In 1801, Jane Austen (JA) and her father, mother, and sister moved to Bath. She lived in various places in Bath for five years. Although Austen supposedly was not fond of the town, she set two of her novels in Bath. Strangely enough, these novels were posthumously published, so she technically did not see one of… Read more

Yes, I know that this blog is supposed to be about MK and JA, as the title explains, but sometimes on this trip MK does something totally unrelated to JA. My husband and I decided to take a trip to Stonehenge on Sunday. While I visited the greatest henge of all ten years ago, Adam… Read more

When I was in high school, I went to the prom. It was awful. When I was in Alton I went to the Proms. It was awesome. Last Saturday night, after the JAS AGM, I went to a local version of a very English event called The Proms. Proms is short for promenade concerts. Apparently,… Read more

On Saturday, July 8, I attended the Jane Austen Society’s (JAS) Annual General Meeting (AGM). This event was held in a marquee on the Chawton House Library’s lawn on a sunny, hot day. The day began with some shopping–no joke. There was a series of stalls located on the grounds, and the vendors distributed information… Read more

  On Friday, July 7, 2017, Chawton House Library (CHL) and Jane Austen’s House Museum (JAHM) hosted “Talks and Tours Day: Jane Austen in Chawton.” The day began with a series of talks; it concluded with tours of CHL’s current exhibit on Austen and Germaine de Stael–alliteratively called “Fickle Fortunes”–and JAHM’s wallpaper and Wedgewood dishes!… Read more

Normally Chawton fellows and the international visitor (that’s my role) stay in the Chawton House Library Stables. Because CHL Stables is booked for the next few weeks, I am staying at the wonderful Sarah’s house in Alton for the time being. I found this place through Airbnb. It’s a wonderful house with wonderful hosts, including Sarah’s… Read more

Last night I helped the Chawton House Library (CHL) staff set up for an event: the live recording of BBC Radio4’s “Kitchen Cabinet.”  The show changes locations weekly (I presume) and invites an audience of hundreds to attend the recording. It goes like this: people can request free tickets, show up, and hope to get… Read more

Yesterday I made my first official trip to Jane Austen’s House Museum (JAHM). From 1809-1817, Austen lived with her mother and sister in a Chawton cottage that is now known as Jane Austen’s House Museum. She revised Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice while living in Chawton, and she wrote Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion,… Read more

On July 4, I made my first trip to the Chawton House Library. This building was once the home of Jane Austen’s brother, Edward Austen Knight. Now it is a library that holds thousands of books and items from the Knight family’s collection and on women writers from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Thanks… Read more

My journey from the US to the UK began a few days ago. I got a ride to Portland, Maine. Then I boarded a Concord Coach bus there for Boston Logan Airport. Then I flew Delta/Virgin Atlantic Airlines to London Heathrow Airport. Upon leaving the airport I made it to a hotel on Gracechurch Street,… Read more