Four Things on a Friday

Lovely conversations about "Sense and Sensibility," my dears! If you haven’t weighed in yet, please do! In the meantime, I have four things you might find interesting on this cold January day:

1. BBC is planning to recreate the Netherfield Ball to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice! Oh, to be one of those attending! Experts in nineteenth century dance, music, and even food will be advising. It’s supposed to be aired around Easter on BBC2 (which we don’t get—stamps foot, pouts, rails at the ceiling). See the full report in The Independent.
2. Most of my books have been mass market paperbacks. Every once in a while, though, another publisher buys the rights to create a hard cover, and I am usually the last to hear about it! Such was the case recently when I was tooling about Amazon and discovered that a hardcover, large print version of The Rake’s Redemption is going to be available soon! Amazon shows a March 18 publication date. Thorndike, the publisher, shows a February release. It’s pricey at around $29.00, but the publisher sells mostly to libraries. Vaughn, in libraries everywhere—the mind boggles!
3. Ever wonder exactly what an early nineteenth century wardrobe entailed? The talented misses at Historical Sewing have compiled a complete list, from undergarments to main garments and outwear to accessories. Note that Mr. Darcy, Mr. Ferris, and Mr. Willoughby are among the required accessories.
4. You may have heard that RT Book Reviews is the premiere review magazine for the romance industry (though they review many other genres as well). I heard this week that the reviewer there has given my upcoming March release, The Heiress’s Homecoming, the highest honor: 4 and a half stars and a Top Pick for the month! I’m tickled pink!

Hope you have a similarly delightful Friday!

Young Bluestockings Attend the Cinema: "Sense and Sensibility" (1995)

Welcome back to

Young Bluestockings Attend the Cinema!

Several times a year, NineteenTeen invites you to join in a discussion of a movie set during the Nineteenth Century.
Today we'll be discussing the 1995 movie Sense and Sensibility!

Whether you saw the movie yesterday or years ago, please join in the discussion!

Here's a little background about the movie, to get things started:



Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen's first published novel, came out in 1811.

Likewise, this movie of Sense and Sensibility was the first time Emma Thompson wrote a motion picture script.  Most famous as an Oscar-winning actress (for Howard's End), Thompson (who played Elinor) got another Oscar nomination for best actress, and actually won the Oscar for best screenplay for Sense and Sensibility!  (Pretty good for your first time out, I say!)

The film was directed by Ang Lee, who was then a well-respected but still fairly new director from Taiwan. Lee has since become an Oscar-winner himself, and is up for another directing Oscar this year (for The Life of Pi.) 

With a total of seven Oscar nominations (and one win), it's the most award-winning Jane Austen movie out there!

But that's what they think.  What do YOU think?

Did you like it?

Did you find it funny, romantic, suspenseful? Boring? Confusing?

What did you think of the cast?

The costumes?

If the story was new to you, were you surprised when Marianne and Colonel Brandon ended up together?

For those of you who've seen the TV show House, did you recognize Hugh Laurie as the man behind the newspaper?    :-)

All opinions welcome!

CAST:
 Emma Thompson: Elinor Dashwood
 Kate Winslet: Marianne Dashwood
 Hugh Grant: Edward Ferrars
 Alan Rickman: Colonel Brandon
 Greg Wise:   Willoughby
 Gemma Jones: Mrs. Dashwood
 Emilie François: Margaret Dashwood
 James Fleet: John Dashwood
 Tom Wilkinson: Mr. Dashwood
 Harriet Walter: Fanny Dashwood
 Elizabeth Spriggs: Mrs. Jennings
 Robert Hardy: Sir John Middleton
 Imelda Staunton: Charlotte Jennings Palmer 
 Hugh Laurie: Mr. Palmer
 Imogen Stubbs: Lucy Steele

A Janeian New Year

Well, it’s officially 2013 (and Happy New Year to you, friends!) and the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen’s masterpiece, Pride and Prejudice. I’ve been featuring some Jane Austen-related books in honor of the anniversary over the last few months and have more to discuss…but first, it was definitely a Jane Austen Christmas this year in the Doyle family, as several Jane Austen-related items were purchased as gifts for family members.

First, for my husband, who has reread Pride and Prejudice a scary number of times, the Pride and Prejudice Trivia Game!

I had to take it away from him before he read the cards and answered all the questions.

And this for my son, just for fun, from The Republic of Pemberley's CafePress store:

Lastly, there are a pair of Jane Austen-related books I want to tell you about today, one old and one just released. The newly released one, A Dance with Jane Austen: How a Novelist and her Characters went to the Ball by Susannah Fullerton, is just that: it discusses the social lives and dancing activities of both the author and her characters, along with enough general information to provide context for both. There is information on music and dance steps, of course, but also on what one wore, getting to and from the ball, ballroom etiquette, food and drink, public and private balls, and more.  Engagingly written and well supplemented with numerous illustrations and photographs; if you have the least interest in the topic, I highly recommend this book to you.

An old P&P-related favorite of mine came out some years ago, but is still definitely a goodie: Flirting with Pride and Prejudice, edited by Jennifer Crusie. It’s a light-hearted literary analysis by multiple authors, in the form of a compilation of short stories (fan fic, some of them), personal essays, brief but serious analyses, and original pieces that can’t be easily classified (Pride and Prejudice as a reality TV show was laugh-out-loud funny). It’s a great follow-up read to the original, for when you just can’t let go of Elizabeth and Darcy.

And speaking of Jane Austen…don’t forget that next week the cinematic Young Bluestockings will be gathering to discuss the 1995 release of Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant. Have you been able to watch it yet? Please come back next Tuesday and let us know what you thought of it!

Young Bluestockings Attend the Cinema: January Movie!

Hello there!  I'm Cara King, back again to announce the second installment of NineteenTeen's "YOUNG BLUESTOCKINGS ATTEND THE CINEMA," the four-times-a-year gathering of the young and young-at-heart to talk about interesting movies with 19th-century settings.

So... (Drumroll, please!)

Our next movie will be:  SENSE AND SENSIBILITY!

Of course, there are many different adaptations of Jane Austen's first published novel. The one we'll be discussing is from 1995, and stars Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, and Greg Wise.

Our discussion will be on Tuesday, January 15.  So you have a month to beg, borrow, buy, or check out from the library a copy of the movie, and see what you think.

Because what you think is really the whole point of this. This is your chance to be a movie critic, and tell everyone else what's good or bad about the movie. And it doesn't matter whether or not you've read the book -- the more perspectives we have, the more fun for all!

So please join us here on January 15!

All images copyright Columbia/Tristar Pictures.  

Young Bluestockings Attend the Cinema

Welcome to Young Bluestockings Attend the Cinema!

Do you like to read? To think? To talk? Then you're a Young Bluestocking!

And because Young Bluestockings enjoy attending the cinema (wearing white gloves, of course), NineteenTeen's Young Bluestockings have decided to have an online "cinema club" as well as a book club.  You are invited!

All you need to do is watch the 2005 "Pride and Prejudice" (the one with Keira Knightley) sometime during the next month. (You can find it through Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and quite possibly your local library.) Then on the fourth Tuesday of October (October 23), you get to chat about what you liked (or didn't like) about it, with others here who also watched it!  

(Of course, if you've already seen it, you are welcome to join our chat without rewatching the the film, if you'd rather!)

Now, for those of you who don't know the story, and aren't sure if you'd find it interesting, here's the set-up:

Our heroine is Lizzy Bennet (played by Keira Knightley, of "Pirates of the Carribean" fame). Here she is, in brown.

She's smart. She's fun.

But there are some folks around her who think a young lady in Regency England should not be quite so smart, or laugh quite so much...unless she has a lot more money than Lizzy's family does.

So what is she to do?

Lizzy's older sister, Jane, is the pretty one.

Jane's also really sweet, and everyone loves her.

But it's possible that she's just a little too trusting....

Lizzy's youngest sister, Lydia, is an absolute brat...

....and their mother likes her best, and spoils her rotten.

You'd think it was Lydia's mission in life to humiliate Lizzy in front of people.

And by people, I mean....

cute guys!

Ahem.  I mean...handsome gentlemen.

(As you might guess, I failed my deportment lessons.  My apologies.)

And these handsome gentlemen are dressed ever so nicely....

and have courtly manners....

and they ride horses...

and dance well...

and did I mention that some of them are fabulously wealthy?

(Not that such things matter, of course. Ahem!)

And some of these utterly fabulous men are dashing soldiers....

in uniform...

with brooding stares...

and cheekbones to die for....

Ahem!

(I apologize for coughing repeatedly.  Dreadful manners, I know.  It's just that every now and then I get a bit...carried away.)

So be sure to stop by here on October 23 to discuss the movie!  Your hostesses, Regina Scott and Marissa Doyle, have asked me (Cara King) to lead the discussion, probably because I love historical movies almost as much as I do historical books.  (And, as I'm sure you've guessed from all the coughing and exclamation points, I get very enthusiastic about things!)

So please join us!  We will all have a delightful time...

All images, copyright Focus Features.