A Novel Birthday Celebration As Jane Austen Turns 250

Press release from the White Plains Public Library:

| by Julia Rae

Beloved author Jane Austen turns 250 on December 16th! To celebrate her tremendous legacy, we have organized an interactive display, a tea party/ book discussion, and a historical overview of Ms. Austen's life.

Smile! Come take a picture with Jane Austen at our selfie station! We’ve hung a portrait of the beloved author, so snag a picture with her, show it off to your online friends and tag us at @whiteplainslibrary

Pride & Prejudice Discussion and Tea Party
Tuesday, December 16, 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Let's discuss one of her most famous novels “Pride and Prejudice” over a tea party! Registration is required, tea and cookies will be served.

Becoming Jane Austen – Virtual Program
Wednesday, December 17, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Please join us for a discussion of Jane Austen's life and some of her lively contemporaries.

Dive into Jane Austen's Classic Novels!

Pride and Prejudice
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” So begins Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners–one of the most popular novels of all time–that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues.

Sense and Sensibility
Two sisters of opposing temperaments who share the pangs of tragic love provide the theme for Jane Austen's dramatically human narrative.
Elinor, practical and conventional, is the perfection of sense. Marianne, emotional and sentimental, is the embodiment of sensibility. To each comes the sorrow of unhappy love.

Emma
As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively comedy of manners among her characters.Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, “I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” In the very first sentence she introduces the title character as “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich.” Emma, however, is also rather spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives; and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray

Persuasion
Since Anne Elliot eight years ago rejected the marriage proposal of Captain Wentworth, a penniless naval officer, she has resigned herself to a quiet life at home, tending to the imagined needs of her spoiled sisters and vain father. But when Captain Wentworth reappears in their midst, having made his fortune at sea, Anne must ask herself whether she made the right decision–or allowed herself to be persuaded against her heart.

Mansfield Park
Fanny Price has grown up acutely conscious of her inferior status as a “poor relation” living with her wealthy cousins, the Bertram family. Yet as she enters womanhood, she dares to love their youngest son, Edmund-from afar. Secret longings aside, there is peace at the Bertrams' idyllic estate, until the handsome and charming Crawford siblings arrive. Soon, Fanny finds herself unwillingly competing with the dazzling, witty Mary for Edmund's affections-and is shocked to acquire a determined new suitor of her own.

This press release was produced by the White Plains Public Library. The views expressed are the author's own.