Following Austen

Austen-tatious review coming soon

Austen-tatious will be posting a review soon.  Looks like initial impressions are good!

I'm currently reading Lori Smith's wonderful, beautiful, inspiring book...

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

There's a flurry of stuff today!  Got a sweet note from Laurie Viera Rigler, author of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict.  She's recently launched a great site for her book.  Check it out here.  I have copies of both her book and Lost in Austen and look forward to reading them.

Emma Campbell Webster endorsement

Emma Campbell Webster, author of Lost in Austen, has given us an endorsement as well.  Wow!

When I wrote the book, I wasn't really sure how all the faith stuff would blend with the Austen stuff (even though she was a woman of faith, it's not generally what we associate with her).  I wasn't sure how general audiences would take it, and I really wanted everyone to feel comfortable reading the book, so this means a lot.

“Sensitively written and carefully paced this memoir takes the reader on a tour of the author’s experiences while journeying around England in the footsteps of Jane Austen. Lori Smith moves seamlessly from romantic daydreams, through a close questioning of her relationship with God, to battles with her mental and physical health. The book reads as an intimate and honest memoir and has enough to satisfy the non-Christian (like myself) if they choose to look beyond the somewhat unexpected (in a mainstream book at least) pairing of Jane Austen and Christianity. Above all else, this is a book about searching—for love, meaning, peace with oneself, health, a good night’s sleep, and a decent cup of coffee that wasn’t made with that freeze-dried-instant-powder—and these are experiences that anyone of any faith can relate to.... A welcoming read. Lyrical and questioning...perfectly pitched.”

Thanks, Emma!  Check out her book and blog.

Karen Joy Fowler endorsement

We just got this endorsement from Karen Joy Fowler, best-selling author of The Jane Austen Book Club (soon to be a movie, of course).  I'm just honored that she would do this.  I think she was on deadline for a project of her own, and I know what that's like, so ... wow.  I want to say thank you thank you thankyouthankyou!

“A young woman goes looking for Austen in all the places Austen once lived and many of the places she wrote about. The Austen she finds is a woman of family, and of quiet but sustaining faith. Austen shares these things and many others with author Lori Smith whose book gives the reader the great pleasure of time spent with both. A lovely, intimate read.”

Becoming Jane reviews and such

I have a review of Becoming Jane up at BreakPoint.  Here's a brief excerpt:

My own personal Austen is almost entirely different. She is faithful and incredibly intelligent, with a wonderful energy for life. She comes from a sharp, loving, laughing family. She craves a quiet life, a life many of us might think of as small. I picture Austen this way not just because this is how I want her to be (though that may play a role), but because these are the things I see when I study her life. ...

Anne Hathaway, who plays Austen, was attempting to portray her as a lonely genius, with no equals in her immediate group of family and friends. I believe that actually Jane’s genius grew out of her sharp family environment. She wrote at the beginning only to entertain her family, with no other purpose, and I believe they inspired her, at least partly, in her wonderful wit and storytelling.

Also, I believe, they taught her what a loving family could be, and inspired her to marry for love. Significantly, none of the Austen children made matches only for the sake of money—all of them who married seem to have done so for love, and this must have been instilled in them in their loving home.

Read more here.

And I loved this review from Slate:  See Jane Elope.

Also, loved this little gem from Marsha Huff, president of JASNA, in a recent NY Times article (unfortunately, now they're charging for the article):

And however much society has changed, Austen’s heroines — unlike the Brontës’ — deal with the believable, timeless obstacles of class, money and misunderstanding, which make her works adaptable to any era. As Ms. Huff said: “Everyone thinks she’s Elizabeth Bennet; not everyone thinks she’s Jane Eyre. Everyone knows a young woman trying to decide if the guy she’s attracted to is Mr. Right. Not everyone meets a Mr. Right who has a mad wife in the attic.”

I've just run a quote from Bronte on Austen at austenquotes.com.

Jane really is everywhere right now.  For all the latest, visit AustenBlog.

Whoo-hoo!

A Walk with Jane Austen goes to press today.  There's been a flurry of last-minute activity, but I think we're all set.  A moment for celebration!

Starred PW review!

I just found out last Wednesday that A Walk with Jane Austen received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.  I'm tickled pink and just plain giddy! 

This is a huge honor.  PW reviews a select number of books, and gives stars to the top tier.  I'm really pretty gobsmacked. 

“In this engaging, deeply personal and well-researched travelogue, Smith (a PW contributor) journeys to England to soak in the places of Jane Austen’s life and writings. The book is sure to ride the wave of Austen-philia that has recently swept through Hollywood and a new generation of Americans, but this is an unusual look at Jane Austen. Readers will learn plenty of biographical details—about Austen’s small and intimate circle of family and friends, her candid letters to her sister, her possible loves and losses, her never-married status, her religious feelings, and her untimely death at the age of 41. But it is the author’s passionate connection to ‘Jane’—the affinity she feels and her imaginings of Austen’s inner life—that bring Austen to life in ways no conventional biographer could. Smith’s voice swings authentically between her own raw, aching vulnerability as a single Christian woman battling a debilitating and mysterious chronic illness and the surges of faith she finds in the grace of a loving God. And yes, Smith even meets a potential Darcy at the start of her journey. This deliciously uncertain romantic tension holds the book together as Smith weaves her own thoughts, historical research, and fitting references to Austen’s novels into a satisfying whole.”

Endorsement from Gina Dalfonzo

There's been a flurry of activity here over the last week.  Just received this endorsement from Gina Dalfonzo, editor of The Point blog (to which I contribute -- I am the resident not-so-conservative):

“With deep and sometimes heartwrenching honesty, Lori Smith weaves her story and Jane’s together into a wholly unique narrative. In the midst of a craze for treating Austen’s novels as little more than glorified bodice-rippers, Lori brings to bear her perspective as a single Christian woman who can identify in many ways with Austen’s own beliefs and experiences, exploring truths and ideas that others gloss over. The resulting book stands out like a beacon.”

Wow -- thanks, Gina!

A doting aunt

Okay, I've been wanting to post these for a couple weeks.  This is my tiniest niece, Isa.  (She's not really tiny.  Her new nickname is Isa-belly, and if you could see her little [big] stomach, you would understand.)  But how cute is she?

Unfortunately, the other three (the Pipsqueaks, as they're affectionately known) couldn't make it that day.  Will post a pic of them soon.

Redecorating

Welcome to the new Following Austen blog!  I'll be updating and reorganizing over the next week, so bear with me.  I can't decide on the colors.  Let me know what you think.