Title: Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder
Book Beginnings (page 1):
Friday56 quote (page 49, last on free preview):
Summary: Described as "part poignant cancer memoir and part humorous reflection on a motherless life", Tyler Feder's debut work is touching and funny, sad but hopeful, while being brutally honest and raw. From beginnings as the oldest of three sisters to loving Jewish parents, through the first oncology appointments, through the progression of the disease and eventual death, sitting Shiva, and finally to the days, months, and years of being motherless, Feder draws you into her world in a touching and personal way.
Review: I admit that I am a fan of the graphic biography. I don't often read memoirs and biographies because they are so long and often full of details I don't care about. But the graphic memoir is a perfect medium to read about a life while being entertained with the artists' ideas of what is important. I read Dancing At the Pity Party in one go, stopping only occasionally to dab my eyes and blow my nose for crying. In addition to the story of her life, Feder includes lists of information tht are helpful to anyone who has a friend or family member experiencing the same thing. For example she creates a list of what to say to a grieving person and what NOT to say. I forwarded it to a group of friends in my church. It was so practical.
As I was looking through the reviews on Goodreads, I noticed this one written by Steven Feder (Hmm, same last name.) Yes, it was written by her father...
Steven Feder
rated it: amazing.My late wife (and
Tyler's mother), Rhonda, was a bright, beautiful, sensitive, loving and
very kind woman, unlike anyone I had ever known. She was a wonderful
wife of 21 years and an adoring mother. She epitomized the meaning of
the word "mother" and was totally devoted to her children. Rhonda
"walked softly but carried a big stick". She was respected and admired
by all who knew her and her loss was and continues to be seismic. In
reading my daughter Tyler's memoir, "Dancing at the Pity Party", I
gained an even greater insight into the special relationship between
them. Through my daughter's ever-lasting love for her mother, and her
immense talent, I am so glad the memory of this amazing woman can be
honored in this special way. Thank you, Tyler. I love you.
That alone should be enough to encourage you to read it. I found my copy as an e-book at my library. Check out your library to see if they have it. If not, request that they buy it. It is worth the effort.
Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from current book. The Friday56 is hosted atFreda's Voice. Find a quote from page 56 to share. Visit these two websites to participate. Click on links to read quotes from books other people are reading. It is a great way to make blog friends and to get suggestions for new reading material.
For the past three years I have served as a judge for the Cybils Book awards the JH/SH Nonfiction category. I placed my name in nomination to be a judge again but this year the category is extended to include nonfiction children's and middle grade books as well. I don't know if I will be selected but I thought I'd better dip my toe into the children's nonfiction water to see what I think, just in case I am. I couldn't be more delighted with the books I've read and look forward to exploring more children's nonfiction as books come to my attention.
Title:The Cat Man from Aleppo Authors: Irene Latham and Kirim Shamsi-Basha Illustrator: Yuko Shimizu Publishing info: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, c. April 2020, 40 pages. Age range: 4-8 years old Summary: Alaa loved his city Aleppo but now that the Syrian Civil war has come to it, the city is unrecognizable and so empty---all except for cats. There are so many cats which were left behind when people fled their homes. Alaa decides he will do something to save the cats but soon he needs help from others to feed and protect them. Review: I was touched by this true story about Alaa, his city Aleppo, and the many cats he has saved. The illustrations really drew me in. I was especially heart-broken to see the illustrations of Aleppo before the war compared to afterwards. The book would provide a good jumping off spot for parents or teachers to talk about the consequences of war and how one person can make a big difference if they put out a consistent effort.
Title: Lizzie Demands a Seat!: Elizabeth Jennings Fights for Streetcar Rights Author: Beth Anderson Illustrator: E.B. Lewis Publishing info: Calkins Creek, c. January 2020, 32 pages. Age Range: 5-9 years old Summary: In 1854 Lizzie Jennings, a black school teacher, is denied a seat on the streetcar. She fights back against the discrimination and so begins the long struggle of equal rights on public transportation in this country. Review: I am so pleased that publishers are finally printing books about aspects of black history other than Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. Here, one hundred years before Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus, Lizzie Jennings fights for the right to ride a streetcar. Add this book to many others for young readers to learn about the many heroic stories of blacks fighting for their rights. It is a very timely read.
Title: The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read Author: Rita Lorraine Hubbard Illustrator: Oge Mora Publishing info: Schwartz and Wade, c. January 2020, 40 pages. Age range: 4-8 years old Summary: In 1848 Mary Walker was born a slave. After the Civil War she was freed but she had to work very hard to make a living and raise her family. In 1964, when she was 116 years old, Mary Walker learned to read. Review: I absolutely loved this charming story of Mary Walker and her determination to learn to read before she died. And if I was handing out the Caldecott Award for best illustrations, Oge Mora would win for this book. The illustrations were created in collage style and I loved the color and the texture on each page. Young readers will be amazed that someone so old hadn't learned to read yet, and adults will marvel at Mary's long life and her final accomplishment.
Title:Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera Author: Candace Fleming Illustrator: Eric Rohmann Publishing info: Neal Porter Books, c. Febrauary 2020, 40 pages. Age range: 6-9 years old, but everyone will like it Summary: Get up close and personal with one honeybee, Apis, as she embarks on her journey through life. Review: Think you know a lot about bees? Think again. You will realize you know very little about bees when you read and revel in this masterpiece about the life of one bee. I read this to my young grandson a few days ago and he really got into the story of what Apis does on each day of her short life. At the end of each page the reader is asked if Apis is ready to fly yet. The answer at the top of the next page is "Not yet!" Ian got into saying "not yet" with me. Apis has to do a lot of tasks before she is able to fly and collect nectar. This book is not only a personal favorite, it has received starred reviews from SEVEN publications, and rave reviews from many others who don't give stars. The illustrations are simply gorgeous.
Top Ten Tuesday: Books My Younger Self Would have Loved
Note: When I was a teenager, there was barely such a thing as YA literature. So I read books written for adults which were much tamer than most adult books today. I remember one author would make her characters "kiss hard." I was innocent and thought that meant that their lips smashed together. Ha! So this is a list of YA titles I know I would have loved as a teenager, since I loved them as an adult. I was and are, a sucker for a tear-jerker, love story.
1. Stolen by Lucy Christopher
2. Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
3. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
4. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
5. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
6. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
The cats, Fred and George, are settling in. George explores the dryer. Fred guards the hallway from the dog. Ready to run up the stairs if danger approaches.
Weather: Overcast this morning but it is supposed to clear up and be bright and beautiful later.
Family news:
We drove to Portland yesterday to celebrate the life of my aunt who died recently after a long decline. She was 96 years old. It truly was a celebration of her life. Not too many tears. We held the service at the cemetery while social distancing but were close to each other in hearts.
Afterwards we drove to visit a cousin who was recently (February) diagnosed with ALS. She is already on hospice care. It broke our hearts to see her in this diminished state but we were glad we got to see her before the end. Life is so fragile. Take care.
Our daughter and her cats are settling in after our long trip from California last weekend. The dog now accepts the cats but cowers a bit in their presence. Our cat is still grumpy about the invasion.
We're on Baby #2 alert. He is due this month and his mommy is ready for him to arrive. Any day now?
Books:
Completed this week:
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce...The story of a man who decides to walk 600 to save a friend who is dying from cancer. In the end he likely saves himself. Audio.
Finders Keepers by Stephen King...The second book in the Bill Hodges series, my daughter and I listened to most of this on the way home from CA but had to finish the last of it as we worked a puzzle. Classic King with lots of gory details. Audio.
Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga...I've been reading this Newbery Honor book for over a month. It is about a young teenager who is a Syrian refugee living in Michigan. Written in verse. Print.
Given: Poems by Wendell Berry...I've now been introduced to a new poet. Print.
The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa...part of my cat-book project. I didn't enjoy this one as much as everyone else who has read it. Print.
Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann. A Children's nonfiction book. I read it to Ian and he was interested through about half of it. I, on the other hand, was fascinated throughout. Print.
Currently reading:
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo...another YA novel written in verse, set in the Caribbean. (E-book, 10%)
The Bird Box by Josh Malerman...an unlikely book club selection which is a post-apocalypse set in the near future, considered a thriller. (Audio, 35%)
Good news:
1. Military support for Trump has slipped a lot since 2016. In a recent survey done by Military Times more troops say they'll vote for Biden in 2020. Follow the link for more details. (Military Times) This is especially good news on the heels of the distressing news reported in the The Atlantic this week that Trump thinks US Military troops who died in war are losers and suckers. Note: The news out of The Atlantic landed like a thud and seems to have sprouted legs. Will this finally be the one thing that Trump does or says that upsets his followers?
2. The granddaughter to Billy Graham, Jerushah Duford, says that many evangelicals are putting Trump before God and that is an insult to her grandfather's legacy. Read the article. She restores my faith as she analyzes the situation. (USA Today)
3. How to vote in every state. This is a guide to make sure you know how to register and to vote in your state. Spread this one around so it gets out to people who need it. It is sad how difficult some states make it to vote. (Slate)
4. Brandon Leake, on America's Got Talent- Sept. 1st, performs a powerful spoken-word message to his mother about being a black man in America today. Drop everything and watch this. (YouTube)
5. A supercomputer analyzed COVID-19 data and an interesting new theory of what it does in the body has emerged. If you are up for a super long read, here is a very interesting one (Thanks to Margaret for sending me the link.) (Medium)
6. Companies are finding creative ways to encourage employees to vote and to make sure others can vote, too.
7. This is terrible news but may give people cause to switch parties and vote for Biden.
8. "@Faces of COVID" Twitter account. Tweets that honor those who have died from the disease. Here is an intro and feature about its creator on The Chris Hayes show. (MSNBC)
9. Unrelated good news: An ancient breed of singing dogs, thought to be extinct for the past 50 years in the wild, have been spotted in Papua New Guinea. Scroll down on the article to see a video of the song these dogs sing. (Gizmodo)
10. Honeybee venom has been shown to kill aggressive breast cancer cells. (Science Daily)
On the lighter side:
1. Here is the feel good video of the day that goes out to my grandson who rides one of those tiny bikes.
Guy’s security camera catches kid tearing it up on his driveway almost every day, so he decides to do something about it. pic.twitter.com/ZDVb7zLgZo
2. CNN's fact checker says that Trump's "Dark Shadows" comment about Biden was almost too stupid to debunk. (HuffPost)
3. Sadly...
4. I can't wait to be able to get a good night's sleep again...
5. Ha-ha. My husband rolled his eyes when he read this one.
6. Schadenfreude: Four boats in a Trump-themed flotilla sunk yesterday. Could it possibly be foreshadowing of things to come for Trump and his campaign? Read this poem while humming the song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Funny and clever. (DKos)
I appreciate your comments so that I know you visited this blog post. Let me know what you think of what is going on in politics, books, your family. Thank you.
-Anne
Book Beginnings quote: It is almost summer and everywhere smells like fish, except for right down by the sea where if you hold your nose just right you can smell the sprawling jasmine and the salt water instead. Friday56 quote: When I say good-bye to Baba, he hugs me tight, his arms saying everything that his lips don't.
Summary: Jude. a thirteen-year-old teenager, and her pregnant mother leave behind their beloved Syria, her brother, and Baba (father) to move to America and away from the war that is raging nearer and nearer their city.. In America Jude is viewed as Middle Eastern, a term she'd near heard before. Will she ever find any friends like those she had to leave behind? Will she be able to speak English well enough to try out for a part in the school play? "This lyrical, life-affirming story is about losing and finding home and, more important, finding yourself."
Review: This 2019 Newbery honor book is a perfect conversation starter for a middle school or young YA reader. Through Jude the reader will find a sweet and unpushy character who is trying to do her best to fit in, despite the language and cultural differences. At one point in the story she has a conversation with a kind, but nerdy/misfit boy who points out that being different is a good thing.
The book is written in verse, as you see from the quotes above. I found the poetry to be average, which always makes me wonder why the author didn't just write the story in prose, unless the poetry is exceptional. Other than that I enjoyed this story and felt my heart open up just a little bit more to immigrants who are being treated so unkindly these days by our government. It was a timely read.
Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from current book. The Friday56 is hosted atFreda's Voice. Find a quote from page 56 to share. Visit these two websites to participate. Click on links to read quotes from books other people are reading. It is a great way to make blog friends and to get suggestions for new reading material.
It started with a puzzle. More specifically, it started with a puzzle of cat books. As my daughter and I worked on the puzzle I mused about how much fun it would be to read all the featured books. She snorted. I am always doing stuff like this. I get an idea in my head and and I'm off to the races. First I searched the library catalog and ordered all the books I could find, which wasn't very many. Then I went online and ordered a few more. Most are children's books, so I read them fast and waited for another batch to arrive. There are 45 books highlighted on the puzzle and I was able to find and read only 11 of them.
Since I couldn't find all the books on the puzzle I added a few cat books we have around the house. Above is the actual puzzle, below is the puzzle I could make of the cat books I've read recently.
So many cat books. Enough of this project. Time to get back to my regularly scheduled book choices.
Top Ten Tuesday: Books that made (make) me hungry.
Since I don't recall many novels with references to sumptuous food that made me hungry as I read them, I have filled up my list with favorite recipe books. Why not? They are books, aren't they?
1. Finding Yourself in the Kitchen: Kitchen Meditations and Inspired Recipes from a Mindful Cook by Dana Veldon. I just finished this book. There aren't many recipes but the ones she included made me want to jump up and make especially since all of them use few ingredients and sound very wholesome.
2. With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo. This YA novel is about a teen mom who works overtime to make her dream come true---to become a chef. The food she mixes up sounds delicious.
3. The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way of to Live Well by Meik Wiking. Though there are few references to specific foods, there are lots about preparing food with friends and family. The time spent in the kitchen together bonds people and gives us a since of community.
4. Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley. I read this graphic memoir years ago yet I think of it every time I saute mushrooms.
5. Chocolat by Joanne Harris. The descriptions of chocolate-related foods and candies made my mouth water.
6. A Taste of Oregon by the Junior League of Eugene. This recipe book was a wedding gift. We have many, many tagged recipes in it that are go-to meal ideas.
7. Bake from Scratch: Artisan Recipes for the Home Baker by Brian Hart Hoffman. A recent acquisition. It is a beautiful, big recipe book on every type of baked goods. My daughter just made a Tres Leches pound cake from it yesterday. It is to die-for good.
8. The Perfect Cookie: Your Ultimate Guide to Foolproof Cookies, Brownies, and Bars by America's Test Kitchen. What I love about this recipe book is the explanation by the Test Kitchen why to do one thing and not another. For example, they explain why to melt the butter before adding it to the ingredients, compared to just adding softened butter on certain recipes. It makes me a better baker.
9. Simply Scones: Quick and Easy Recipes for More Than 70 Delicious Scones and Spreads by Leslie Weiner and Barbara Albright. This is a tiny little recipe book that often get lost on the shelf among other large ones. I got it in the early 1990s and set out to make all 70 types of scones. I lost my way on that project but I did make notes on the pages of the ones I did make. It is fun to read those notes as much as the recipes themselves.
10. My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud-Homme. The descriptions of food prep and meals served by this famous cookbook creator are sumptuous.
Ian and Grandpa head out for a spin in the sports car.
Personal stuff:
Weather: Lovely temperature with blue skies. Don is outside working on staining the boards for our deck covering underside.
Fastest, longest round trip: Friday I flew down to San Francisco where my daughter lives and Saturday morning we climbed in her car with her two cats and we drove all the way back to Washington State in a little over 13 hours. We all thought we were going to die, including the cats, while we were in Northern California and Southern Oregon because the car's air-conditioning doesn't work. Temperatures were over 90 degrees. The poor cats were panting they were so hot. We resorted to throwing ice on them on intervals. At first they hated it, but soon they didn't even flinch when new cubes were thrown on them realizing that the ice helped cool them down a bit. By the time we got home the temperature was around 60 degrees. We lived through a 35 degree range in that thirteen hours.
Books:
Completed
The Cat from Telegraph Hill by Edith Thacher Hurd (Print);
For the Love of Books: Stories of Literary Lives, Banned Books, Author Feuds, Extraordinary Characters, and More by Graham Tarrant (Print);
Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder (Graphic memoir, ebook);
The Cat Man from Aleppo by Irene Latham, et al (Children's nonfiction, e-book);
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard (Children's nonfiction, e-book)
Lizzie Demands a Seat: Elizabeth Jennings Fights for Streetcar Rights by Beth Anderson (Children's nonfiction, e-book)
Reading
The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa (Print, 55%);
Given: Poems by Wendell Berry (Print, 69%);
Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga (Print, 31%);
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (Audio, 32%);
Finders Keepers by Stephen King (Audio, 77%)
Good News: There was so much bad news this week---double hurricanes; Black Lives Matter protests that turned into killing sprees; people getting their second diagnosed case of COVID; Evangelical Jerry Falwell was exposed for sexual misconduct and lying; and just about everything related to the Republican National Convention. And yet there was this good news:
1. Republicans turning on Trump for good reasons. This is one of the best.
1a. Others endorse Biden also:
Hundreds of former aides to George W. Bush and John McCain (NBC)
350+ faith leaders, citing the need for moral leadership (The Hill)
Former RNC Chair, Michael Steele, joins the Lincoln Project (CNN)
70 former GOP security officials, citing Trump as "dangerously unfit to serve another term." (CNN)
Over 30 alumni from Romney's 2012 Campaign (Romney4Biden)
2. Mask wearingdoes protect the wearer and if they get sick (even though they wore a mask) their symptoms are less severe. This is more ammunition to use in the debate about the usefulness of mask-wearing. (EcoWatch)
3. Black Lives Matter---Professional athletes and sports teams step up
NBA- walk-out in response to Jacob Blake shooting by police and why it matters. Watch all the short video clips that are provided. They are all powerful. (Vox)
LeBron James (and others)-voting rights and push for more poll workers (NY Times)
WNBA- wore jerseys with bullet holes to protest shooting of Jacob Blake (ABC)
MLB- 42 seconds of silence for Jackie Robinson followed by a walk-out by Mets and Marlins. (USA Today)
NFL- Coach Pete Carroll's remarks about racism and finally "getting it". This is very powerful. Take the time to listen to it. It is a little long, but worth the time it. Especially good starting at 4:30. "White people need to be coached up on the effects of racism." (Seahawks)
Non-sports related: Jacob Blake's father reports that talking to Biden and Harris about the shooting of his son was like talking to an uncle and his sister...very comforting. On the other, Trump hasn't even called. (CNN)
On the lighter or more disturbing side:
1. Hello Kettle. This is the Pot calling... As it turns out, the Trumps who all work for their dad, who worked for his father, are calling out Hunter Biden for nepotism, and this speaker, Pam Bondi, got her job through her father's connections.
4.This is totally us. We can't get the darn bags open. Ha!
5.My husband suggested another day of the week: Blursday...
6. If you think the directions about school openings are unclear, you are not alone. (Sent to me from my sister, Grace, who happens to be a teacher)...
7. Some general thoughts on 2020. (Sent to me by my daughter, Rita.) My favorite one is the swimming pool example...
8. As you can tell, I didn't watch any of the RNC, except for replays on the news. But I did go on Twitter to see what others were thinking and I stumbled upon this trending thread called #GuilfoyleChallenge. I read the thread over at Raw Story and was howling with laughter. Check it out. My favorite is the goat, second favorite Godzilla. (Raw Story.) Then I had to laugh about the Stephen Colbert update after night four where he made fun of just about everything but especially Melania Trump's green dress which just screamed "green-screen me!" (CNN) If you have a minute check out both of my links.
9. The Daily Show's Trevor Noah is taking out ads across the country. Go ahead and call. We did. Start with option 1, then select option 2. Very funny.
10. Mrs. Betty Bowers: Fake Christian of the week. Oh boy, the hypocrisy.
Super Feel-Good Music. On October 14th, 2018, Koolulam partnered with King David Schools, Johannesburg, South Africa, and gathered 3,500 South Africans to celebrate the 70th anniversary of King David Schools and the establishment of the State of Israel. Within 45 minutes they learned a new arrangement of OneRepublic's "I Lived". This song will make your heart happy today!
I know I say this every week, but I hope that you find something here that speaks to you, that makes you think, feel, and/or laugh. Please leave me a comment in the section below (or on Facebook) so that I know you visited. As you see, I also love to post funny or newsy things that are forwarded to me during the week. If you find something, text or email them to me and I'll see if I can work them in. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
JENNA: Some people believe there was an elephant graveyard--a place that sick and dying elephants would travel to to die.
Friday 56:
JENNA: "She's not dead," I murmur more to myself than to Serenity, because I like the way the words fill up with bubbles, like my blood had been carbonated.
Summary: Over ten years after her mother disappeared, thirteen-year-old Jenna decides she has to do something to find her. Her mother, Alice, was an elephant researcher working on a sanctuary run by Jenna's father and other employees in New Hampshire. One night when Jenna was quite young one of the employees is found dead on the grounds, trampled by an elephant, and Alice is found unconscious. The next day she checks herself out of the hospital and hasn't been seen since. Jenna's father, Thomas, had a complete mental breakdown and now Jenna has lived with her grandmother ever since that fateful night. Grandma does not approve of Jenna investigating Alice's disappearance. Jenna saves up her babysitting money and tries to get a reading from a local clairvoyant, Serenity. When that avenue doesn't pan out any helpful information, she attempts to hire Virgil, an almost-always-drunk private detective to help her locate her mother. Eventually the three team up. What they discover is shocking and very Jodi Picoultish.
Review: Four narrators tell the story: Jenna, Serenity, Virgil, and Alice, the lost mother, who tells a lot of the back story and gives out so much interesting information about elephants it feels like the book is worth reading just for that. The information about how elephants love their children and how deeply they grieve just made my heart sing. None of the characters seemed too realistic, though I found myself really cheering for Jenna and her quest. Virgil and Serenity seem a bit cliche, just what you'd expect from a private detective and a clairvoyant, though their back stories make them rather interesting characters, too. At one point there is some pretty creepy magical realism, which is hard to understand until the shocking conclusion. I'll tell you no more. You've got to read it to find out what happens.
Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from current book. The Friday56 is hosted atFreda's Voice. Find a quote from page 56 to share. Visit these two websites to participate. Click on links to read quotes from books other people are reading. It is a great way to make blog friends and to get suggestions for new reading material.
At 398 pages, I'm counting it as a big book for the challenge.
TTT: What questions would you ask a favorite author if you could?
Jane Austen is my favorite author. I have read all the books she wrote and a whole lot of books about her. I still have some questions.
Miss Austen, I am delighted that you are joining me here today. Can I interest you in a cup of tea and a slice of apricot marmalade cake? I understand it is one of your family favorites. (Dinner with Mr. Darcy: Recipes Inspired by Jane Austen)
Let's start with a question I bet no one has ever asked you before. Was tea-drinking popular in your day as it is now in the UK? I read somewhere that the concept of "afternoon tea" didn't really start until the 1840s, (The History of Afternoon Tea) which is several decades after your death. However, I visited Twinings Tea Shop, at 216 Strand Avenue, when I was recently in London and I understand it was opened long before your birth, in 1706. (Original Twinings Tea Shop) Did you and your family drink tea every day or just on special occasions?
Secondly, I'd like to know what you thought or felt about the politics of the day. You were born the year before the American Revolution started and you were thirteen when the French Revolution began, yet you barely mention anything about either of them in your books, if at all. Were you not interested in war as a subject or was a broader reason that women, in general, did not talk about war much? We certainly see glimpses of an interest in the topic of politics in your History of England written when you were a teenager. But that book was meant to be a satire, correct? (The Many Ways...)
Your brother Henry wrote about your writing process after your death, saying that your books sprang from you fully formed. According to him, your “composition” was
“rapid and correct,” a flow of words that “cost her nothing,” washing
through you to appear, as “everything” you wrote appeared, “finished
from her pen.” That isn't true, is it? He was just bragging about a sister he was proud of, I imagine, or felt like he needed to hide something. Tell me about your writing process and why you think Henry wanted to cover up the fact that you had to work at writing, like all authors do. (The Many Ways...)
I am a big fan of the movie made about your relationship with Tom Lefroy called "Becoming Jane." In the movie we are told that you and Tom loved each other and nearly ran off to be married. In the end you stopped it because you knew that a marriage to you, a woman without a dowry, would mean impoverishment for his whole family and they relied on him. Was anything in the movie true? I think I can speak for all Jane Austen fans, we all hope it is true (the love part, anyway!)
Speaking of Lefroy, the wikipedia page about him suggests that you wrote Pride and Prejudice during the same time period as when you two were busy flirting with each other. It also suggests that you patterned Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy after the two of you. Is that true? If so, were you, personality-wise, more like Elizabeth or Mr Darcy? (Wikipedia)
Everyone has a favorite novel from among your six. What was your favorite of your own books? I vacillate between Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion as my favorites, though I also really like Mansfield Park. Heck, I like them all. While we are talking about favorites, who were your favorite authors/books? (Yarra Plenty Regional Library.)
We enjoyed the miniseries created from your final and unfinished book, Sanditon. But I have a feeling the script didn't go where you planned on taking the book. Please tell my readers the whole plot for Sanditon and how you imagined it at its completion.
Of course, we will never know for certain what disease led to your death but I have seen a suggestion that it was Addison's disease. Take a look at the list of symptoms for that disease. (Mayo Clinic) Did you experience any of those symptoms in your last few months of life? It's a pity that your life was cut short. But perhaps, like Marilyn Monroe and James Dean, your relatively early death has led to part of your mystique that has lasted over 200 years. We love your books but know so little about you as a person.
Okay, just one more question. The home where you lived in Chawton is now preserved as a museum. In one room is the actual desk you used when composing your classic novels. It is so tiny. Did you ever consider getting something larger or did you just spread out onto the dining room table when you needed more space? See photo below. I am not even sure if we should call what you used a "desk."
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions. Would you like another slice of apricot marmalade cake before you go? No? Oh, I see. I used too much salt and the apricots taste fake. Yes, well, Thanks again!
