"Falling" in love with Austen

To kick off our Fall into Austen event, our collection Holidays with Jane; Trick or Sweet is FREE for your kindle September 22 – 26. Snag a copy on Amazon.

"Falling" in love with Austen

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE was my first Jane Austen novel that I read and it has remained my favorite Austen novel and my favorite novel of all time. (I’m saying this as an English teacher who majored in English literature that loves to read in my free time.) Why does P&P remain my favorite, even after a dozen readings? Is it the romance between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy? Is it the sweetness of Jane? The country/city life compared? The fact that it is set in England? The answers to all of these is yes and no. 

I mean, of course I love all of the above.  But is goes deeper than that. It’s the varied themes of the novel. Finding true love and not giving up on it. Finding out that we are proud and prejudiced in so many ways. Our families are a part of who we are. Being confident in the role we have been placed in. THERE ARE SO MANY THEMES. 

My AP English class just finished this novel and it was an amazing transformation. They started the novel with 0 students liking the story. They thought the premise was absurd. They hated every character. Slowly, as they read more, as we discussed more, as they thought more, they began to dislike it less. By the end of the novel, they all cheered when Elizabeth and Darcy finally got together. Of course, there were remarks like, “Why couldn’t they just have gotten together in the first few chapters?” My response, “That would be a very short book. And you wouldn’t have cared about the characters and what happens to them.” 

As we read, we make an investment into those characters. That’s why we yell at books when our favorite characters make “stupid” choices. It’s why we dress up and host Jane Austen tea parties. It’s why my friends and I write modern adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels. It’s why we take those “Which Austen heroine are you?” quizzes. It’s why we all wanted Austenland to be a real place after reading the novel. Jane Austen knew the human heart and she knew human imagination. She combined them in magical ways. 

It’s easy to fall in love with Austen’s writing. You’re in good company.

**Giveaway** One person will win a $10 Amazon.com gift card! Fill in the Rafflecopter info below.

Be sure to check out all of the cool stuff on the Indie Jane Press site. You can enter to win a Starbucks gift card and a free copy of our newest book!

We will also have some fantastic giveaways starting September 22, as well as fun blog posts to keep us falling into Austen all weekend long.

Here’s our posting schedule!

9/22 – Kick off Post and NEW BOOK REVEAL – Jessica Grey

9/23 – “Falling” in love with Austen – Melissa Buell9/24 – Making a Mansfield Perk Approved Flat White – Jennifer Becton9/25 – Austen, Magic, and a Modern Teenage Darcy – Jessica Grey9/26 – Rebecca M. Fleming9/27 – WINNERS POSTED HERE on indiejanepress.com

We hope you’ll join us for this fun event!

a Rafflecopter giveaway