Jane Odiwe Jane Austen Sequels

Because Regency dresses were on the whole elongated and close fitting, the reticule, ridicule or pocket came into its own. From the Times 1799: Every fashionable fair carries her purse in her work-bag... the new custom of carrying a bag with her handkerchief, smelling-bottle, purse etc.. Jane Austen used pockets and ridicules for secret correspondences, often used to give the observer a shock or embroil the perpetrator in a veil of mystery. Here are some examples from Emma, Northanger Abbey and Sense and Sensibility. Emma: She soon believed herself to penetrate Mrs. Elton's thoughts, and understand why she was, like herself, in happy spirits; it was being in Miss Fairfax's confidence, and fancying herself acquainted with what was still a secret to other people. Emma saw symptoms of it immediately in the expression of her face; and while paying her own compliments to Mrs. Bates, and appearing to attend to the good old lady's replies, she saw her with a sort of anxious p...

I am very excited to announce that Willoughby's Return is being published in French by Milady Romance  on August 28th, and this morning some preview copies arrived from Sourcebooks. I love the new title and the cover - hope you do too! Dans Raison & Sentiments de Jane Austen, Marianne Dashwood épouse le colonel Brandon et oublie complètement Willoughby. Trois ans plus tard, alors que Marianne souhaite marier sa petite soeur Margaret pourtant éprise de liberté, elle revoit Willoughby. Les souvenirs et l'incertitude ne cessent alors de la hanter. En outre, Willoughby est plus charmant et plus amoureux d'elle que jamais. Le colonel Brandon devant s'absenter pour s'occuper de sa pupille, Willoughby en profite pour reconquérir le coeur de Marianne. Aura-t-elle la force de résister ou la tentation d'un amour passé est-elle plus forte ? La plume pleine d'esprit d'Odiwe n'a rien à envier à celle de la célèbre Jane Austen. Booklist Un pur délice....

The poet Shelley described London’s shops in a letter to Thomas Manning: Wedgwood ‘Oh, the lamps of a night! her rich goldsmiths, print-shops, toy-shops, mercers, hardware men, pastry-cooks, St Paul’s churchyard, the Strand, Exeter Change, Charing Cross, with a man upon a black horse! These are thy gods, O London!’ Most shopkeepers lived with their families above or behind their premises. They were usually specialists in the goods they sold, and very often the craftsman who made them – whether a shoemaker, tailor, hatter, fan-maker, umbrella-maker or jeweller – often there was no distinction between retailer and wholesaler. There were no regular shopping hours – the shopkeeper opened his shop before breakfast and closed it before he retired for the night. Sophie von la Roche, a German novelist, wrote about Oxford Street to her daughters in 1785: We strolled up and down lovely Oxford Street this evening, for some goods look more attractive by artificial light. Just ima...

Spring has finally sprung here in England! I was beginning to think winter would never end; we've been experiencing very cold weather and lots of snow. Jane Austen refers often to the seasons in her writing and with spring, it seems, the season often heralds a change or action of some sort. In this first example, Mrs Dashwood is thinking about Barton Cottage and the changes she might make to the building when the weather improves. From Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility : With the size and furniture of the house Mrs. Dashwood was upon the whole well satisfied; for though her former style of life rendered many additions to the latter indispensable, yet to add and improve was a delight to her; and she had at this time ready money enough to supply all that was wanted of greater elegance to the apartments. "As for the house itself, to be sure," said she, "it is too small for our family, but we will make ourselves tolerably comfortable for the present,...

This weekend I'm off on a special trip with  P and P Tours  to South Devon to celebrate 200 years of Sense and Sensibility. I'm looking forward very much to meeting everyone and to staying in Barton Cottage! I'll tell you all about it next week!

Thank you to everyone who joined in and left such lovely comments on my blog. My husband drew the name out of the hat today, and the winner of the signed copy of Willoughby's Return is:                                               Mer                                       Congratulations! Can you please send me details of your name and address and I'll post your prize. Here's a little extract from the book: Colonel Brandon looked surreptitiously at his wife over the breakfast table. Three years on from the day they had wed had hardly changed his feelings toward her, although as he sat in secret contemplation on the matter, he swiftly acknowledged his regard for Marianne was altered in every way completely. His love for her was deeper and more passionately...

As it's Easter and we are celebrating two hundred years of Sense and Sensibility this year, I'd like to offer a signed copy of Willoughby's Return. Please leave a comment below telling me who your favourite character is from Sense and Sensibility. The offer will be open until May 1st, 2011, and is open to everyone! Jane Austen wrote the following letter to her sister Cassandra when she was staying with her brother in London. She was there to edit Sense and Sensibility, and she tells her sister how she is getting on with the process of corrections. It seems the weather was hot - we're also enjoying a spell of fine weather here in England. Happy Easter! I hope you all have a lovely holiday! Sloane St: Thursday (April 25). MY DEAREST CASSANDRA, I can return the compliment by thanking you for the unexpected pleasure of  your  letter yesterday, and as I like unexpected pleasure, it made me very happy; and, indeed, you need not apologise for your letter in any respect, ...

An unlikely trio, I hear you say, but here they all are in my post today. I found these pictures of my cats, Denzel and Marley, who love to listen to me talking about Jane Austen - yes, really. I'm not certain if Jane Austen liked cats, I suspect if the Austens had a cat, its use was probably functional. On a working farm a cat would be very useful for keeping numbers of rats and mice down. I could only find one reference to cats in the novels in Sense and Sensibility and though Mrs Jennings voices her opinion, I can't help wondering if Jane shared her point of view. "Ah! Colonel, I do not know what you and I shall do without the Miss Dashwoods;" - was Mrs. Jennings's address to him when he first called on her, after their leaving her was settled - "for they are quite resolved upon going home from the Palmers; - and how forlorn we shall be, when I come back! - Lord! we shall sit and gape at one another as dull as two cats." A google search led me to thi...

Please join me today for a guest blog on Jane Austen's World. It was lovely to be interviewed by Vic again - thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about my book, Willoughby's Return. Today's question is for fun! Which hero from Sense and Sensibility do you like best - would you fall for an Edward Ferrars or a Colonel Brandon? Are you influenced by the actors who play these roles? The top photo shows Alan Rickman and David Morrissey as two very gorgeous Colonel Brandons and the equally dashing Hugh Grant and Dan Stevens as Edward Ferrars below. I have to admit I loved them all! Please leave a comment below if you are brave enough to join in.

Sense and Sensibility centres on the story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. They appear at first to be opposites - Elinor is rational and sensible and Marianne seems to think and act only on her impulsive feelings and highly charged emotions, though by the end of the book we have witnessed quite a crossover in the way that both girls behave and interact with the world. Jane Austen and her sister were very close. There were just under a couple of years between them, and we know that they spent much of their time together as they grew up, writing daily letters whenever they were apart. From family recollections we are given the impression that Cassandra, Jane's older sister, was the more level-headed, and from her letters it appears that Jane looked to Cassandra for guidance and advice. I'm not the first to wonder if Jane drew on her own experiences with her sister Cassandra when drafting her story. Who knows? Perhaps Elinor and Marianne represent aspects of Jane...