Review by MJRyan

I agreed to review Becoming Jane for AustenBlog with a bit of trepidation. Not only would I be required to give some sort of informed opinion about picture resolution and sound but I’d also have to give my opinion on a movie that has been the subject of much debate over the past year and a half. What if I actually liked the movie? Would I lose the smidgen of Austen street cred I’ve obtained by submitting occasional reviews of Austen paraliterature? Would I be smacked over the head with The Cluebat? If I hated the movie, would I be dismissed as one who is impossible to be please or who places our Jane - preferably gilded in gold, cradling Pride and Prejudice in one hand and raising her pen of justice against loveless marriages in the other - on the highest pedestal in a museum? In the end, the lure of a free DVD was stronger than my fear of wading in to these perilous waters. (more…)

Alert Janeite Julie P. sent us a link to a new cross-stitch sampler called “The Daughters of Longbourn.” (Here’s a larger photo of the finished sampler.) The sampler is the first in a series of five Austen-inspired samplers…as Julie P. pointed out, which novel will be left out? Or will there be five P&P samplers? Hard to tell.

ETA: We probably should make it perfectly obvious that the vendor is selling only a chart–you would have to purchase your own fabric, thread, etc.

Samplers are a very 18th and 19th century needle art, by the bye; all little girls (even Catherine Morland) made a sampler while learning to sew. The March/April 2008 issue of PieceWork magazine (an invaluable publication if you like historical needlework) had an article about collecting schoolgirl needlework such as samplers; 18th and 19th century pieces sell these days for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the magazine has had several interesting articles on schoolgirl needlework in the past few years.

Speaking of handmade items, Paper Menagerie’s Etsy store has some Jane Austen items, including greeting cards and a really lovely Moleskine journal painted with the classic Austen silhouette. (Found via Moleskinerie)

Some upcoming Jane Austen-related events that might be in your own home town!

Blackwood, New Jersey: On Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 7 p.m., Dr. Paula Marantz Cohen, Professor of English at Drexel University and author of two Jane Austen-inspired novels, will speak on “Why We Love Jane Austen” at Camden County College’s Blackwood Campus, the third lecture in a series of five Thursday night events. The Philadelphia Inquirer had an article about the first lecture (thanks to Alert Janeite Lisa for the link).

Quincy, Massachusetts: Thomas Crane Library will have an informal discussion of Pride and Prejudice on Monday, March 17 at 7 p.m.

Whittier, California: Whittier Public Library will sponsor a High Tea (they probably mean afternoon tea) on Wednesday, March 19, at 4 p.m. with Austen scholar Anne Kiley, Ph.D.

Lake County, California: Jane Austen is the Featured Author for March 2008 at Lake County Library. The library will have Jane Austen’s novels, DVDs of film adaptations, and fiction and nonfiction inspired by or about Jane Austen available for its patrons during the month.

Don’t forget to let us know about your local Jane Austen-related events!