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Jane Dough: A Sampling Of The Latest Austen-Themed Entertainments

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By AMANDA HENRY, Tribune correspondent

Published: September 4, 2007

Film

'Becoming Jane,' biopic starring Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy; now in theaters

'The Jane Austen Book Club,' starring Lynn Redgrave and Maria Bello, among others; based on Karen Joy Fowler's best-selling novel about an Austen-only book club; in limited release later this month

Television

PBS will air a four-month Jane Austen marathon in early 2008, featuring new adaptations of 'Sense and Sensibility,' 'Mansfield Park,' 'Northanger Abbey' and 'Persuasion,' as well as encore performances of the 1996 version of 'Emma,' starring Kate Beckinsale and Jeremy Northam, and the 1995 'Pride and Prejudice' miniseries (also known as the 'Colin Firth's Wet Shirt' edition). Rounding out the extravaganza is 'Miss Austen Regrets,' an original BBC series about the author's life.

Books

'The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World,' by Margaret C. Sullivan (Quirk Books, April 2007, $16.95), in which it is revealed, among other gems, that Austen's characters most likely did not wear underwear.

'Dear Jane Austen: A Heroine's Guide to Life and Love,' by Patrice Hannon (Plume, June 2007, $12), written as a series of letters in Austen's voice.

'Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict,' by Laurie Viera Rigler (Dutton Adult, August 2007, $24.95), a time-travel fantasy.

'Austenland: A Novel,' by Shannon Hale (Bloomsbury USA, May 2007, $19.95), in which a single woman vacations at an Austen-themed resort.

'Me and Mr. Darcy,' by Alexandra Potter (Ballantine Books, June 2007, $12.95), about a single woman, an Austen-themed vacation and time travel.

'Just Jane: A Novel of Jane Austen's Life,' by Nancy Moser (Bethany House, September 2007, $13.99), a fictionalized version of the author's journal.

'Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Austen Adventure,' by Emma Campbell Webster (Riverhead Trade, August 2007, $14), in which the reader's choices carry them from the plot and setting of one Austen novel to the next.

'The Rules of Gentility,' a Regency-era (e.g., no time travel involved) romantic spoof by Janet Mullany (Avon A, July 2007, $13.95).

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