A Novel Beginning

On the tenth of July, 2010, I was strolling around the house at Locust Grove in Louisville, KY, having just witnessed a most terrifying duel between two men over cards when the thought occurred to me that to write once a week on a topic relating to Jane Austen for a year would be a splendid undertaking. Okay, it actually went like this:

“OHMIGOSH!!!! That’s it!”

My two friends who had accompanied me to the 2010 Jane Austen Festival, Elizabeth and Marcy:

“Um, what’s it?”

Me:

“My blog! I’ll write about Jane Austen for the next year until the 2011 Jane Austen Festival!”

It was quite an exciting moment. Here was something I am truly passionate about, that I want to know more about, and that has truly shaped my life. How about a little back story….

It was in the beginning of fifth grade. I was given permission to go to the “big kid” side of the school library – one of the only in my class. I was perusing the book shelves when one caught my eye. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This many years later I can’t remember if I had heard of her or the book before or the real reason it caught my eye. What I do remember is that I read it once, in three days, and then again, and then I read from after The Letter to the end. Of course, I had to go back and read the beginning to keep it even…and I couldn’t leave it unfinished so I read to the end again. So began my love for Jane Austen.

Alright, so it’s a short back story, but it’s the beginning. Over time I read the rest of her novels, except Emma which I have yet to get through. I watched the A&E “Pride and Prejudice” with Colin Firth and the new one with Kiera Knightly (which came out the day before my birthday). And although many still look at me like I’m crazy, my friends and coworkers have accepted that I am a Jane Austen Fanatic.

I haven’t quite figured out what about Jane and her writing captivates me. I believe it is a combination of things – her own rather sad story (all these love stories and she never married herself), the romance between Liz and Darcy that I consider to be perfect and real, her laughter which you can hear in her writing…

I love Jane Austen.

She inspired me to become a writer. She inspired me to not settle for Joe Schmoo – or my cousin Mr. Collins. Perhaps most importantly, she taught me the importance of being able to laugh at myself. She gave me a lot more than this, but these three gifts I consider the most important. For these reasons, I consider the reading of Pride and Prejudice to be one of the pivotal moments of my life.

Last year was the first time I went to the Jane Austen Festival – and, naturally, I had what can only be called a blast! I saw beautiful dresses and was able to share my love of Jane with others. This year was even better. Next week I’ll give a short presentation of why, although I will say the number of men who participated was a key factor. This year it was about 10x more. As in, last year there was one gentleman and this year there were about ten.

Okay, so in this rather random introduction I’ve tried to tell you a little bit about myself (oh, I’m a college sophomore in Chicago, but I’m from Kentucky) and a little bit about why Jane means so much to me. But what about this blog?

For the next year I will be posting a new blog every Thursday. Sometimes it’ll be a review of one of Jane’s works with a more in depth look at a character or aspect of the novel. Other times it might be a review of fan fiction. I hope to be able to do an interview with an author of published fan-fiction at some point. And all throughout this I will be putting together my own dress for next year’s festival! I hope to do most of it myself, but I’m no seamstress – luckily I know a couple who might be willing to help me out! Basically, throughout all of this I want to learn more about Jane – by reading Emma and her shorter works, as well as some of her letters – and more about myself (whatever that means, :). And I want to share my love with you! Whether you consider yourself a seasoned Austenite, a fledgling, or just someone with a passing fancy, I hope that you enjoy what I present here. This is a learning opportunity for me in more ways than one (my first blog, finally getting through Emma, figuring out blogger, keeping true to my voice and style…), which means that I want your feedback! I want this to be fun for everyone who sees it, not just me.

And so it begins!