Status Updates From Encounters with Jane Austen...

Admittedly, I've skipped a few bits, but I have to admit all the interviews are either boring or so unrelated to Jane that they're upsetting. My favorite essay so far has been A Slow-burn Love Story by Katie Lumsden.

One thing I've noticed about this collection is that there seem to be a lot of undecided opinions about Austen, and I'd much prefer a decided reverence.

First Impressions by Charlie Lovett - 3 stars, not very memorable

Tom Lefroy devours a Cotillion by Marcelle Newbold - 4 stars, the first poem actually about Jane!!

Kipling's Tribute to Austen by Mary Hamer - 1 star, literally terrible

Buried Love by Sara Teasdale - unrelated to Jane

Staging Persuasion Interview with director Jeff James - I don’t like this man

Meeting with Jane by April de Angelis - 3 stars

Three of Diamonds by Stephanie Lyttle - 2 stars, again, not as related to Austen as I would like

Mansfield Park essay by Julia Quinn - 5 stars, surprisingly well done (I have mixed feelings on Quinn’s fiction work)

A Zuibitsu on Various Walks by Ellora Sutton - 3.5 stars, alright but stylistically not my favorite

So far the essays have been the best part which is surprising me!

A Role Model doe Women's Solidarity - 5 stars, a very interesting essay!!

She - 2 stars, meh, an ok poem but not really Austen-focused

Georgiana Darcy - Pistols at Dawn - 5 stars, different but fun!!

I have a feeling this will be a mixed bag, so I'm going to rate each entry in this collection separately.

My Good Friend Jane by Katherine Reay - 4 stars, a nice personal connection to Jane, but unfortunately I don't love her actual books

Charlotte by Talulah Riley - 3 stars, very well-written but the character defamation of Lizzie Bennet is frankly unacceptable. Also, this is the 2005 Mary Bennet!