Author(s): Laurel Ann Nattress

Literature

"My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." If you just heaved a contented sigh at Mr. Darcy's heartfelt words, then you, dear reader, are in good company. Here is a delightful collection of never-before-published stories inspired by Jane Austen - her novels, her life, her wit, her world. Regency or contemporary, romantic or fantastical, each of these marvelous stories reaffirms the incomparable influence of one of history's most cherished authors. Stories by: Lauren Willig; Adriana Trigiani; Jo Beverley; Alexandra Potter; Laurie Viera Rigler; Frank Delaney & Diane Meier; Syrie James; Stephanie Barron; Amanda Grange; Pamela Aidan; Elizabeth Aston; Carrie Bebris; Diana Birchall; Monica Fairview; Janet Mullany; Jane Odiwe; Beth Pattillo; Myretta Robens; Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway; Maya Slater; Margaret C. Sullivan; and the winner of a story contest hosted by the Republic of Pemberley website. In Lauren Willig's "A Night at Northanger," a young woman who doesn't believe in ghosts meets a familiar specter at the infamous abbey; Jane Odiwe's "Waiting" captures the exquisite uncertainty of Persuasion's Wentworth and Anne as they await her family's approval of their betrothal; Adriana Trigiani's "Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane" imagines a modern-day Austen giving her niece advice upon her engagement; in Diana Birchall's "Jane Austen's Cat," our beloved Jane tells her nieces "cat tales" based on her novels; Laurie Viera Rigler's "Intolerable Stupidity" finds Mr. Darcy bringing charges against all the writers of Pride and Prejudice sequels, spin-offs, and retellings; in Janet Mullany's "Jane Austen, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!" a teacher at an all-girls school invokes the Beatles to help her students understand Sense and Sensibility; and in Jo Beverley's "Jane and the Mistletoe Kiss," a widow doesn't believe she'll have a second chance at love... until a Miss Austen suggests otherwise.