Following Austen

Karen Joy Fowler interview

There's a lovely interview with Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club, over at Tina Ann Forkner's blog.  She actually even mentions A Walk with Jane. (!) I was absolutely gobsmacked and thrilled when Karen took time to read my manuscript and gave us an endorsement.  I can't imagine how busy she is -- the fact that she was willing to do that -- and liked it!! -- just meant so much to me.  What a gift.

Wonderful interview, and I can't wait to read her new book, Wit's End.  She mentions T.H. White's Once and Future King -- that's one that's been on my list to read.  Have you read it?

A few snippets:

Karen Joy Fowler: (on including Grigg in her book) Austen is one of our greatest writers. Why wouldn’t a man be interested in reading her? This paradigm in which women read books by and about men, but men refuse to read books by and about women irritates me. The men I like best are not so narrow in their interests. The men I like best are the ones I put in my books.

SPV: There are many movie versions of Jane Austen’s novels. Do you think these are good substitutes for those who don’t have time to read the novels?

Karen Joy Fowler: The movies reduce the ways in which Austen can be understood, often promoting the romance over all other aspects of the books. So no, there are movie versions I quite like (and movie versions I quite loathe) but Austen is, first and foremost, about voice and narration and these are the things you immediately lose when you turn a book into a movie. I go to all the movie versions myself, but they are no substitute for the books, which make you feel as if you’ve spent some intimate time with Austen herself.  (. . .)

Thanks to Bethany House!

Heard last week that the team at Bethany House tipped off Cindy Crosby to A Walk with Jane Austen for her article on BookReporter.com.  Many thanks!

Bethany just published Nancy Moser's Just Jane, which Cindy said "brings Jane Austen to life through first-person narration" and is "an enjoyable fictional introduction to the life of Jane Austen for many new readers, especially Christians."

And they've just released an annotated version of Pride and Prejudice that sounds like a lot of fun.  Here's part of Cindy's review:

"I loved this, and I think you will too. The editors of Bethany House offer the complete PRIDE AND PREJUDICE with footnotes, or rather, sidenotes throughout. These highlight specific themes in Austen's books and also include some factoids and historical notes that amplify the novel. The notes are coded by symbol; a heart on the sidenote, for example, shows that it's a tip for love and romance, a cross denotes…well, you can figure that one out. It's a relaxed undertaking; there's even a smiley face for notes that "just make us smile." I found some of the historical notes, like an explanation of the game of whist, particularly helpful, and others, such as a comment on Wickham on page 192, fairly hilarious ("Now go back and reread Wickham's description of her [Georgiana] on page 85. Oooo, we hate him!")."

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.

The Year of Jane Austen

As you may know, there's a TON of Jane Austen stuff going on this year. (Whoo-hoo!  I'm hoping this will be a Good Thing...)

Here's a quick roundup:

Becoming Jane:  a big Hollywood movie on Jane's life, opening August 3 -- stars Anne Hathaway

The Jane Austen Book Club:  based on Karen Joy Fowler's novel, opens September 21

Masterpiece Theatre will air the Complete Jane Austen Season from January through March 2008, including 4 new adaptations plus a biopic called "Miss Austen Regrets"

There are tons of new books coming out, including...

The Jane Austen Handbook, by Margaret Sullivan (Mags is the much-loved editor of AustenBlog -- be sure to check it out for more Austen news.)

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, by Laurie Viera Rigler (just got a review copy of this in the mail)

And, of course, by yours truly...

Forgive the shameless self-promotion, but I believe A Walk with Jane Austen is unique in the realm of Austen literature for its personal take on the author's life -- it's one ardent fan talking about her life story and reflecting on what her writing has meant and why we still love her so much, examining Austen themes like love, marriage, singleness, and independence, through the lens of both her life and my own, and looking at the little-discussed topic of her faith.

So prepare for a very good and very full year!