It is fitting that a company called Choc Lit produced this fluffy confection of a book, a modern-set retelling of Emma, as it is as sweet and light as a piece of nougat that melts quickly on the tongue.

Emma Woodhouse is 23, with a freshly minted Harvard MBA to go with her bachelor’s from the London School of Economics. She’s no dummy, but unfortunately all her business knowledge is strictly academic, and she needs hands-on experience as she takes over marketing for the family gourmet food business—and her brother-in-law Mark Knightley, an executive with his own family’s organic food business, is just the person to mentor her. However, Mark’s growing attraction for Emma and her self-satisfied mistakes complicate their business dealings. (more…)

Just in time for the upcoming holiday (in the U.S.), when many of us go away for a few days, we have a bit of news from the Jane Austen Slept Here Department. A hotel in Lyme Regis where Jane allegedly once stayed has been championed by a young fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, who also stayed there. Interestingly, the USAToday article says Jane stayed at the hotel, while the BBC article does not. Things that make you go HMMMM…..

In other news, young persons have chosen the name Knightley Court for a new block of apartments meant for low-income residents in Basingstoke, near Jane Austen’s childhood home. The contest winners were photographed looking adorable in period costume in front of the decidedly not period apartment buildings. We find ourself idly wondering if the kinder hadn’t actually thought they were voting for the girl from the pirate movies.

This is an open thread, so let us know what’s going on in your patch of Janeiteville!

The Ackermann’s Repository wallpaper for July is now available from Solitary Elegance! It’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and the ladies are showing off their best promenade dresses (1809 and 1811, respectively), with veils and parasols to protect themselves from the sunshine. While Tom Bertram debates which, if any, of the ladies are “out”, he can also peruse this month’s Fashions for Gentlemen and choose the most fashionable color for his morning coat.

Though we suppose it will be Emma 2010 in the U.S. We pretty much knew this would happen, but now it’s definite: PBS will broadcast the BBC’s new adaptation of Emma on Masterpiece in early 2010. Thanks to Alert Janeites Maria L., Kerry, and Lisa for the link.

We’re also pleased to see that there will be a return to Cranford and also Sharpe movies. *does happy fangirl dance*

This made us giggle.

“Is Mrs. Sparrow at Longstaple?”

“At Longstaple!” he replied, with an air of surprise.– “No, I last saw me Mum off the Dry Tortugas, but our leave takings were rushed, on account of the CGI Giant Moray.”

“I meant,” said Elinor, taking up some work from the table, “to inquire for Mrs. JACK Sparrow.”

Just go read the whole thing.

This pretty much made our day.

We hope to see some of the Gentle Readers of AustenBlog at the Jane Austen Festival in Louisville next month!

We got the best e-mail the other day from a new Janeite, and he gave us his permission to share it with you.

Greetings:
I met Jane Austen several months ago while I was fishing through my library bemoaning the fact that I thought I had nothing to read. I spied my daughter’s 10 year old ignored and dusty copy of “Emma” and opened it up. For about 100 pages, I struggled with who was doing what because Miss Austen’s character lists seem endless. After the 100th page, I was HOOKED. What many contemporaries would call a slow-moving, almost sedate story I found full of suspense, humor, and ironic sentimental twists. As I read, I found myself vocally telling the characters to “say it!!” “Tell him!.” “Oh no, don’t do that!” When Mr. Knightley finally…..FINALLY takes a turn in the bushes with Emma and proposes, I jumped with glee and pranced around the room. I have since read all of Miss Austen’s novels and am moving swiftly on to Sanditon and Lady Susan, plus whatever else Miss Austen has put to paper. It is difficult indeed to explain why I find Miss Austen’s works so entertaining and fascinating. Perhaps it is her “fly on the wall” focus which puts the reader right at the constantly shifting point of action.

This from a 63 year old male, married for 38 years, 2 children, 6 grandchildren, Vietnam Vet, Alumnus of the University of Washington, 42 year career in the airlines, having worked the professional side as well as the working-class side of the business. This from a guy who has read Cormac McCarthy. (Talk about wild contrasts!) I’m here to learn, share, and express my opinion and believe me, I love to communicate what I’m currently obsessed with.

What I once considered “chick-fiction” and looked upon with disdain, the genius of Miss Austen has succeeded in demolishing my pre-conceived notions on what is appropriate for a man to read with great joy. If any man ever tells me that reading Jane Austen is “women’s’ reading,” I’ll threaten to knock’em on their ass.

I’ll see all of you around the Austen Blog.

Best Wishes,
Jeffrey Ward

Say hello to Jeffrey, everyone! *waves* We think his letter will be very popular. And feel free to share your story of “finding Jane.”

This is also an open thread, so let us know what’s new in your patch of Janeiteville!

Penguin has launched a really cool new multimedia site called “From the Publisher’s Office” featuring original audio and video programming. The Radio Room has launched in fine style with two Austen-related programs: a video interview of Austen scholar Juliette Wells talking about “Austenmania, what it means to be a Janeite, etiquette in Austen’s time, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” Also, Stephen Morrison, associate publisher and editor in chief of Penguin Books, launches his First Pages program with an examination of the opening of P&P. We haven’t had a chance to check it all out yet, but it looks great.

A note for our readers in Spain from Alert Janeite Carmen:

El periódico español El Mundo va a vender la serie Orgullo y Prejuicio de 1995 todos los miércoles, jueves y viernes, vendiendo el primer número el domingo 21. Cada DVD tiene un coste de 0,5 € más el precio del periódico. Son 13 DVDs. Más información en: http://www.elmundo.es/promociones/orgulloyprejuicio

Translation:

Spanish newspaper El Mundo is going to sell the Pride and Prejudice series (1995) on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday beginning next Sunday, June 21. Every DVD will cost 0,5 € + the newspaper’s cost. There are 13 DVDs. For more information: http://www.elmundo.es/promociones/orgulloyprejuicio

Even if you don’t speak Spanish or live in Spain, check out the website–it is beautiful!

Welcome to Getting Local With Jane, our weekly roundup of local events of interest to Jane Austen fans. Even if your hometown isn’t listed this week, keep checking back–you never know when you’ll get lucky.

June 12-28, 2009, Alabaster, Alabama: South City Theatre presents Pride and Prejudice. The Shelby County Reporter has an article about the show. Tickets are $12-15 and can be reserved by phone or online.

June 17-26, New York City: Monetizing Emma is onstage at 440 Studios (we blogged about it previously). Tickets are $18 and are available online.

July 15, 2009, Oakham, Rutland: Heartbreak Productions’ presents Emma at Oakham Castle. Tickets are £5-9 and are available online.

November 2-7, 2009, Birmingham, UK: The Birmingham Repertory Theatre presents Pride and Prejudice. Tickets are £12-32 and are available online.

November 6, 2009 through March 14, 2010, New York City: The Morgan Library is putting together a special exhibition of its Jane Austen holdings, which includes letters and the manuscript of Lady Susan.

The exhibition also includes first and early illustrated editions of Austen’s novels as well as contemporary drawings and prints depicting people, places, and events of biographical significance. In addition to the literary influences that inspired and informed Austen’s works will be responses by later writers as diverse as Auden, Kipling, Nabokov, Scott, Yeats, and Woolf. A specially commissioned film of interviews with contemporary authors commenting on Austen’s work and influence will also be shown in the gallery.

Two words: OH WOW. Thanks to Alert Janeite Lisa for the link. (And Alert Janeite A. Marie wanted to add that the Morgan also has an upcoming exhibition on William Blake, who probably was NOT an influence on Jane Austen but of which she was possibly aware.)

We still don’t have an Internet connection at home, but will probably have one next week. We’ve been saying that for about three weeks, of course. We’re starting to come out from under the boxes, but am busy with other aspects of life and work this week, so posting will likely remain spotty. In the meantime, here are some items of interest for your reading enjoyment that, unlike our usual open thread items, are actually more or less on-topic.

Christopher Guerin at When Falls the Coliseum reads MP:

I first read Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park on the recommendation of Vladimir Nabokov

When Vladimir Nabokov talks, readers listen.

Michelle Cannon at The Examiner.com chats about Miss Woodhouse.

By creating an imperfect heroine, Austen has created a dynamic character.

Romance author Christine Merrill reads P&P&Z and has mixed feelings–but writes a hilarious review.

And since I am a rather dumpy, 48 year old house wife and mother, I should not have to lecture some smart young man on his ninja/kung fu street cred.

We say that ALL THE TIME.

This is an open thread, so chat about the links above or tell us what’s new in your patch of Janeiteville.

(Yes, we know it’s Tuesday. Technical difficulties continue apace.)

Welcome to Monday Ebooks, in which the Editrix indulges her most harmless delight in electronic books.

First we have to provide a really funny link, which we saw on April 1 (when it was a really hilarious in-joke for ebook enthusiasts) but seems to have been updated a bit and is making the rounds of the Internets once again: The Smell of Books. For all the book fetishists lovers who scorn ebooks because “I would miss the smell of books,” well, now you have no excuse! There’s even a particular aroma for Janeites: Scent of Sensibility.

Women will love this specially engineered designer book aroma. The scent of violets, horses, and potpourri. It’s like living in a Jane Austen novel!

So there you go! Thanks to Alert Janeites Ann and Cub Reporter Heather L. for the link. (Also we think a couple of our Tweeps sent it to us but can’t remember whom–Laurel Ann, perhaps?)

Things are really picking up on the ebook reader front. Several new ebook readers have recently gone on sale or been announced, including the Kindle 2, a sleeker version of Amazon’s reading device, and the Kindle DX, with a 9.7″ screen, meant for reading PDFs and newspaper and magazine content, which many have complained are more difficult to read or present properly on the devices with 6″ screens. Other devices have been announced which will have even smaller 5″ screens, such as Astak’s Pocket Pro (which we are planning to order when it becomes available) and the BEBook Mini, which is basically the same device but with different firmware. The companies are hoping to put these devices for sale at about the $200 mark. That will be the lowest price point yet for a device with an eInk screen.

Another device that looks interesting is the Cool-er ebook reader, which comes in a variety of colors and sells for $249. They are currently accepting pre-orders which should ship soon. This looks like a later generation of the same OEM device as our own Cybook Gen3. Some criticism of the product so far is a lack of clarity on exactly which ebook formats are supported, especially DRM formats; unfortunately at the moment, at least one of the popular DRM formats are necessary for all readers if one wishes to purchase the latest and most popular books. At this point, only small publishers are producing ebooks without DRM. We can only hope this attitude will change, as it has for music.

Web 2.0, in which we become the web by means of interactivity and user-generated content, has embraced Jane Austen and her followers (on Twitter and otherwise).

We love this blog post, sent in by Alert Janeite Marilyn Brant: Pride and Publishing. It’s brilliant and completely true!

I was a Jane Bennet writer when I was much younger; perhaps we all were. That brief, golden time in a writer’s life when we discover the magic and the beauty of our art, when we believe everything will be wonderful. How could it not be, when we are turning the stuff of our cherished dreams into a six and a half pound stack of neatly typed pages? Every word we write is sterling; every story we construct is a magnificent mansion. If we hear someone say something awful about Publishing, we tell ourselves that it must be some sort of terrible misunderstanding. Publishing could not possibly be so bad as that.

OH JUST WAIT, JANE. Just wait.

First we had Austenbook, DeeDee’s brilliant retelling of P&P a la Facebook; now we have Pride and Twitterverse from MadHatterMommy, another brilliant parody! Though we suspect it will only be funny to those who, like the Editrix, spend way too much time on Twitter (we’re @mcsullivan, follow us!).

MrsB:
A Mr Bingley–worth 50,000 followers a year–has joined Twitter! He’s brought a friend, Mr Darcy–worth 100,000 followers a year! Pls RT

MrsB:
@JaneB @LizzyB @MaryBsaphorisms @KittyB @LydiaB I will have one of you girls married into internet fame yet. Just you wait.

LizzyB:
@MrsB But mother, I think we can pull ourselves up by our dooce-straps just fine.

MrsB:
Blogcasting: How to find husbands for your daughters: http://tinyurl/momblog Now with free giveaway from our Etsy embroidery shop. Pls RT

LizzieB:
@JaneB If I could love a man who would love me enough to take me for a mere 50 followers, I should be well pleased…

LizzieB:
@JaneB …but such a man wouldn’t be sensible & I could never love a man who was out of his twits. LOL

JaneB:
Oh @LizzyB, it is my ardent wish to marry 4 love. Love, respect AND dual laptops would be most agreeable. #iamdullbutpretty

CubicleSurfer:
Does anyone know what #Bingley is and why it’s suddenly the no. 1 trending topic?

It gets better from there. Check it out!

Oooh…we just got a message that Mr. Darcy is following us! We’re all (say it with us) a-Twitter! (we crack ourself up)

The Sampler Girl offers a line of very cute cross-stitch sampler projects inspired by Jane Austen’s work.

The Pattern and Pieceworke kits include a tiny bit of one of her larger patterns, plus a bit of Jane Austen cotton fabric by Moda (for backing a pillow or other item). You supply the floss and linen. Patterns are $10 and supply is limited.

The Sampler Girl also offers several Jane Austen-inspired patterns, including a book bag, a work bag, and several samplers. The newest sampler is On Travel with Jane Austen and includes several quotations from Northanger Abbey. Is that Cub Reporter Heather L. we hear clicking furiously on the “buy” button? (Our own finger is hovering over it…)

We heard from Susan Hubbard, whose website Seeking Jane Austen provides a great roundup of information about places associated with Jane Austen’s life and writing. We think it will be a great resource for anyone planning a trip to Austen country.

Publishers Weekly reports that film rights are being shopped for the trilogy of Austenian vampire novels by Michael Thomas Ford due to start next year with Jane Bites Back. We find ourself pretty much unable to care, but do our job by reporting it to our Gentle Readers.

Welcome to another edition of Friday Bookblogging, in which we round up news about books by, about, or inspired by Jane Austen and her work.

First we have something fun: a book trailer for Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler.

For those eagerly awaiting Darcy of the Undead, we received word today from Sourcebooks Landmark that Amanda Grange’s Mr. Darcy, Vampyre will be released on August 11. ETA: Sourcebooks has purchased world rights and are bringing it out in the U.S. only (at this point) in August. A UK release should follow but there’s no date at this time. There’s an excerpt on the Vampyre blog. What we want to know is–does Darcy sparkle?

A new book and companion CD, Jane Austen Sings the Blues, has been published in tribute to the late Bruce Stovel, a respected Austen scholar as well as a lifelong fan of the blues. (Most JASNA members have heard the story about blues guitarist B.B. King coming out as a Janeite at the L.A. AGM.)

Check out the beautiful hand-stitched book covers created by a talented Janeite stitcher. We can hear Cub Reporter Heather L. snapping to attention all the way across North America.

Laurel Ann has reviewed A Body at Rest by Susan Petrone, which has echoes of Emma in it.

Maya Slater’s novel The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy, which was published in the UK as Mr. Darcy’s Diary, has been published in the U.S. She wrote to ask if readers prefer the UK or U.S. cover. (We think the U.S. cover looks sort of familiar…)

That’s it for this week’s Bookblogging, Gentle Readers, so until next time, always remember…Books Are Nice!

Alert Janeite Cinthia wrote to tell us that BBC America has announced on its Upcoming DVD Releases blog that it is releasing some of the treasure from its vaults, including the 1971 production of Sense and Sensibility! Since it’s BBC Video, we also have hopes for Region 2.

There is no way to directly link to the post (which starts with a photo of a 1967 adaptation of Wuthering Heights), but this is what it says:

We’re also finally releasing the 1971 production of Sense & Sensibility with a classic comic performance from Patricia Routledge as Mrs. Jennings. The key roles were played by such rising young stars of the day as Joanna David as the sensible Elinor Dashwood, and Ciaran Madden as her passionate sister Marianne. You may remember Robin Ellis (Edward Ferrars) and Clive Francis (John Willoughby) from Poldark of the same era.

We are thoroughly delighted by the idea of Patricia Routledge as Mrs. Jennings!

We’re still finding our way out from beneath a mountain of boxes, slowly but steadily. Dorothy is being no help whatsoever, spending her days sunning herself by the pool as the Editrix earns their bread by the sweat of her brow and leaving all the work for us in the weary evenings. Imaginary servants have a tendency to be truly disappointing.

Despite the vampiric tendency that Austen-related paraliterature has taken of late, we are noticing a trend that might mean pop culture attention is moving away from Jane and towards the Brontës. (Batten down the hatches, BrontëBlog!)

The Very Secret Diary of Charlotte Brontë by Syrie James (many of you will remember her as the author of the Lost Memoir of Jane Austen) will be out at the end of this month. From the description at Amazon:

Syrie James takes us into the unquiet soul of Charlotte Bronte.

One almost expects another zombie book.

Poor, plain and unconnected, Charlotte, her sisters live in the wilds of Yorkshire. Their eccentric father allows no curtains on the windows and no rugs on the floors. Their brother is a drunkard and a drug addict. But these three sisters write some of the most beloved books ever created. Many don’t know that Charlotte’s life held hidden passions. And while many remember Jan Eyre, few know about her romance with Arthur Bell Nichols. After her death, he destroyed so much of the personal writing of her adulthood, but now, Charlotte’s secrets are about to be told.

Emily’s Ghost by Denise Giardina will be out at the end of July. From the press release:

At the center of the novel is the most mysterious and fascinating member of the Brontë family: Emily. She roams the moors by night, conversing with the otherworldly spirits who have been her closest companions since her bereft childhood at a cheerless boarding school. As an adult she lives at home with her sisters Charlotte and Anne, helping her widowed father, the curate Patrick Brontë, look after his largely destitute parish of Haworth in bleak northern England. Despite their intelligence, the sisters’ plain looks and lack of family wealth leave them

with no realistic hopes for marriage. While Anne attempts to land a secure future for herself by working as a governess, her frail health makes her ill suited for handling privileged children. Charlotte, the most socially vivacious of the three, remains ever hopeful for romance, but her fanciful notions approach delusions of grandeur—or so thinks Emily, the strangest sister.

No mention of “finding her Heathcliff,” one notices.

This is an open thread. What’s new in your patch of Janeiteville?

The Jane Austen Festival Australia, to be held in Canberra in April 2010, needs volunteers. Check out the site if you’re in the area.