The following is a repost of our review of a previous edition of this book, which was published by a very small press. Patrice Hannon took a part-time job in an antique shop to help sell the book, and one of the people who purchased it was Kathryn Court, the president and publisher of Penguin Books. The rest, as they say, is history. –Ed.

When we reviewed Jane Austen’s Guide to Dating a while back, we remarked that reading the advice contained therein was like receiving a letter full of good advice from Aunt Jane. In Dear Jane Austen: A Heroine’s Guide to Life and Love, Patrice Hannon has gone one better and provided exactly that: a series of letters in Jane Austen’s voice, full of common sense and bracing admonitions, not just on romantic matters but embracing other aspects of life on which modern women might need advice, from financial to fashion to family relations, illustrating the advice with examples from her own novels.

In the wrong hands, such an endeavour could turn revoltingly twee, but Dr. Hannon has a sure grasp of the tone and subject matter. A college professor who has “taught Jane Austen’s novels to hundreds of students” according to her bio blurb, Dr. Hannon knows her Austen and aptly applies the novels to the situation of each applicant for advice, reinforcing each “lesson” with an aphorism (”Jane Austen says: A heroine needs good friends as much as she needs a hero”). (more…)

Alert Janeite Lisa sent us a link to an article directed at teens on how to beat summer boredom: what better way than to hang out with Jane Austen?

So, when you’re not out enjoying the sunshine or sleeping in (or working hard), you can combat boredom with some summer reading. To help you in your quest for good reading, here are some of my favorite books that I’d like to reread this summer:

[. . .]

“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen. This book follows the lively and sassy Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with her slimy, love-struck cousin, her obnoxious younger sisters, her clueless mother, her association with a certain Mr. Darcy and her prejudices against him. There are many excellent lines to quote if you’re looking to practice your British accent. For example, “Those who do not complain are never pitied,” “Stupid men are the only ones worth knowing, after all,” and “Shelves in the closet. Happy thought indeed!”

(Erm…that last bit wasn’t from the book.)

Two new Austen-related books have hit the bookstores this week. Dear Jane Austen: A Heroine’s Guide to Life and Love by Patrice Hannon and Captain Wentworth’s Diary by Amanda Grange. We will be reposting our review of the former shortly (and opening a contest to win a copy) and posting a brand-new review of the latter next week.

Another new book that has caused some controversy among Janeites is Phyllis Ferguson Bottomer’s So Odd A Mixture: Along the Autistic Spectrum in Pride and Prejudice, which uses various characters in P&P to illustrate different forms and degrees of autism. Ellen Moody blogged about the book and made what we thought an excellent point about looking to modern science to explain the behavior of fictional characters.

The use of the term is an imposition and a confusing one. Where does it come from? For a start, Bottomer is a speech pathologist: the very term shows how she has been trained to regard language—as signs of illness. It may be a case of to a person with a hammer (and theories about that hammer which make it all important) many things look like a nail—or it may be that she genuinely analyses aspects of Austen’s characters which many in our society are taught to be (and are by training and disposition) uncomfortable with.

More broadly, sickness is in the eye of the beholder, and that which we label sickness is something that deviates from the norm.

Thanks to Alert Janeite Tony A. for the link.

Alert Janeite Tony A. sent us a link to a literary contest going on right now at The Book Mine Set: Jane Austen vs. Edgar Allen Poe!

The voting is open until Tuesday, July 3, so as we say in the City of Brotherly Love, vote early and often!

Our Gentle Readers will recall that we posted a request from Caroline for assistance in defraying the cost of obtaining a copy of this 1960s Dutch television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Caroline was able to see the film at the national television archives, and the following is her review of the film. –Ed.

I watched De Vier Dochters Bennet, a Dutch adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, at the national tv archives the other day. As the title (The Four Daughters Bennet) suggests, Kitty has been cut, but Mary takes over some of her functions, such as coughing. Georgiana is also (physically) absent, but that didn’t affect the story much. The six-part mini-series is based on Cedric Wallis’s screenplay used for the 1952 and 1958 British productions, but the credits claim it was adapted rather than translated, so there might be some changes. It was undoubtedly set in England though, as the characters asserted from time to time. Apart from the language, the only Dutch element I noticed was a poffertjespan at the Lambton Inn.

The framework was nicely done in my opinion, each episode starting with one of the Bennet girls’ diaries. There was no letter: instead Darcy explained himself to Lizzy right after the proposal, and it made a very interesting scene. Another extra bit I appreciated was the bartering scene between Darcy and Wickham. The actor did an excellent job there portraying a calculating bastard! Overall the script was decent and pretty faithful to the book, with some quaint inventions like a running gag about the size of Mr Collins’s French beans. I thought it did have a decidedly feminist streak, with Lizzy complaining about how women can do nothing but sit around waiting for a husband, etc. Some of lines were quite literal translations and they sounded a bit stilted and archaic at times. But well, it’s from 1961. The only thing I really disliked about the script was the P&P0-like twist on Lady Catherine at the end. *rolls eyes* According to Darcy she thought Lizzy was an obnoxious ill-bred little hussy, but she nonetheless was looking forward to crossing swords with her for the rest of her life. As If. (more…)

Alert Janeite Philo sent along a link to Kendra’s photos of the P07 costume display at the Jane Austen Centre in Bath. There also are some awesome photos of real period gowns from the Museum of Costume and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Check them out!