Tag: Jane Austen

Ladies in Waiting: Jane Austen’s Unsung Characters Book Review

I find that side characters are sometimes the most interesting. Because we do not know them as fully as the main characters, there is an opportunity to expand them beyond the original writer’s concept.

Ladies in Waiting: Jane Austen’s Unsung Characters was published last year. It is an anthology of short stories written by a series of well-known JAFF (Jane Austen fanfiction) authors (Eloisa James and Emily Harding among them). Each tale allows personalities such as Caroline Bingley and Miss Bates from Emma to shine on their own.

I enjoyed this title tremendously. Each author walks the delicate balance of being true to Austen while rewriting based on their own perspective. My favorite among them follows Lydia Wickham (nee Bennet), 20 years after Pride and Prejudice. She bitterly regrets her youthful folly and where it has taken her in life.

One of the tales that surprised me included a sojourn into the immigrant Jewish community. It shows that the UK (then and now) is much more diverse than it appears to be on the surface.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Ladies in Waiting: Jane Austen’s Unsung Characters is available wherever books are sold.

Seeking Persephone Television Review

When we are hurting, it is easier to stay locked within ourselves. It takes courage to reveal our true selves, even those parts of us that are unhealed.

The new four-part series, Seeking Persephone, is based on the book of the same name by Sarah M. Eden (who also wrote the screenplay). Adam Boyce, Duke of Kielder (Jake Stormoen), is in a bind. Unless he marries and has children, his title and property will pass to a distant cousin upon his passing. The problem is that his reputation does not exactly lend itself to young ladies and their mothers breaking down the door.

Persephone Lancaster (Ryann Bailey) has her own issues. Since losing her mother several years before, she was forced to grow up early and take care of her family. Living in genteel poverty, the chances of her catching the eye of an eligible gentleman are little to none at best.

Their relationship starts as a marriage of convenience. As they get to know one another, the walls start to crumble. But is it enough for a happy ending, or will Adam’s insecurities get in the way?

Bailey and Stormoen have superb chemistry. From the moment their characters met on screen, there was an electricity between them. With Eden writing the screenplay, this screen adaptation was not word-for-word copied from the text. But it was enough that anyone who has read the novel can easily follow along.

I have heard that some have referred to this story as a mashup of Pride and Prejudice and Beauty and the Beast. I would also add Jane Eyre to the list. Adam has a bit of Edward Rochester in him, adding new layers to his arc.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Seeking Persephone is available for streaming on Amazon Prime and Fandago.

Pride and Prejudice in Space Book Review

When a writer chooses to adapt a classic novel to another era, it may seem like a simple task. The complications will often reveal themselves sooner rather than later.

Pride and Prejudice in Space, by Alexis Lampley, was published in 2024. The book is as the title states. Instead of being set in the Regency era, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy meet, dislike, and then fall in love in a futuristic world where space travel is the norm.

The best parts of the title are the world-building and the illustrations. Lampley holds to Jane’s original text while taking it to an alternative universe that is not physically based on any planet.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Pride and Prejudice in Space is available wherever books are sold.

Thoughts On the Teaser Trailer for Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice

It goes without saying that at this point, we don’t know a lot about this mini-series (other than the scant details that the teaser trailer provides). Emma Corrin and Jack Lowden (as Lizzy and Darcy, respectively) are hopefully well cast.

As long as it is not Netflix’s attempt (which is a loose term at best) at Persuasion, then it will (hopefully) fit just fine into the pantheon of previous adaptations of the book.

Pride and Prejudice will be released on Netflix later this year (date TBA).

Pride and Prejudice Turned 213 Yesterday

There aren’t many hills that I will figuratively die on, but the one I will forever stand on is that the 1995 Pride and Prejudice should be the first choice for any P&P fan.

Best New TV Shows of 2025

  1. Outlander: Blood of My Blood
  2. The Stolen Girl
  3. Mid-Century Modern
  4. Miss Austen
  5. Hostage
  6. Dept Q
  7. The American Revolution
  8. The Couple Next Door
  9. The Gold
  10. Hazardous History

P.S. Though Andor was not new in 2025, the second season was beyond amazing. It was the perfect addition to the Star Wars mythology and a reminder of why this IP continues to be relevant.

Best New Books of 2025

  1. Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
  2. Introducing Mrs. Collins
  3. Hostage
  4. Cammy Sitting Shiva
  5. Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane
  6. Sisters of Fortune
  7. How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter’s Memoir 
  8. Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President
  9. One of Them
  10. We Will Dance Again: A novel about October 7th and Jewish resilience

Anne of Avenue A Book Review

It has been said that some people come into our lives for a reason.

Anne of Avenue A, by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding, was published in October. It is the 3rd book in the For the Love of Austen series. Anne Elliot and Freddie Wentworth were college sweethearts. Freddie has a sense of adventure, while Anne prefers to stay closer to home. These two disparate perspectives led them in different directions.

Eight years later, the universe brings them back together. Anne is working for her parents’ television production company. Still living at home, feeling stuck, she does her best to put on a brave face. When the company shuts down, she is living on limited funds, without a job, and is soon to be homeless.

Freddie has returned to the US after spending the better part of a decade living abroad. After Anne broke his heart, he was determined to move on. What he did not expect was to move into her childhood apartment and become her upstairs neighbor. With his career in flux, he is at his own crossroads.

At this point, both Anne and Freddie want to put their relationship in the rearview mirror. But the creator has other plans.

The best thing about this book is Anne and Freddie’s character arcs. The foundation of their coupledom is solid. But before they can find their happiness, each has a lesson to learn. It will be painful and difficult at times, but neccesary.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Anne of Avenue A is available wherever books are sold.

Happy 250th Birthday, Jane Austen

P.S. Looser’s latest book is pretty dam good.

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