When the Gardiners meet Mr Darcy in the company of Lizzy at Pemberley she is relieved to have “some relations for whom there was no need to blush.” Swiftly Mr Darcy brings his sister to meet them and the Gardiners recognise “that there was no other w...

On a recent episode of The Amateur Austenite I spoke about my theory of Schrodinger’s Rapist in relation to Mr Elton and Mr Collins. Already similar characters as they are male, clergymen, full of themselves, and determined to do well, when they prop...

Reading Living the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron I came across this quote which really stuck with me; Pleasure is always derived from something outside you, whereas joy arises from within.” – Eckhart Tolle In a lot of ways pleasure is easy to find; a...

1995 was 30 years ago. Let that sink in. That was the year of the revival of Jane Austen. BBC released the hugely popular adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, there were movie versions of Persuasion (with Amanda Root) and Sense and Sensibility (directe...

During a coaching series there’s always a point where something unexpected happens, often it’s accompanied by the client feeling unmotivated / wanting to quit. I get it. You’ve been working on making your life better then something goes wrong, and it...

Cher is clueless about her feelings for Josh – just as her regency counterpart, Emma, is clueless about her feelings for Mr Knightley. Emma is unaware that her determination not to marry is because she’s in love with Mr Knightley, her heart is reserv...

This weekend I participated in a discussion with JASNA Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho Region entitled “What a man should be” based off this quote from Emma: “So unlike what a man should be!—None of that upright integrity, that strict adherence...

We’re awkwardly aware of the age gap between Mr Knightley and Emma – 16 years makes us uncomfortable. It gets worse when Harriet develops a crush, a full 20 years, making Mr Knightley more eligible to be her father than her husband. His companions ar...

Lady Susan has an amazing ability to waltz into a situation and mess it up for everyone. Mrs Mainwaring loves her husband who loves Lady Susan, she is “insupportably jealous and so enraged against” Lady Susan that it is “time for (her) to be gone.” S...

RNZ “Afternoons” 27 March 2025 I was interviewed on the Radio! My thoughts: