Emma 2009 premieres on BBC One in the UK on Sunday, October 4th. You can read a preview and view a slideshow of great production stills on the miniseries on Austenprose. My favorite character in Jane Austen's novel is Harriet Smith. This lovely photo is of Louise Dylan who looks blonde enough for the role, ableit a bit older than sixteen. Let's hope she does not make her too much of a ditz! Enjoy!
According to the website of The Wonder of Whiffling, the book is a tour of English around the globe (with fine coinages from our English-speaking cousins across the pond, Down Under and elsewhere). As for whiffling, the free online dictionary describes the word as thus: 
Ruby Bental, Lost in Austen, 2008
Who, aside from Nigel, one of our favorite visitors, can ever tire of Mr. Darcy? Not the majority of Jane Austen lovers. 
The second season of the Inspector Lewis mysteries continues with ‘Allegory of Love’ Sunday, October 4th, 2009, 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm ET on PBS. Here is a brief description from the Masterpiece Mystery website. Austen fans will recognize two actors who formerly portrayed Pride and Prejudice characters Charles Bingley and George Wickham!
Young and handsome Oxford writer Dorian Crane (Tom Mison – Charles Bingley in Lost in Austen) is following in the noted fantasy footsteps of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien with his newest book. The day after Crane's book launch party, reality shatters the celebratory mood when a young Czech barmaid is found dead by the river, savagely murdered with an antique Persian mirror. Some of the grisly circumstances seem to have been lifted from Crane's fiction. But the celebrated author claims no knowledge of the crime, instead fawning over his bride-to-be and muse Alice Wishart. At the murder scene, Lewis and Hathaway find a one-word note scrawled in blood that references a place in Iraq. As a result, Lewis and Hathaway get pulled into the world of Oxford's literary elite, only to find that it harbors resentment and jealousy and at its center, holds terrible secrets beyond all imagination.
The Jane Austen Festival in Bath, England is in full swing and concludes this Sunday, September 27th. Check out a photo slideshow of the Grand Regency Promenade and a real-life Regency wedding held last Saturday by following this link to Austenprose.
Deb at Jane Austen in Vermont blog has reviewed The Importance of Being Emma, a contemporary retelling of Jane Austen's novel Emma, and interviewed its author Juliet Archer. Follow the links and leave a comment today, September 25th, to qualifiy to enter a drawing for a copy of the book. I am intrigued by her wit and candor, and would love to read it. Good luck to all and congrats to the lucky winner!
If you are one of the fortunate Janeites to have recently visited the Jane Austen House Museum at Chawton, in Hampshire, England, you will know that her last residence and gardens have been newly restored and are not only both beautifully maintained, but an enchanting glimpse into her home and the early 19th-century country life. Imagine being a steward of that lovely and magical home. Meet Bee of From the Desk of Bee Drunken Blog who has that exact pleasure as a volunteer of Chawton Cottgae.
One of the delights and privileges of being a "steward" to the house is opening it up before the guests arrive. Sometimes, for a few precious minutes, I am entirely alone in the house. Although Jane lived here 200 years ago, she must have risen in the morning to open the same sash windows that I do. As she looked out of her bedroom window, she must have gazed with pleasure at the greenness of her garden. As she folded back the shutters of the dining parlour windows, she must have watched, with keen interest, as the little village of Chawton came to life.
The Book Girl is having a fabulous Jane Austen giveaway in the blog's Jane Austen Week. Click here to join in!
In 2007, Merchant Ivory productions presented a film by Santosh Sivan, Before the Rains, which has just come out in India. Set in Colonial India, one of the film's stars is Jennifer Ehle (Elizabeth Bennet in 1995's Pride and Prejudice.) Jennifer plays the wife of a British planter in Kerala, who lies to her about his Indian mistress. Click here to learn more about the film.
Your response was amazing to our giveaway of five copies of Penguin Couture Classics new edition of Pride and Prejudice designed by fashion illustrator Rueben Toledo. Even better were your selections and explanations of your favorite scenes in the novel. P&P obviously holds a special place in the hearts and memories of many.
Mr. Darcy has introduced Elizabeth to his sister, and they spend an agreeable evening together. As Georgiana plays, he and Elizabeth exchange looks of longing. Without words, the scene sets the stage for Elizabeth's change of heart. Before long, Darcy springs into action to find Wickham and Lydia in London.
The second season of the Inspector Lewis mysteries continues with ‘The Great And The Good’ Sunday, September 20, 2009, 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm ET on PBS. Here is a brief description from the Masterpiece Mystery website.
Teenager Beatrice Donnelly is found dazed in a field with no recollection of what happened to her. Forensic evidence fills in the grim picture — she was drugged and sexually assaulted. The trail leads Lewis and Hathaway to Oswald Cooper, who works at Beatrice's school. But Cooper has an alibi solidly supported by three pillars of the Oxford community — a prominent developer, a controversial radio personality and a former diplomat who recently returned to town. Still suspicious, Lewis is determined to crack Cooper's alibi, even if he has to resort to high-profile harassment to do it. But is Lewis's own status as a social outsider clouding his judgment or do those in Oxford's most prestigious social circles have the most to hide?
Friday 18th - Sunday 27th September 2009
More information here for the Jane Austen Festival Regency Ball 09.
Jane Austen Films: If you've wondered which Jane Austen movie adaptations you've seen and missed, here's a nice synopsis of recent films compiled by The Telegraph. 
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters has been published and is garnering such erudite comments as "it's a hoot." This review from the Journal Star sums the book up nicely. Ben H. Winters, the book's author, wrote "This Scene Could Really Use a Man-eating Jelly Fish: How I wrote Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" for Slate.com. Look for our reviews of this Oceanic adaptation of Jane's beloved work to come out soon.
The new BBC1 miniseries of Emma will shortly become reality when it begins airing in the UK on October 4. This four-part costume drama is being adapted from Jane Austen’s novel by Sandy Welch (Our Mutual Friend) and stars Romola Garai (Atonement) as the "handsome, clever and rich" but misguided Miss Emma Woodhouse and Jonny Lee Miller (Edmund Bertram in Mansfield Park 1999) as her reproachful neighbor Mr. Knightley.
We didn't want stuffy period characters. This is not a high Austen comedy, it's modern. Maybe we are in a period where we are a little bit more relaxed with Austen. We are taking her off the literary shelf and making her seem part of our lives again.This business of changing the sensibility seems like a mistake…If you modernise it too far and modernise the social relations that pertained to Austen's day, then some of the behaviour and the plot will not make sense.
Congratulations go out to one of my favorite actors Colin Firth and a great Masterpiece Classic mini-series Little Dorrit who were both honored this weekend with industry awards..jpg)
Costumes are one of the main reasons why I love period movies. They can make or break one's enjoyment of the film. Take Emma, for example. These two films were made in the same year - 1996. They followed the same Jane Austen story but took two different approaches to dressing the heroine. The clothes worn by the cast of Emma, starring Kate Beckinsale and written by Andrew Davie, were earth colored. The fabrics of velvet and satin looked heavy, but the costumes were well made and their details of pleats and sleeves breathtaking. But in my humble opinion, Kate wears some of the ugliest hats ever devised for a young heroine. (Please feel free to disagree.)
Gwynneth's Emma, while she looked lovely and elegant, seemed a tad too modern. Her gowns and hair reminds one more of the updo's and baby doll empire gowns popular in the 1960's. Gwynneth's Emma wore light pastel colored muslins and the details of her gowns were minimal at best. In fact I left the movie feeling that I could have made a few of those dresses myself. .jpg)
Hot off the artist’s computer is the new cover of Michael Thomas Ford’s novel Jane Bites Back.
The novel presents an undead Jane Austen, frustrated by nearly 200 years of writer's block and 116 rejections of an unpublished novel she finished just before turning into a vampire; she's becoming increasingly irritated that the rest of the world seems to be getting rich and famous off of her works and her life. The two follow-up books will be derived from the first.
Don’t miss out on a chance to win one of 14 great giveaways now available during ‘A Soirée with Lady Susan’ until Sunday, September 14th. Here is the list of Jane Austen inspired books.
The second season of the Inspector Lewis mysteries continues with ‘Life Born of Fire’ Sunday, September 13, 2009, 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm ET on PBS. Here is a brief description from the Masterpiece Mystery website.
Will McEwan staggers into a church and takes his own life at the altar, leaving behind a suicide note cloaked in religious symbolism — "On the road from Gethsemane to Calvary, I lost my way" — and a pamphlet for a shadowy spiritual group "The Garden." What would lead a young and faithful man to such desperation? Lewis and Hathaway launch an investigation, seemingly aided by the fact that Hathaway knew the victim. But as those most intimately associated with "The Garden" begin to die, Lewis questions Hathaway's sudden vow of silence. In a case involving blind faith and faltering trust, Lewis hurries to know more about the lofty world of Oxford religion and his partner before fire threatens to engulf one final victim.
Colin Firth and Ben Barnes are the stars of Dorian Gray, which hits UK theatres today! Watch nearly 7 minutes of a video interview with these two stars as they discuss the movie, their roles and each other. Great poster. As for Colin, I'll watch him do anything, even a deodorant commercial.
Penguin Classics has just released a new edition of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen with a sparkling new cover by fashion illustrator Rueben Toledo.
