A new Austen title came out this past summer, All Roads Lead to Austen: A Year-long Journey with Jane, written by Amy Smith.

This title comes highly recommended by our very own Pauline Beard: 

"[N]o monsters or mash ups -- just a really good travel/memoir of an English professor traveling in Mexico and South America, setting up book clubs to discuss Jane Austen's novels... and she finds her own Darcy! I loved it!"

For more on this fun title, click here for a review via the AustenProse site, and here for more info through Amazon.com.

Happy reading!

It's a big year coming up -- 2013 marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice! And to mark this occasion, Hazel Jones and Maggie Lane (both well-known authors of other Austen-related books and historical works) have written a special commemorative book, celebrating the history of the novel Jane Austen called her "darling child."

The book's title, which will be published this fall, is Celebrating Pride and Prejudice:  200 Years of Jane Austen's 'Darling Child'. 

More info about this title is available online at http://www.janeaustencourses.co.uk/celebratingPandP.htm.

You can also read more about Hazel Jones here at http://www.janeaustencourses.co.uk/tutor.htm.

Hello all you JASNA OR/SW Washington Fans!

Our next JASNA meeting will be Sunday, September 9th at 1pm, and it will be at Alexandra Guerra's home in Tigard (see our 2012 Events page). Our topic is "Sex, Money and Power or The Top Three Deadly Sins in the Regency!" Susan Schwartz and Janet Rohrbaugh will be our discussion leaders. Please RSVP (see our Contacts page). 

Below are the details to RSVP with Alex as well as some discussion questions to ponder before our meeting. 

"There is, undoubtedly, more liberality and candour on these points than previously."  ~Mansfield Park

We will break out into four smaller discussion groups. Here are some possible questions for you to consider in each topic:

1. (Sex) Do you think there is sex in Jane Austen? Of what kind? How does gender influence sexual behavior? How does Jane Austen distinguish between licentious behavior and appropriate love?

2. (Money) What is Austen saying about the inter-relationship between love and money? How does money influence the lovers in each of the novels? How does the lack of money change the behavior of characters in the novels? Is there a meaningful difference between inherited wealth vs. naval prize money vs. money made in trade in the novels?

3. (Power) In what ways do men and women have and use different kinds of power? How is power related to gender and relationships? In what ways are wealth and power inter-related?

4. (Regency)  Was the Regency an era of sexual freedom? Were the relationships between men and women changing during the Regency? What was happening to the social structure and economics during the Regency? Were there changes in the political power structure in the Regency? What do we see in Jane Austen's own family and her novels reflecting the changes in society?

After the breakout sessions we will set up a panel of four representatives (one from each group) to summerize their group's discussion and answer other questions.

Here is a bibliography of sources for this discussion:

• Two Guys Read Jane Austen by Steve Chandler and Terrence Hill
• A Jane Austen Education: How six novels taught me about love, friendship and the things that really matter by William Deresiewicz
• Jane Austen's World- The life and times of England's most popular author  by Maggie Lane
• Jane Austen on Love  by Juliet McMaster
• The Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen by Janet Todd