My everything Austen challenge is nearly done. Here’s the list:

1. Jane’s Fame by Claire Harman

A very well written and thought-provoking account of both Jane Austen the woman and Jane Austen the phenomenon.

2. Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen by Fay Weldon

A fictional series of letters provide the author with an excuse to wax lyrically about the joys of reading Jane Austen, and about the joy of reading in general.

3. In The Steps of Jane Austen by Anne-Marie Edwards

A guide to walks through towns and countryside that Jane Austen knew well, with a wealth of details about her life and her books woven in.

4. Bride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice meets a Bollywood musical. It made a fabulous entertainment.

5. Dancing With Mr Darcy

A lovely anthology of short stories inspired by Jane Austen and the library at Chawton House.

All wonderful! And so to my sixth and final book. I didn’t want to finish this challenge without reading the words of Jane Austen herself. And so, because I didn’t want to do a re-read, I took a step into her juvenalia.

The wonderful Hesperus Press have in print several little volumes of the writing of the young Jane. I opted for Love and Friendship. Two epistolary novellas – Love and Friendship itself, plus “The Three Sisters – and “A Collection of Letters”, which offered five more fictional epistles.

I loved every line of every letter!

Wonderful characters, lovely satire, a lot of laughter and a few tears. What more could you want?!

The depth and detail of her major works weren’t quite yet, but these early writings show far more maturity than you might expect, and there are some very clear glimpses of what is to come.

A lovely way to round off my Everything Austen challenge.

Thank you so much Stephanie, for hosting.