When did you first discover Jane Austen?  

About 1985 while studying Library Science, I became more ambitious about my reading and started with a list of English classics.  Jane was right at the top under Shakespeare.  I started with Pride and Prejudice and was smitten and went on to read all her novels now multiple times each.

What do you love about Jane Austen?  I think Jane wanted to tell the story of women in the 19th century unable to inherit or be masters of their lives unless they were a wealthy widow like Catherine de Bourgh or Mrs. Jennings.   After the subject matter, I am interested in her stylistic innovations.  She was a master at a new narrative style called free indirect discourse that allowed her to get inside the head of her character.  Austen is also a great romantic and comedic writer.

Member since:  1985 when I joined the local chapter in Philadelphia.  Lorraine Hanaway, a formative member of JASNA, was in that group.

What do you most enjoy about JASNA?  There is always an opportunity to learn something new about Jane and the Regency era.  I meet other women and a few men who share my passion.  Many of the JASNA members humble me with their in-depth and insightful knowledge of Jane Austen and her writing.

Tell us about your involvement in JASNA.  I have been a member of four regions and am still active in New Mexico.  I sometimes participate in the New York Manhattan group because we have a second home there.  I went to the U.K. with the JASNA tour in 2010 and 2012.   My first AGM was Brooklyn in 2012, and I have gone every year after except for the Pandemic years.  I have been a life member for many years.

Background:  From California I lived in Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Venezuela.   I speak Spanish and am good at Portuguese.  I have a degree in International Relations and a MS in Information Science.  I worked in a public library and a college library near Philadelphia.

Other passions/interests:  Reading, dogs, gardening pretty much sums me up.  I volunteer at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society and am a member of three book clubs.  I love living in Santa Fe and was excited to attend the second year of The International Literary Festival where John Irving spoke of his passion for women’s rights.  Folk music from the sixties and seventies is my favorite musical genre.  I love watching my four grandchildren grow up.  

Favorite Austen work/character: My favorite Austen novel is Persuasion partly because of the setting in Bath where I have visited three times.  Anne Elliot is my favorite character whose maturity and constancy are rewarded when she recovers the love of Captain Wentworth.  The novel has an array of fascinating characters.  My favorite minor character is Mrs. Smith who represents the fragility of women’s status in the 19th century.

Other favorite authors/genres:  I enjoy 19th century literature:  Austen, the Brontes, Dickens, George Elliot, Mrs. Gaskell, Fielding, Trollope and in America, Melville and Hawthorne.  My favorite modern novelist is the very versatile Kate Atkinson.  I enjoy reading a lot of nonfiction too.  My secret vice is books about dogs.  I’m not sure Jane would approve as dogs are usually portrayed in a negative light in her novels.

What are you reading now?  I just finished Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver’s novel which is modeled on David Copperfield.   In nonfiction I am reading a history of the Battle of Stalingrad and just finished A Truth Universally Acknowledged:  33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen by Susannah Carson.

Fun Facts:  I keep track of my reading on Goodreads where I started a list called Best Nonfiction About Jane Austen and Her Writing.  Every year I set a Reading Challenge.  The many and varied lists on Goodreads  (under the Browse menu) present lots of suggestions for filling out your reading experience.  It’s a good place to find thoughtful reviews of books you are considering reading.  I read 110 books in 2022.  I read a lot of Audible books where you can find multiple editions of Austen’s novels with professional, clear and inspiring narrators.

I love the list function which gives you lots of good ideas to fill out your reading experience.  There is a list of books for every interest.  Many readers post absolutely first rate reviews.  

When did you first discover Jane Austen?

My first encounter with Jane Austen was in college in a survey of literature of the first half of the nineteenth century. My second came when reading for my M.A. I don’t recall now whether that was Emma or Sense and Sensibility.  While I enjoyed them, years passed before I read all of the other books.   

What do you love most about Austen?

I read Jane Austen for her sharp characterizations and wry, dry wit. She’s a master of both. 

Tell us about your involvement in JASNA?

My activity has been limited to attending local events and on one occasion, giving a talk to our group on baking and baked goods in Austen’s period. Member since: 2021.

Tell us about your background (career/real life):

Most of my working life was spent as a paralegal. I’m theoretically retired now but still do legal billing and accounting for my old law firm. I also write historical fiction/historical romance. I’m currently working on the tenth and eleventh.   

Other passions/interests:

Writing, costume, and the history of cooking. I’ve tested eighteenth century/Regency recipes  (both soft and “card” gingerbread, Portugal cakes, and Chelsea buns, among others) on our local Jane Austen group. 

Favorite Jane Austen work/character:

This is probably a bit odd, but my favorite work is Northanger Abbey, and my favorite character is its heroine, Catherine Morland. Runner-up for favorite character would be Elizabeth Bennett.

Other favorite authors/genres:

Historical fiction ranging from the early modern period on, and historical romance set in the Georgian period. My favorite authors in traditional romance (i.e., the Jane Austen mold) are Georgette Heyer, Mary Kingswood, Mimi Matthews, and Sir Walter Scott. I also enjoy the mysteries of Dorothy Sayers and John Dickson Carr. A recent favorite (for its non-linear narrative) was W.F. Morris’s Bretherton: Khaki or Field Grey?  

What are you reading now?

Currently I’m reading Diana Gabaldon’s Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone and A Dialogue Between a Married Lady and A Maid (printed in 1740), with dips into whatever reference I need at the moment. 

Fun facts:

In 1979 my mother and I and two friends visited Bath and Jane’s house in Chawton, and attended the World Science Fiction Convention’s Regency tea party at the Royal Pavilion. I made my mother’s and my own gown from Folkwear’s pattern.  

When did you first discover Jane Austen?

I first discovered Austen when I watched Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility in 1995, followed closely by the 1995 Persuasion.  Then I read all of her completed books.  I’ve read them in order many times over!  I’ve also seen all of the Austen adaptations that were done after 1995.

What do you love most about Austen?

What I love most about Austen is that she wrote realistically about the woman’s experience, regardless of the time period. Her stories are universal and timeless.  They apply to many cultures too. I also love that she was wickedly funny and ridiculed idiotic behavior. 

Tell us about your involvement in JASNA? And what do you enjoy most?

I joined JASNA in 2018.  I attend meetings in order to contribute my unsolicited strange opinions.  I sometimes give talks at the meetings (from a non-academic perspective) and am now running our Instagram and Twitter region accounts.  I thoroughly enjoy spending time with New Mexico JASNA members. Everyone is so interesting and a kindred spirit.

Favorite Austen work/character?

My favorite Austen book is Persuasion.  Jane was at the pinnacle of her writing when she wrote it.  She wrote about longing and love so painfully well, and I love Anne and Wentworth’s romance. I cry every time I read it.

Background:

I am a dentist.

Other passions/interests:

Running and Zumba

Other favorite authors/genres:

Thomas Hardy and L. M. Montgomery

What are you reading now?

Pride and Prejudice, and The Real Jane Austen by Paula Byrne

Fun facts:

I have also been a member of the “Sanditon Sisterhood” since May of 2022.  I did not campaign to bring the show back after season 1 was cancelled, but I have been a cheerleader for seasons 2 and 3 of the show! I relentlessly talk about Sanditon!