Really, Mr. Collins...

"Really, Mr. Collins," cried Elizabeth with some warmth, "you puzzle me exceedingly. If what I have hitherto said can appear to you in the form of encouragement, I know not how to express my refusal in such a way as to convince you of its being one."

Ten Thousand a year!!

"My dearest child," she cried, "I can think of nothing else! Ten thousand a year, and very likely more! 'Tis as good as a Lord! And a special licence. You must and shall be married by a special licence. But my dearest love, tell me what dish Mr. Darcy is particularly fond of, that I may have it to-morrow."

Why don't I have this book???

Jane Austen for Dummies written by Joan Klingel Ray, who happens to be the president of the Jane Austen Society of North America, has been out for years but apparently I have been too busy to notice. So much to read and sooo little time.

Okay, like the book should be called "Everything you ever wanted to know about Jane Austen, her books and the world she lived in but couldn't find anyone who knew more than you did".
Of course, that might have been kind of long.

Anyway Ms Ray answers the eternal questions, like....

Why doesn't Elizabeth Bennet just get a job?

Why will Mrs. Bennet have to leave Longbourn if Mr. Bennet dies?

How rich IS Darcy?

and many, many, more troublesome questions.

Seriously, this book is worth having. I have to go to the bookstore NOW!!

Will you do me the honor of reading that letter?

She had turned away; but on hearing herself called, though in a voice which proved it to be Mr. Darcy, she moved again towards the gate.

He had by that time reached it also, and, holding out a letter, which she instinctively took, said, with a look of haughty composure, "I have been walking in the grove some time in the hope of meeting you. Will you do me the honour of reading that letter?"

And then, with a slight bow, turned again into the plantation, and was soon out of sight.


Black and White Line Drawings by C.E. Brock
From undated Nelson and Sons edition of Pride and Prejudice

Lost in Austen

OMGosh! I can't believe I'm just finding this series.

Lost in Austen was (or is?) a British, of course, miniseries about a woman who like the rest of us that have read P&P a million times is a hopeless romantic.
She finds a doorway in her bathroom, of all places, to the world of her dreams, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
From there it just gets crazier.
Wow! Okay, a show of hands....how many of you would reeeealy like to find a doorway into P&P?
And if you did....would you go through it?
Well, okay, ya kinda have to go through it the first time...just to make sure that it's real.
But what about after that????

Happy P and P New Year!

This is a lovely picture, by Muncha, of a young woman having the first cup of coffee of the new year. Well, she's having a cup of coffee, I've decided that it's the first of the year.
Happy New Year to all...now go have that cup of coffee!!!