The following is an excerpt of a lovely review of Singled Out: How Two Million Women Survived Without Men after the First World War By Virginia Nicholson.
THIS is an inspiring book, lovingly researched, well-written and humane. Virginia Nicholson has found one of those subjects which sits unregarded under our noses, and has discovered in it [...]

Wuthering Heights is a classic tale of possessive and thwarted passion, one of the forerunners of today’s soap operas and romance novels. The tempestuous and mythic story of Catherine Earnshaw, the precocious daughter of the house, and the ruggedly handsome, uncultured foundling her father brings home and names Heathcliff, is played out against the backdrop of English moors no less wild and raw than the love they develop for one another.

Strange to say, the book has some merit as a sensation novel, and, in spite of this puffery, will make its way. It is, in fact, just the sort of book to be read by everybody, – not too sentimental for a man’s requirements, nor too useful for a woman’s; having no end of plots and conspiracies for those who like plots, and plenty of light, easy, agreeable conversation for those who do not.

Edna Pontellier, the heroine of The Awakening, shocked readers in 1899 and the scandal created by the book haunted Kate Chopin for the rest of her life. The Awakening begins at a crisis point in twenty-eight year-old Edna Pontellier’s life.

I simply had to share some recent news I’ve been reading on AustenBlog about the new Jane Austen movie, Becoming Jane.
First is a great review by Anne Wagner of The Stranger:
There isn’t one irritating thing about Becoming Jane, there are about fifty. Even if you don’t care that Anne Hathaway is way too pretty to [...]

Middlemarch is available for free download from our ebook catalog.
First off, I have to comment how nice it was to read this book on ebook. The paper book was is hefty and intimidating that it is hard to read. Actually trying to keep the book open to the right page is also very trying, and [...]

Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf may be downloaded for free from our ebook catalog.
Her third novel published in 1922 centers around the life of Jacob Flanders. In an innovative style, Jacob is presented to the reader entirely through impressions of the other characters including the repressed upper-middle-class Clara Durrant and the uninhibited young art student [...]

Moving from regret to jealousy to acceptance, Anne experiences a far wider range of emotions than we see in other Austen characters. At 27, Anne is also far older and more mature in outlook. She hopes for a second chance at love, but is not expecting it.