Sophia Hillan

Baroness Thatcher

Sophia Hillan — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 08:19:11 +0000

My dear Cassandra, A phenomenon has occurred. Within the last week, a former Prime Minister has died. That, you may say, is hardly remarkable, as all must eventually die, and it is true that the person in question was of advanced years. The person in question, however, was remarkable, and not simply for longevity. This [...]

The post Baroness Thatcher appeared first on Sophia Hillan.

Oxford – What would Jane Austen Say

Sophia Hillan — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:25:46 +0000

My dear Cassandra, I regret that I have been unable to write to you for some weeks past. Indeed I had not guessed that mingling with those still engaged in earthly life might subject my spirit to the lingering edges of their malaise. Yet so it was. Strange though it may seem, I have felt [...]

The post Oxford – What would Jane Austen Say appeared first on Sophia Hillan.

Pensions – What would Jane Austen say?

Sophia Hillan — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:52:48 +0000

My dear Cassandra, It may seem strange to give thanks for having quitted the earth relatively young, yet today I confess I do. Do you remember a letter I wrote to you not long before my final illness, when I told you I should be glad to die before I outlived my family’s affection [...]

The post Pensions – What would Jane Austen say? appeared first on Sophia Hillan.

Lewis Carroll – What would Jane Austen say?

Sophia Hillan — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:50:12 +0000

My dear Cassandra, I have been reading in the last few days of a calamitous occurrence in the Americas. A man innocently asleep in his bed disappeared into a great cavern, which suddenly opened below his house. His body cannot be recovered, and the chasm below him is vast. Do you recall that there were [...]

The post Lewis Carroll – What would Jane Austen say? appeared first on Sophia Hillan.

Mission to Mars – What would Jane Austen say?

Sophia Hillan — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:02:03 +0000

My dear Cassandra, Such excitement as I discover today! You may believe me, my dear, when I say that even you, with your quick wit and lively imagination, could not guess at my news. A plan has been formed to send on a voyage of discovery a married couple. Well, you will remind me, did [...]

The post Mission to Mars – What would Jane Austen say? appeared first on Sophia Hillan.

Hilary Mantel – Kate Middleton – What would Jane Austen say?

Sophia Hillan — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:27:21 +0000

My dear Cassandra, I wonder whether you have noticed the present curious argument over a young woman’s portrait? Of course, you will tell me it is quite incorrect to describe the Duchess of Cambridge as a woman, for she is a lady, and by her marriage to the elder son of the Prince of Wales, [...]

The post Hilary Mantel – Kate Middleton – What would Jane Austen say? appeared first on Sophia Hillan.

Privacy and horse meat – what would Jane Austen say?

Sophia Hillan — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 13:31:04 +0000

My dear Cassandra, Indeed you must think me possessed of superhuman powers! The book I am reading, The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things, is not to be swallowed in one gulp, and I confess I am ingesting it in small bites. It may be eminently suitable so to do, as the author [...]

The post Privacy and horse meat – what would Jane Austen say? appeared first on Sophia Hillan.

Fame – What would Jane say?

Sophia Hillan — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 15:21:01 +0000

My dear Cassandra, No, as yet I have not read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Why, how could you imagine I would have time to do so, busy as I am with my posthumous fame? Instead, I have been considering the matter of fame itself with which, as you well know, I was largely unacquainted [...]

The post Fame – What would Jane say? appeared first on Sophia Hillan.

Jane Austen Blog Introduction

Sophia Hillan — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:20:13 +0000

I wonder what Jane Austen would make of all the hoopla surrounding her work? I’m fairly sure she never envisaged Mr Darcy in a wet shirt, for a start. Not that I am lodging a personal objection: Colin Firth made just the same indelible impression on me as on so many others who watched the [...]

The post Jane Austen Blog Introduction appeared first on Sophia Hillan.

“An intriguing story, invitingly told.” – Hermione Lee

Sophia Hillan — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 14:15:40 +0000

On the cover of May, Lou and Cass: Jane Austen’s Nieces in Ireland, the subjects of this biography are shown in silhouette against a background of the drawing room in Godmersham. Here, as the daughters of Edward (Austen) Knight, they grew up and knew their famous aunt well, reading and sewing with them as they grew up.

The post “An intriguing story, invitingly told.” – Hermione Lee appeared first on Sophia Hillan.