Here we go on the Great Jane Austen Read-Along

We're finding our way to Northanger Abbey

Dear friends,

Welcome to the Great Jane Austen Read-Along here at the Austen Connection for Jane Austen’s spectacular 250th year! It’s wonderful that you’re all here - and it’s wonderful to see so much enthusiasm for reading together!

Here’s what’s coming up!

Catherine Morland vibes right down to the nails - embracing the darkness through agency and story. | Photo by Navid Sohrabi on Unsplash

Ready, Set, Go: Northanger Abbey

Today is the day! We’re diving in to Northanger Abbey. We’re ready for flirting and talk of muslin, the crowded Bath balls, the talk of horrid novels, the frenemies and the Thorpes, and wandering the corridors while making cringey accusations in an ancient abbey. It’s all coming - along with the in-jokes, the memes, the themes, and the swoony romance. We’re embracing the darkness and oppressions and confusions and finding hope and humor - and of course, love - in our path to: Northanger Abbey.

We’re embracing the darkness and oppressions and confusions and finding hope and humor - and of course, love - in our path to: Northanger Abbey.

Here’s the schedule over the next four weeks and beyond:

Northanger Abbey

Today/Sunday, Feb. 2 - Sunday, March 2

• Chapters 1-8 - by Feb. 9

• Chapters 9-16 - Feb. 16 - Chat and Five Things to Watch for in Northanger Abbey

• Chapters 17-24 - Feb. 23 - Guest Post with Bruja Professor Maria DeBlassie

• Chapters 25-31 - March 2 - Celebration Zoom Meetup! With co-hosts Sarah Rose Kearns, Emily Davis-Hale and Plain Jane

You’ll see updates, chats, and check-ins right here and landing in your inbox every Sunday, with a recap of what we’re doing and what’s ahead, invitations to engage, and discussions. All you have to do is Subscribe, and watch your inbox!

Mark your calendars!

Sense and Sensibility

Sunday, March 9 - Sunday, April; 27

Pride and Prejudice

Sunday, May 4 - Sunday, June 23/29

Mansfield Park

Sunday, July 6 - Sunday, Aug. 31

Emma

Sunday, Sept. 7 - Sunday, Oct. 26

Persuasion

Sunday, Nov. 2 - Sunday, Dec. 15

Celebration - Week of Dec. 15!

Join us!

Again - to join, all you need to do is:

• Make sure you’re signed up - by Subscribing here - and it all comes to your inbox:

• And then … Read! Starting today with Northanger Abbey - and you can jump on and off the Read-Along any time.

The Read-Along Rotation

Each novel reading cycle will involve an eight-week rotation going something like this:

Week 1 - Introduction and encouragement: Let’s go!

Week 2- Chat - we’ll kick off a discussion about how it’s going and what to watch for.

Week 3 - Plain Jane POST - our own take on the reading so far

Week 4 - Guest Post - a post from one of our amazing Read-Along guests - see below for the roster so far.

Week 5 - POST/Archive - another hot-take from Plain Jane, perhaps freeing an archive edition from the paywall.

Week 6 - CHAT - another check-in from YOU on how it’s going as we wrap.

Week 7 - Zoom invites and closing thoughts on the novel

Week 8 - Zoom meetup and celebration with co-hosts

Note: The cycle-plan might change as we go depending on your feedback on the various elements of the Read-Along. If there’s something you like more, or less, of - let us know and we’ll adjust! Note that the cycle for Northanger Abbey is sped up to one month, looking, again, like this:

• We’ll have a kick-off Chat next week, Feb. 9th

• A Plain Jane Post the next week, Feb. 16th

• A Guest Post featuring the marvelous Bruja Professor Maria DeBlassie in week three, Feb. 23rd

• And our Celebration Zoom co-hosted with playwright Sarah Rose Kearns and Reclaiming Jane’s Emily Davis-Hale on Sunday, March 2nd.

Introducing the Read-Along Guest-Stars!

Here’s our roster of co-hosts and guests for the Read-Along so far!

Playwright Sarah Rose Kearns - Sarah Rose Kearns hosts the Substack An Imaginist LIke Herself. She’s a co-regional coordinator with Jane Austen Society’s New Metro region who has written the plays Manydown, The Austens, and Persuasion, which was produced in an Off-Broadway production in 2021. She runs the NYC-based Holy Theatre community arts nonprofit.

Professor Maria DeBlassie - Dr. DeBlassie is an English professor who teaches Austen and gothic literature and romance, and is also a bruja who serves up everyday magic, pleasure, and joy through her nourishing blog and newsletter.

Podcaster Emily Davis-Hale - Dr. Emily Davis-Hale is a linguistic anthropologist and co-host and co-producer of the podcast Reclaiming Jane, “a podcast for fans on the margins.”

Podcaster Lauren Wethers - Lauren is a pop-culture writer, fiction writer, and co-producer and co-host of the Reclaiming Jane podcast along with Emily.

Artist Georgie Castilla - And our latest addition to the Read-Along guest roster is Artist Georgie Castilla, whose books and work with Duniath Comics combine themes of Georgian England and Jane Austen with joyful celebrations of diversity. Georgie will be our Guest Post for Emma - one of his latest pieces is a retelling of the novel - in the autumn.

We’re honored to have these podcasters and creators joining us, and we’re adding more co-hosts and guests as we go - stay tuned!

Thank you, friends - we’re so excited that you’re here and joining us. Let us know - if you’re planning to read along, what are you looking forward to about Northanger Abbey? Have you read it before or is this a re-read? How does Northanger Abbey rank in your list of classic novels and Austen novels? Have you watched the 2007 film and if so give us your takes on Felicity Jones as Catherine and JJ Feild as charming, lively Henry Tilney, resident expert on muslin? And - what are you hoping to get out of this Read-Along and how can we make this the best read-along ever? Let us know all your thoughts/ideas/questions as we dive into this novel!

And, a huge thank-you to all of you who have responded so enthusiastically to this read-along. I cannot wait to read with you! And a huge shout-out and heaps of gratitude to those who have signed on not only as free subscribers - thank you - but also to those who decided that they were able to support this work by signing up for a paid subscription. You keep this project going. Thank you and we see you!

And if you would like to support the work of this project and the read-along, you can subscribe as free or paid here:

Meanwhile, happy reading! Wishing you lots of cuppas, coziness, and curling up with your copy of Northanger Abbey on these winter days as our pages take us into the crowded balls of Bath - see you there.

Your truly,

Plain Jane

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Cool links and community - Northanger Abbey

• A Northanger vibe: First up - this 2007 Andrew Davis-adapted movie stars Felicity Jones and JJ Feild - have you seen it and is it already a favorite? Let us know! This is great to watch as we’re finishing the novel to celebrate. For now, watch this trailer to get in the Northanger mood:

• Here’s an article by JASNA’s Persuasions editor Susan Allen Ford that we’ve shared before and it’s about what we’ve called the Smartest Mom in Jane Austen, Mrs. Morland, conduct literature, and more. We’ll share this again along with many other research links as we progress through the novel.

• Check out Dr. Maria DeBlassie’s blog and newsletter and watch for her guest post on Northanger Abbey coming up in three weeks.

• The marvelous podcast Reclaiming Jane and co-hostos Lauren Wethers and Emily Davis-Hale have done an entire series on Northanger Abbey - so much fun to listen to while reading.

• You’ll love Sarah Rose Kearns’ Substack An Imaginist LIke Herself - and stay tuned as Rose will co-host with us on our first Zoom meetups in the next few weeks. She’ll also provide our guest-post in November for our last read-along novel, Persuasion.

• Also, check out the series by our Read-Along guests artist Georgie Castilla and Sarah Rose Kearns in collaboration with Duniath Comics, the Global Mosaic Foundation and The Holy Theatre who are co-hosting the year-long events series Perfect Felicity celebrating the 250th year of Jane Austen.

• Here’s Octavia Cox on Austen’s defense of the novel - a big theme in Northanger Abbey:

• The Notes feature on Substack is another way you can engage in discussion while reading along - you can find Notes and threads on the Substack app here:

• If you enjoyed this post and are looking forward to the read-along, invite a friend!