Tag Archives: Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England

Jane Austen Down Under

A wonderful blog about books is called ‘Read Me: great books to read’. Each month Louise Owens in Australia reviews 10 books “that are fantastic and inspiring reads”, and she also interviews many authors. Book themes include Design and Architecture, Fashion, Biographies and much more. Louise only reviews books that she loves and is so informative and positive that you want to drop everything in order to read them all. We strongly recommend this blog (and you can sign up to the ‘Read Me newsletter’).

In December, the theme was ’10 Great Books about History and Culture’, and we were very pleased that Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England was one of those chosen. “There were many wonderful ‘Ah!’ moments for me reading this book,” Louise writes, “when things were explained that I had always wondered about or were mystified by such as the fact that Continue reading →

Jane Austen’s Christmas Heaven

TWO CENTURIES AGO

The striking circumstance about Christmas two centuries ago is what was missing – no Christmas trees, no decorations apart from some holly and ivy, no Christmas cards, no Christmas cake, no Christmas crackers, no Christmas pudding – apart from plum pudding. This was mainly a time for giving charitable gifts. Jane Austen and her contemporaries would not recognise today’s huge commercial Christmas. But if we try to imagine her being teleported into today’s world, then after recovering from the shock, surely she would approve of books being given as gifts? Books were then very expensive – Emma was originally published in three volumes costing one pound and one shilling (£1 1s), about a month’s wage for an agricultural labourer or servant. Today, Emma can be purchased for the price of a cup of coffee.

WHAT TO BUY?

What Jane Austen would find totally unbelievable is that not only are her own books available to buy some two centuries later, but also numerous books about her and her era. By now, you would imagine Continue reading →

Jane Austen’s Regency World review

The latest issue of Jane Austen’s Regency World (for July/August 2014) has just been published, and we are very pleased that the paperback of Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England has been very favourably reviewed (on page 60). The reviewer, Joceline Bury, describes our book as a “marvellously entertaining catalogue of early 19th-century English life” that “deserves a place on any Austen aficionado’s bookshelf”. Considering that there are hundreds of thousands of Austen devotees worldwide, we look forward to a surge in sales! We love the final sentence of the review – “I challenge anyone to pick it up and not still be reading an hour later, delighted by such a vivid and entertaining portrait of an era”.

For those of you in the US and Canada, our book is called Jane Austen’s England there.

Jane Austen’s Regency World is regarded as the leading Austen magazine. It has over sixty pages, beautifully illustrated in colour, and is published every two months. For details on how to subscribe, see www.janeaustenmagazine.co.uk – there are subscriptions for UK only and the rest of the world.

Jane Austen in Paperback

Our latest book was published in paperback in the UK on Mayday 2014, with the title Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England, and this is the jacket design of that edition, based on the specially commissioned embroidery sampler done for the US edition:

The paperback is published by Abacus, price £9.99, ISBN 978-0-349-13860-2. It is categorised as ‘popular history’ if you are looking for it in bookshops – but of course it is only being sold by good bookshops! You can also borrow it from public libraries or purchase it through various online retailers. The book is still available as a hardback and it is also sold in all e-book formats. Please note that in the US Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England is called Jane Austen’s England, and the paperback there will be published at the end of July 2014. For more information, take a look at www.adkinshistory.com/JaneAustensEngland.aspx