This is a Jane Austen entertainment, part documentary; part well-grounded conjecture. You are asked to entertain an idea; the idea that Jane Austen as a girl played a lost (but genuine) card game called 'The New impenetrable Secret or Polite Puzzle.' You will find yourselves involved in a Jane Austen Discovery - appreciating the double significance of this phrase, as you see the game re-enacted by a pair of Regency young ladies and their governess. There is a demonstration of the light which the game and its sources throw upon Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Persuasion', presented in its social and historical context, and with a unique complete set of the cards.

Enter the world of Sense & Sensibility, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion with this beautifully realized puzzle collection that transports you to Jane Austen's England--a land of polite intrigue and conjugal contrivance. Permit yourself the indulgence of an interval of recreation and amusement to make your acquaintance with the riddles and conundrums contained within; for you are sure to receive no inconsiderable pleasure from the puzzling over and resolving of them. Your quest for an amiable distraction will be over, leaving your curiosity entirely satisfied. Puzzles there are plenty, clues there are many, and the pages are handsomely decorated with fine engravings entirely suited to the subject matter. "Really, Mr. Collins," cried Elizabeth with some warmth, "you puzzle me exceedingly. . ."--Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

Which important Austen characters never speak? Is there any sex in Austen? What do the characters call one another, and why? What are the right and wrong ways to propose marriage? In What Matters in Jane Austen?, John Mullan shows that we can best appreciate Austen's brilliance by looking at the intriguing quirks and intricacies of her fiction. Asking and answering some very specific questions about what goes on in her novels, he reveals the inner workings of their greatness.? ?In twenty short chapters, each of which explores a question prompted by Austens novels, Mullan illuminates the themes that matter most in her beloved fiction. Readers will discover when Austen's characters had their meals and what shops they went to; how vicars got good livings; and how wealth was inherited. What Matters in Jane Austen? illuminates the rituals and conventions of her fictional world in order to reveal her technical virtuosity and daring as a novelist. It uses telling passages from Austen's letters and details from her own life to explain episodes in her novels: readers will find out, for example, what novels she read, how much money she had to live on, and what she saw at the theater.? ? Written with flair and based on a lifetime's study, What Matters in Jane Austen? will allow readers to appreciate Jane Austen's work in greater depth than ever before.

In 1807 genteel, Bermuda-born Fanny Palmer (1789–1814) married Jane Austen's youngest brother, Captain Charles Austen, and was thrust into a demanding life within the world of the British navy. Experiencing adventure and adversity in wartime conditions both at sea and onshore, the spirited and resilient Fanny travelled between Bermuda, Nova Scotia, and England. For just over a year, her home was in the city of Halifax. After crossing the Atlantic in 1811, she ingeniously made a home for Charles and their daughters aboard a working naval vessel and developed a supportive friendship with his sister, Jane. In Jane Austen's Transatlantic Sister Fanny's articulate and informative letters – transcribed in full for the first time and situated in their meticulously researched historical context – disclose her quest for personal identity and autonomy, her maturation as a wife and mother, and the domestic, cultural, and social milieu she inhabited. Sheila Johnson Kindred also investigates how Fanny was a source of naval knowledge for Jane, and how she was an inspiration for Austen's literary invention, especially for the female naval characters in Persuasion. Although she died young, Fanny's story is a compelling record of female naval life that contributes significantly to our limited knowledge of women's roles in the Napoleonic Wars. Enhanced by rarely seen illustrations, Fanny's life story is a rich new source for Jane Austen scholars and fans of her fiction, as well as for those interested in biography, women's letters, and history of the family.

Combining linguistic theory with analytical concepts and literary interpretation and appreciation, Jane Austen's Narrative Techniques traces the creation and development of Austen's narrative techniques. Massimiliano Morini employs the tools developed by post-war linguistics and above all pragmatics, the study of the ways in which speakers communicate meaning, since Austen's 'wordings' can only be interpreted within the fictional context of character-character, narrator-character, narrator-reader interaction. Examining a wide range of Austen texts, from her unpublished works through masterpieces like Mansfield Park and Emma, Morini discusses familiar Austen themes, using linguistic means to shed fresh light on the question of point of view in Austen and on Austen's much-admired brilliance in creating lively and plausible dialogue. Accessibly written and informed by the latest work in linguistic and literary studies, Jane Austen's Narrative Techniques offers Austen specialists a new avenue for understanding her narrative techniques and serves as a case study for scholars and students of pragmatics and applied linguistics.

An ingeniously innovative analysis of Jane Austen's work, a highly respected and engaging critical study.

Jane Austen's stock in the popular marketplace has never been higher, while academic studies continue to uncover new aspects of her engagement with her world. This fully updated edition of the acclaimed Cambridge Companion offers clear, accessible coverage of the intricacies of Austen's works in their historical context, with biographical information and suggestions for further reading. Major scholars address Austen's six novels, the letters and other works, in terms accessible to students and the many general readers, as well as to academics. With seven new essays, the Companion now covers topics that have become central to recent Austen studies, for example, gender, sociability, economics, and the increasing number of screen adaptations of the novels.