Author: Corrie Garrett
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Ranking the Most Emotionally Clueless Austen Men
(A lighthearted list — Mr. Collins is obvious, but not alone) They say the wrong thing. They entirely miss the point. Sometimes they launch into a long, confident speech, while everyone else wonders if there’s a polite way to make it stop. Many of these moments belong to the Austen men who are not villains.…
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The Very English Soundtrack of Jane Austen’s World
My 10-year-old had a tin whistle unit in school, and she liked it, so now she is asking me for more music. I have printed a few hymns and (what is all the rage in her homeschool group) the hobbit theme from Lord of the Rings. As soundtracks to my day go, it is really…
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Mud, Mirth, and Mess: Jane Austen’s Signs of Spring
It is officially mud season here, and the world is a glorious wet mess. The kind of mess that spills mud into roads, fills potholes with puddles (making them more invisible, ugh), and yet makes the world so green I can hardly believe it. Naturally, I thought of Jane Austen. (If you had flooding this…
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Fanny Price and Agnes Grey
Our Poor Tempted Heroes (and Their Patient True Loves) If you love Mansfield Park but wish Fanny Price had a little more agency, Agnes Grey might be your next read. For my current series of posts, I was trying to think of a Georgette Heyer novel that reminded me of Mansfield Park, but I decided…
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Gothic Hilarity: Comparing Northanger Abbey to The Reluctant Widow
In my ongoing series comparing Jane Austen novels to those of Georgette Heyer with similar elements, I’m up to Northanger Abbey. I admit this wasn’t one of my favorite reads until I saw the movie with Felicity Jones and JJ Field. Mr. Tilney wasn’t that appealing to me until I saw him, and ever since,…
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Emma vs. The Grand Sophy
Last month I talked about Austen’s Sense & Sensibility vs. Georgette Heyer’s A Civil Contract, and I’m back at it! Let’s look at Emma next to Heyer’s The Grand Sophy, one of my absolute favorites. Now, right off the bat, even though I love these two authors, I’ll be the first to admit that Heyer…
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Quiet Love vs. Romantic Dreams: Comparing Sense & Sensibility and A Civil Contract
When it comes to Regency romances, we love instant chemistry, passionate declarations, and dramatic obstacles overcome. Yet, some of the more realistic love stories involve quiet, steady partnerships built on respect and liking rather than overwhelming passion. In Austen’s Sense & Sensibility, we get this with Colonel Brandon and Marianne Dashwood. I used to be…
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Pride and Prejudice and Immigration – An excerpt from a modernization
Happy Thursday-before-Thanksgiving everyone! Having just passed the election, I thought I would highlight a slightly older book of mine that is oddly apropos of the moment. I wrote it in 2017-18, but it is set during President Trump’s first run for office. I didn’t expect it to ever be as relevant as it was at…
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Housemaids and Early Hours in Edinburgh
Recently I was reading about Regency housemaids and their chores and salary. I’ve looked up details about servants before, but this time I stumbled across an article with the National Trust for Scotland that chronicled the actual schedule and budget of a Regency/Georgian era family in Edinburgh. It was fascinating. The housemaid for the Lamont…
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In Praise of Retelling (& Benjamin Franklin)
On Thursdays this year, I’m teaching grammar, sentence diagramming, and writing to a group of 9-11 year olds. It’s a new class prep for me, and has required more time than I expected. Particularly the grammar! (The 12 tenses, 4 types, and 4 attributes of a verb –does English even have 12 tenses?? Grammar is…