Mary C. M. Phillips

A train ride (with one connection) took me into downtown Manhattan today to join twenty other women with one purpose in mind:

To talk about Jane Austen.

I attended my first JASNA (New York Regional Chapter) luncheon today.

We discussed, among other things, Mr. Darcy, Catherine Morland, Mrs. Bennet, Captain Wentworth, and Fanny Price.

“I can’t stand Fanny Price,” one Janite observed.  “She’s such a goody-two-shoes.”

I have to admit that she’s correct and pointed out that the movie, Mansfield Park, portrays Fanny in a completely different light.  She actually has some pizzazz and boldly speaks up for herself at one point in the movie while giving Mrs. Norris a major slap down.

My Janite luncheon companion asserted that it made sense; that Fanny would most definitely have to be played differently as she is completely and altogether unlikable.

I agreed.  “She’s a wimp.”

“But,” exclaimed the more senior Janite (who is on the Welcoming Committee), “when Fanny’s uncle tells her that she must marry Tom Crawford, she shows much courage and total conviction by refusing him.”

Well, in all fairness, I must say, I had not thought of that.

I left the luncheon elated, having spent a couple of hours happily engaged in conversation full of  Jane Austen’s characters; in fact; a slight feeling as though they themselves (Austen’s characters) were amongst those inside the restaurant; and I left our meeting having made new friends and having a slightly less negative opinion and better impression of our unlikable heroine, Miss Fanny Price.

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A big thank you and a round of hugs to all my friends and family members who took time out of their busy schedules to join me for my first book reading at Barnes and Noble for Bad Austen – the Worst Stories Jane Never Wrote.

It was such a delightful day! Hanging out with good friends over coffee, meeting new friends, and of course talking about Jane.  Seriously, does it get any better than that?

I think not.

Thank you again!  I hope you had as much fun as I did!

Love, Mary

Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery.  – Jane Austen

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With Thanksgiving now over, my Thanksgiving mode has shifted from “thankful” to the Christmas mode of “giving.”  It is a sensible shift; the best shift.  Unfortunately, my other mode of “I want” seems to be sharing my present mode-space and it is, I admit, alive and well.

I have always been an admirer of “books as an art form” (such as lovely little chapbooks) and an admirer of Jane Austen.  Consider my excitement in the mingling of both Austen and book-art!

Persuasion

Please bring me all six Jane Austen novels in the new Penguin Classics, simply gorgeous, clothbound editions format!

Oh Santa, I can’t wait to hold them all in my hands: Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice…Oh, big man, you know!  It is officially and now universally acknowledged  (via the web) that I must be possession of these handsome books.

Thank you and, as ever, I will leave a plate a carrots under the tree for your reindeer.

Fly safe,  m

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