Month: December 2021

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Jane Austen Regency Balls

Regency Dance

As we’re now coming out of the holiday season, it’s time to start planning for spring events. What better way to welcome spring by attending a regency ball!

There are quite a few events coming up this 2022 spring season:

February 12

A Dance with Jane: Dance & Manners Class Sponsored by the Sweet Harmony Preforming Arts group. This event is the prepatory for the Regency Ball the following week. From the website,  this class “will teach the dances for the ball as well as Regency period manners and appropriate dress. We will have lots of simple tips to help you create your own Jane Austen looks.”  The event costs $5 and is held at the Clearfield Community Arts Center in Clearfield, UT from 12P – 2P MST. For more information, and purchasing of tickets, can be found on Eventbrite.

February 19

Jane Austen Regency Period Ball Also sponsored by the Sweet Harmony Preforming Arts group, enjoy a night of dancing!  Event is from 7P – 9P MST in Clearfield, Utah at the Clearfield Community Arts Center. More information and tickets, which are $15, and can be found on Eventbrite.

April 2

A Jane Austen Regency Ball Billed as the “…romance of the Regency era at this Jane Austen and Bridgerton inspired ball.” Held at the Toledo Club in Toledo, OH. A pre-ball buffet inspried by 19thC fare is also available. Tickets are between $45 – 160 and more information can be found on Eventbrite.

September 16

Jane Austen Grand Regency Ball A yearly tradition, this ball takes place in Bath, UK at The Guild Hall. Tickets are £75.00 and include a dance workshop/practice earlier in the day. Regency attire is required and while food will not be available, drinks are and the sponsors encourage you to bring a hamper for light snacks during the course of the evening. Regancy card games and other delights will also be happening. For more information and tickets, visit Farthingale Costumes.

 

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Jane Austen Season Events

Jane Austen Season

Literature Cambridge is proud to present Jane Austen Season.

Set over the course of January through April 2022, each month has a different theme.

  • Match-making in Emma with Fred Parker, Senior Lecturer in English and Fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge ((January)
  • Money in Sense and Sensibility with Claire Wilkinson, University of Cambridge (February)
  • The Art of Influencing in Persuasion with Ildiko Csengei, author of Sympathy, Sensibility and the Literature of Feeling in the Eighteenth Century (March)
  • Home in Pride and Prejudice with Alison Hennegan, Retired Fellow of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge (April)

Full price is £28.00 for adults and £23.00 for students and CAMcard holders

The events start 6.00 pm British Time and is virtual.

More information can be found at Literature Cambridge’s website.

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Book Review: Pride, Prejudice, and Peril

Pride, Prejudice, and PerilTitle: Pride, Prejudice, and Peril
Author: Katie Oliver
Page Count: 320
Publication: December 2021
Series: Jane Austen Tea Shop Mystery #1

[Amazon | IndieBound | BN | Find it at your local library]

(Other reviews: )

One of my Erika’s, who is also a librarian, an Austen fan, and my weekly date for trashy reality TV shows so when she asked if I had read this new release as of yet, I said no but immediately set on getting it.

The concept of Austen and reality TV really hits the mark with me as it covers two of my favorite subjects.

In the beginning, I was irritated with Phaedra with her billowing Regency gowns and ballet slippers. It was a bit too on the nose for me. Phaedra’s argument is that by wearing Regency clothes as she teaches gives an “Immersive experience,” which seems kind of fun, the irritation began when it seemed that she wore Regency gear all the damned time. It’s in the 21stC and yes, while there may be those who wish it were back in the 1810s, you would be hard pressed to find someone who actually honestly wants to live in pre-electricity, air con, and contemporary indoor plumbing days. Oliver it seems gave up the idea of having Phaedra always in Regency mode when she started introducing Phaedra wearing contemporary clothes, driving a Mini, and having a laptop and cellphone. Thank god.

The mystery was solid and there were a few twists and turns that Oliver took you down that was interesting. Nothing too obvious or out of sync with the character, which was good. The settings seemed genuine and believable and nothing seemed to be too stretch of the immagination.

I did adore several things about the book:

  • Name checks of Pride and Prejudice characters sprinkled throughout the like Phaedra’s cat Wickham and her best friend’s maiden name is Lucas
  • Oliver set Phaedra up with not one but two potential love leads. Neither seem to strike particularly smarmy such as Wickham and both seem to be as haughty as Darcy so it’ll be interesting to see where this goes

The one massive hiccup is that the use of the “Jane Austen Tea Shop” group was sparse and Phaedra didn’t really need them to suss out the murder so to name it as such and attempt it as such was a bit of a misnomer.

tl;dr Overall the book was a fast read and was sturdy in its compensation. Nothing too obvious seemed to be off and the ends of mystery tied up a bit nicely. The writing was competent.  Austen fans who happen to be cozy mystery fans will love this and the series is worth exploring.

 

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Jane Austen and the Bronte Sisters Link Roundup for December 26, 2021

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Tea Time as with Jane Austen

Tea Time

The Hazelnut House in the country of Luxembourg is sponsoring a “Tea Time as with Jane Austen” on March 26, 2022 at 1:30 – 4:30. Cost is €194.

The event is in German.

The cost includes a baking workshop with TV cook and culinary author Theresa Baumgärtner.

Additional activies include:

  • A warm welcome to Hazelnut House by the hostess
  • Walk through the spring garden and collection of edible violets and blossoms
  • Tea Time under the white blossoming trees of Hazelnut House and reading excerpts from Jane Austen’s famous work
  • Recipes are included

The event has a limited number of seats and is filling up fast. Check out Hazelnut House’s event page for more information.

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JASNA Membership Dues Increased For the First Time in 20 Years

Pencil drawing of Jane Austen

This may be late news but in the October 2021 issue of JASNA News, the board approved the increase for single membership dues from $30 to $45. Other tiers have increased as well. The board stated that it now costs $48 to support each member while the increase was only $30.

There is also a bit of good news with the increase. You now have the option to get a digital only membership (which means no paper copies of Persuasion and the quarterly paper magazine) for only $10 a year. This is to make sure that the availability of the JASNA offerings is available for everyone.

The cost increase across the tiers are as follows:

 

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Jane Austen and the Bronte Sisters Link Roundup for December 19, 2021