First Line Friday – Autumn Masquerade

Happy First Day of Autumn! A Merry DanceChapter 1At the far end of the study was a desk set against a corner where, if a girl were overly curious and perpetually bored - as Lila was - she could hide away and entertain herself with both the thrill of being unseen and the snippets of … Continue reading First Line Friday – Autumn Masquerade →

First Line Friday – Letter to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen

Letter OneThe City of InventionCairns, Australia, OctoberMy dear Alice, It was good to get your letter. I am a long way from home here; almost in exile. And you ask me for advice, which is warming, and makes me believe I must know something; or at any rate more than you. Summary of Letters to Alice on … Continue reading First Line Friday – Letter to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen →

First Line Friday – Mary Brunton’s Self-Control

While she aroused interest Austen was never a best-seller in her lifetime. She had stiff competition. Mary Brunton, a Scottish novelist, created an overnight sensation with her novel Self Control. It was published around the same time as Sense and Sensibility and everyone was clamouring to read it, including Jane Austen: "We have tried to … Continue reading First Line Friday – Mary Brunton’s Self-Control →

First Line Friday – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

To finish up with our week long Anne Bronte theme here is the first line of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall:PrologueTo J. Halford, Esq.Dear Halford,When we were together last, you gave me a very particular and interesting account of the most remarkable occurrences of your early life, previous to our acquaintance; and then you requested … Continue reading First Line Friday – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall →

First Line Friday – Old Friends and New Francies

Two weeks ago on Flashback Friday I re-shared a book recommendation for Old Friends and New Fancies by Sybil G. BrintonI ended up ordering the book through my library's Interlibrary Loan Dept. Can't wait to read it!There is one characteristic which may be safely said to belong to nearly all happily-married couples-that of desiring to … Continue reading First Line Friday – Old Friends and New Francies →

First Line Friday – Lovers’ Vows

LOVERS' VOWSACT I.SCENE I. A high road, a town at adistance--A small inn on one side ofthe road--A cottage on the other.The LANDLORD of the inn leadsAGATHA by the hand out of his house.LANDLORD. No, no! no room for you any longer--It is the fair to-dayin the next village; as great a fair as any … Continue reading First Line Friday – Lovers’ Vows →

First Line Friday – Mansfield Park

About thirty years ago Miss Maria Ward, of Huntingdon, with only seven thousand pounds, had the good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram, of Mansfield Park, in the county of Northampton, and to be thereby raised to the rank of a baronet’s lady, with all the comforts and consequences of an handsome house and large … Continue reading First Line Friday – Mansfield Park →

First Line Friday – Cecilia by Frances Burney

On this rainy Friday and was thinking about how I would like to stay curled up with my tea and a book. This got me thinking about how Jane might have spent a rainy afternoon. I found this article from the BBC that lists some of the books that Jane would have been reading. I … Continue reading First Line Friday – Cecilia by Frances Burney →

First Lind Friday – Sanditon

A GENTLEMAN AND A LADY travelling from Tunbridge towards that part of the Sussex coast which lies between Hastings and Eastbourne, being induced by business to quit the high road and attempt a very rough lane, were overturned in toiling up its long a scent, half rock, half sand. The accident happened just beyond the … Continue reading First Lind Friday – Sanditon →

First Line Friday – The Watsons

The first winter assembly in the town of D. in Surrey was to be held on Tuesday, October 13th and it was generally expected to be a very good one. A long list of county families was confidently run over as sure of attending, and sanguine hopes were entertained that the Osbornes themselves would be … Continue reading First Line Friday – The Watsons →