Date:  Sunday, April 6

Time:  1:00 pm

Host:  Deborah Eley, NE Portland

Details: It is time for our third annual New Member Meeting! This meeting is intended for all members who have joined within the past year or two, as well as anyone who would like to attend to get to know the new members better. We usually have no more than a dozen people attending, so it is the ideal setting in which to become better acquainted.

Discussion Topic:  At the meeting, we will discuss Mansfield Park, the subject of this year's AGM in Montreal. Please come with questions and comments. No advanced preparation is required. I hope to see you there!

To RSVP, please check the details in the email sent out to members sent on March 11. Otherwise, contact our Regional coordinator, available on our Contacts page.

The first annual JASNA New Member Meeting was held this Sunday, April 15th, at the home of Marva Wiebe. Twelve members were welcomed to this event. Our new members are an erudite bunch, and each came to appreciate Austen's works at a different time in her life. We enjoyed a lively discussion, as well as sharing our backgrounds, travel plans, and recommending Austen-related novels new on the market. Marva served a sumptuous tea, and shared with us her new treasure, a rosewood tea caddy over two hundred years old! 

The purpose of the meeting was to welcome the new members, hear their stories, and to have a low-key discussion about Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice. The new members generated discussion topics, asked questions, and shared insights about Austen's most popular novel. Using the original title of the novel, First Impressions, we were able to focus on more than just Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, and to discuss our first impressions of a variety of characters, and how those impressions changed. One wonders if Jane Austen was as quick to judge people and situations in her early years as Elizabeth Bennet, and who the people were who taught her that things aren't always what they seem.

Kim Higgins