The Twelve Gifts of Christmas

Inquiring readers, During this month of holiday celebrations, Laurel Ann and I will be offering the Twelve Gifts of Christmas. Some of the gifts will be giveaways, others will be free offerings online, and still others will be great gift ideas for you to give to others. None are expensive, but every gift will have a special relationship to this blog, us, or Jane Austen. We offer one lucky reader a free calendar as

Gift Number Three:

Last year author Lori Smith's first book, A Walk With Jane Austen, made a smash appearance. The book, first for sale in the U.S. is now available in a U.K. edition. Photographs of Lori's trip to Jane Austen's England sit on each page of this calendar. Included are a description of the places in which Jane Austen lived and traveled.

For a chance to win your own free copy of this truly unique gift, leave a comment stating where you would like to take a walk in Austen's England and why. Next Saturday (the 13th) we will draw the winner's name out of a hat. (Please contact us to provide your mailing address if you win!) Those who do not win can order the calendar at this fabulous site for their own copies. We HAVE a WINNER! Kimberly Ann please email us your contact information.

Our four reviews of Lori's book sit in this link. We are so excited to be giving away this very special gift.

• Gift Number One

• Gift Number Two

Posted by Vic, Jane Austen's World and Laurel Ann, Austenprose

A Walk With Jane Austen, Part 3

Lori Smith's book, A Walk With Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love & Faith is available for purchase today. I have been savoring this book all summer, and reluctantly read the last pages last night while sitting in my favorite spot at a local restaurant. After reading such a personal account, it is easy to assume that one has met Lori and had a long conversation with her.

Part 3 of the book begins with a visit to beautiful Winchester Cathedral, where Jane is buried, and a description of her last illness. Lori addresses the topic of death head on with trepidation, fearlessness, and faith.

To my surprise, she disliked Lyme, which I have always wanted to visit, but attributed much of her terrible experience to her seedy hotel. She then visited Exeter, Sense and Sensibility country, and Lyme Park, Colin Firth's Pemberley. Few signs remain that the movie was filmed there ten years before, although once upon a time visitors could take a little tour showing the significant spots in the movie.

I must confess I liked part three of the book most, for Lori recounts so much of Jane's life and her novels in the final pages. During her visit to Chatworth, the lush mansion where Matthew Macfadyen snogs Keira Knightly, as Lori so delightfully puts it, she views a set of breathtaking china that belonged to Warren Hastings, a widower who sent his young son to live with Jane's family in Steventon, and where the boy sadly died. Lori then recounts the story of Philadelphia Austen, Jane's intrepid aunt, who went to India to find a husband in Tysoe Hancock, and who gave birth to Elizabeth, Jane's niece. The story is complicated as Lori describes it, but is well worth investigating on one's own.

After visiting Stoneleigh Abbey, the mansion belonging to Jane's mother's family, Lori goes full circle, returning to Oxford to spend her final days in England before returning home. Back home she ties up a few loose ends, which I will not reveal, except to say that I loved this book. In fact, I suspect if Jane Austen were able to read it, she would give it her seal of approval. I'll end my series of reviews of Lori Smith's book with her own words:

And this is the paradox, because this life - this loving your family and friends and doing good work and telling good stories - may feel small, but it is far from ordinary.

It is the best life, the extraordinary life.

It was Jane's, and I hope it will be mine.

Image from A Walk Round Winchester Cathedral

Read my other reviews of this book in the side bar or click here.

A Walk With Jane Austen by Lori Smith: Review, Part II

Often a journey is more pleasant if one slows down and savors it. I had hoped to review Lori Smith's book, A Walk With Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love & Faith, in one fell swoop, but my busy summer schedule would not allow it. This was to my benefit. Everywhere I went I took Lori's manuscript with me, like a comfortable friend. I discovered that this is no facile book to be read quickly, for Lori investigates such important concepts as faith, morality, and the decisions that change one's life and set one on a different path.

In fact, this book resonated deeply with me, a fallen Catholic girl. Like Lori, I stayed in a monastery. Last week I was a guest of the Benedictine nuns for two nights, and experienced the same sense of peace that Lori describes in Alton Abbey, the monastery she stayed in when she visited Steventon (above) and Chawton Cottage. But unlike Lori's silent monks, my nuns chattered like magpies and lived in the moment, working in the real world to bring home the bacon.

Lori describes her visits to Jane's homes vividly, including Edward Austen-Knight's Wedgewood china (above) with its geometric pattern of purple and gold around the edge, which he chose in London when Jane was with him. In fact, Lori weaves the personal details of Jane's life and the details of her own past and present seamlessly in her exquisitely crafted journal.

We learn about the love the two elder Austens had for each other, and what a close-knit family they had created; how Henry championed Jane's career and bragged about his sister's authorship; how Edward waited just a tad long to invite his mother and sisters to live in Chawton Cottage; how close Jane felt to Anne Lefroy, who was 27 years her senior; and which character flaws Jane might have had in common with the spoilt and indulged Emma, whose picnic at Box Hill (below) resulted in Mr. Knightley scolding her for humiliating poor Miss Bates.

My favorite section in Part II is Lori's description of the British Library. Its fascinating contents were a revelation on her part (See the previous post), especially the variety of rare and original manuscripts. This section of the books ends with Lori's visit to Godmersham Park (below). She describes a horrendous journey on the A road that ended with the kind gesture of a cabby and a breathtaking view of Edward's fabulous mansion. Lori's next stop is Winchester, which begins the last part of the book. I can't wait to read it.

A Walk With Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure Love & Faith, Review of the Book, Part One

A WalkWith Jane Austen is a lovely book, full of unexpected insights and revelations. Lori Smith's revealing and personal account is a pure joy to read. As a single, independent and talented woman she is in want of a man, but will not compromise her principles or her quest to experience romantic love in order to simply be with one. Sound familiar? This is one of the many parallels of Lori's life to Jane's. However, the one distinct difference between the two women is that Jane lived a geographically circumscribed and rather "eventless" life, whereas Lori is a seasoned world traveler who has embarked on a risky but life-altering journey.

In Part One of this very personal three part account, Lori travels to Oxford. Sitting in a church, she muses about Jane Austen's faith. As I read Lori's words, it occurs to me how universally loved Jane has become. Studying the world map sitting on my blog, Jane's fans live in China, Korea, Italy, South Africa, Chili, Mexico, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, Bahrain, and of course, all the former British Colonies. How is it that Jane is able to attract a close following from so many countries and faiths? As Lori points out, while Jane is religious and operates from a moral foundation, she was spiritually reserved. "'She was 'more inclined to think and act than to talk' about her faith." Lori is so right, and I wonder if Jane's reserved approach to faith in her novels is one of the reasons she is so universally approachable and loved. In addition to our admiration of Jane's enormous writing talent, her novels about families, friends, and love gone awry and set right again resonate with people from a variety of backgrounds and religions.

At Oxford Lori meets several guys from D.C., one of whom is named Jack. At first impression she likes his easy going humor and affability. And although Jack confesses that he had just begun to see another woman and wasn't expecting to meet someone else, Lori cautiously and inexorably begins to fall for him. Her analysis of life as a single woman and quest for a man to share her life echo those of many single women. This includes Jane, who also preferred to spend her life single rather than settle on a mate just for the sake of getting married. Part One of the book ends with Lori spending a wonderful evening with Jack and friends, one that is filled with conversation and laughter.

Part Two of the journey begins with Lori thinking the whole world beautiful. But I'll reserve a more detailed analysis of this section for another time. Ever the optimist, I had hoped to review this book chapter by chapter, however my current schedule simply will not allow it. Look for my next synopsis of this wonderful book over the weekend.

Visit Lori's website here: Jane Austen Quote of the Day
Visit Lori's other website here: Following Austen
Pre order the book here: A Walk With Jane Austen, Lori Smith

Jane, A Tribute to A Too Short Life

On the anniversary of Jane Austen's death - she died 190 years ago today - I thought I would put a different spin on things and celebrate her life. Jane means so many things to so many people, and her popularity, instead of diminishing, increases each year. What is it about Jane that attracts so many to her? It seems that every time we turn around, another book about Jane's life sits on a shelf in a book store and she is more popular than ever.

In her new book, A Walk With Jane Austen, author Lori Smith describes the first time she encountered Jane Austen in college. She discovered Pride and Prejudice in a used book sale, and so, over Christmas break, her love affair with Jane Austen began. My own relationship with Jane's novels started during my fourteenth summer. Like Lori I have read Jane's marvelous words ever since. But I digress. This post is meant to be a review of Lori's quest to strengthen her relationship with Jane and, in doing so, gain a better sense of her own life, which was whirling out of kilter.

During a critical juncture in Lori's life when she faced a personal crisis, she chose to do what many of us yearn to do but few actually dare, which is to leave everything behind and embark on a life altering journey. Lori's account about her search for Jane is written on several levels, as a memoir and personal journey of faith and discovery, as a search for the places where Jane Austen lived and trod, as a straightforward history of Jane's life, and as a way to deepen her understanding of the author.

One January not long ago Lori gave her notice at work. "In February I walked away from meetings and coffee breaks and lunch breaks and paid vacation and health insurance to the gloriously terrifying world of writing full-time." Lori did not choose an easy road when she decided to walk with Jane Austen. Writing a memoir might seem straightforward on the surface, but...

There are enormous difficulties in reconstructing anyone's life, for however copious the evidence of letters, diaries, journals, and eye witness accounts, there is always the problem of interpretation, of the subjectivity of witnesses, and of the basic contradictoriness of the human being. Moods and emotions are volatile, but when recorded on the page are often forced by posterity to carry a much greater weight than was ever intended by their author. The Art of Writing Biography

Lori's journey is deeply personal, but one she willingly shares with her readers. The first chapter ends with her heading for Oxford, the city where Jane's parents met and married.

I plan to review Lori's book chapter by chapter. The book, published by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group, a Division of Random House, Inc., will be available this fall. Click here to visit Lori's blog.

Click here for my post about Jane's last illness.