chapters from the Choices videogame. Originally I was just playing the game but as I could do that faster than I could review, I ended up deciding to not play another chapter until I finished reviewing what I already had played. Of course things came up and I got distracted by other things on my list to write/review/etc-
Quick backstory since it has been so long. This game is storybook based where you have a story that progresses a certain way, but at times you get to make a choice as to what to do, say, who to fall in love with, etc. Some choices require you to spend diamonds to play, which you can earn every time you play a chapter or purchase from their store. Some “books” have different side quests for you to complete, like in this one you want to become an accomplished woman and certain choices allow you to gain items.
It’s really fun as you have the power to decide what path the story takes.
This game is set in the Regency time period, and of course is catered toward Jane Austen fans. In this game you are the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Edgewater, something you discovered on your mother’s deathbed. You met your father and he accepted you and has decided to make you his legal heir, as his other child, your half-brother, passed away.
You also have an evil stepmother and conniving stepbrother, Mr. Marcastle, who has a dim fiancé, Miss Sutton. They are all plotting against you.
A lot has happened since the beginning of the book: you have held a garden party (which you rocked), you are currently having a London season, you went to Mr. Sinclaire’s house (a suitor I am all about)-who has a sad Rebecca–esque backstory and he gifted you a book, you visited the Opera St. James where your mother used to preform, went to see an Opera and were stuck with the Duke who is a horrible jerk, took a walk in the rain with Mr. Sinclaire, learned to paint, helped your friend refuse a gross geezer, found out the truth about Mr. Sinclaire’s wife and the Duke, and was able to meet up with your father one last time before he died. On his deathbed you receive one last giant twist: it turns out that your parents were married before you were born! You’re not but yet still are illegitimate.
I know it doesn’t make sense and is clear someone did not do their research. The last chapter was about your father’s funeral which did not go as well as I hoped (I made two scenes), and the countess locked me in my room as she is planning to try and fight the will, although again this makes no sense as her methods wouldn’t work.
Being locked in my room just makes me more determined than ever to take down my stepmother!
My maid and I try to find a way out, but have no luck. However, my evil stepmother didn’t account for Mr. Harper, the man in charge of the horses. He goes to get my horse ready while I make a rope of bedsheets and go out the window.
Mr. Harper offers to come with me, but my diamonds are limited and I trust myself with my horse.
We, my maid and I, are about to head out when my grandmother appears. At first I thought she was going to lecture me on my unladylike behavior, but she encourages me to go, promising to follow when a carriage is able to be put together.
All is going well until you run into Mr. Marcastle, who was sent back to keep you from moving forward. You have the choice to argue with him, or to use your maid Briar’s relationship with Mr. Marcastle to try and influence him. I decided to spend my diamonds on that.
Briar is able to reason with Mr. Marcastle and we actually have a good heart to heart where he shares he always thought of my father as his and wanted to make him proud, but isn’t sure he wants to be in charge of the Edgewater estate or be the next Earl. Mr. Marcastle let’s me go and we are back on course for London.
Yay!
We get to our London townhouse but find all the locks changed and unable to enter. I do find this odd as it wasn’t something that could be done in less then a day. Anyways, the footman Mr. Woods is also in love with Briar and he let us in. Together we plot to get back at the countess and this little trick will being Mr. Woods and Briar together (what I’m hoping for, although I don’t mind Mr. Marcastle too much now).
The countess is plotting to spin her web of lies at the Duke’s party (the one we don’t like as he attacked me and I punched him good), and we head over to Mr. Sinclaire’s to enlist his help in stopping her!
Not too much happened in this episode, it was more a path to the next chapter in the story. I’m not as excited for this game ever since the will shenanigans were introduced but let’s see where they take this.
janeaustenrunsmylife 