2025:  

• February 15: Chalk and Cheese: Siblings as Opposites in the Novels – Member Panel Discussion featuring Barbara Phillips (Elinor & Marianne Dashwood), Phyllis Ferguson Bottomer (Mrs. Norris & Lady Bertram), Ilze Hillier (Elizabeth & Anne Elliot), and Naomi Sutherland (The Bennet Sisters).
• March 15: Elizabeth & Elizabeth: Two Regency Women on the Other Side of the World – Member Aileen Hollifield discussed the travails of Elizabeth Macquarie and Elizabeth MacArthur in penal colony Australia during the Regency Period. 
• May 3: Jane Austen Day – Woven Threads: 250 Years of Making Connections with Austen – Featured a catered lunch, and talks by Ivan Sayers and Joan Bryans 
• June 15: Books & Berries: Annual Book Sale Fundraiser & Member Book Reviews –

  Jennifer B. recommended Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness, by Inger Sigrun Bredkjær Brodey: In the insightful and well-written Jane Austen & the Price of Happiness, Inger Sigrun Bredkjaer Brodey contends that Austen’s novels’ rushed endings are intentional, a literary “jarring shock” to remind us that the work is fictional. Brodey dissects each novel’s “anti-romantic” conclusion, showing that “happy” endings always come with an offsetting cost.

  Joan R. recommended Jane Austen’s Remarkable Aunt, Philadelphia Hancock: A Girl of Genius and Feeling, by Jan Merriman: This recent book about Jane Austen’s Aunt Philadelphia Hancock provides no new revelations about the Philadelphia’s long and close relationship with Warren Hastings or the paternity of her captivating daughter, Eliza (Betsy) De Feuillide. But it is an interesting read about a resourceful woman of modest means and limited options forging a path for herself in the ex-pat society of late 18th century British India and pre-revolutionary France.

  Phyllis B. recommended The Shortest History of England, by James Hawes, which she found after reading the quarterly Slightly Foxed, and  The Jane Austen Insult Guide for Well-Bred Women: Serving Tea with a Side of Scorn, by Emily Reed

  Anya O. recommended Pride and Prejudice in Space by Alexis Lampley

  Barbara P. recommended The Spiritual Lives and Manuscript Cultures of Eighteenth-Century English Women: Writing Religious Communities, by Cynthia Aalders: This book explores the vital and unexplored ways in which women’s life writings acted to undergird, guide, and indeed, shape religious communities. Aalders beautifully interweaves the writings of three women who never met: Catherine Talbot (1721-70), an Anglican; Anne Steele (1717-78), a Baptist; and Ann Bolton (1743-1822), a Methodist.

• September 20: Speculation & the Slave Trade in Mansfield Park – Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park subtly critiques the insidious ways the slave trade’s profits and moral compromises infiltrated English domestic life. Katy Lund (PhD student in the faculty of English at UBC) gave a talk that explored the novel’s card game scene to reveal its deep connections to Britain’s colonial past. The game of “Speculation” serves as a miniature representation of the financial systems that fueled the slave trade, from the South Sea Bubble to abstract capital. The analysis focused on character choices, symbols like the green baize card table, and even the gendered pronouns used for playing cards, showing how Austen embedded imperial legacies within the comforts of the parsonage.

  The presentation demonstrated how characters like Lady Bertram symbolize the moral degradation linked to colonial wealth, embodying both the fickle “Lady Credit” and the indolent West Indian planter stereotype. Henry Crawford’s role as a “capital improver” directly connects the “improvement” of English estates to profits from Antiguan plantations, exposing the flow of wealth from exploitation abroad to domestic prosperity. Notably, the game’s rule preventing players from seeing their own cards acts as a metaphor for society’s deliberate ignorance of the slave trade. Just as Fanny faces social penalties for inquiring about slavery, players are penalized for “seeing” too much. The talk concluded that Austen observed and commented on this imperial ignorance, with the “sermons” of duty eventually halting the pervasive influence of “speculation.”

• October 25: The Dark Side of Jane – JASNA member Barbara Phillips explored the “dark side” of Jane Austen’s novels, arguing that beneath the surface of romance and wit lies a sharp critique of Regency society. Drawing on literary critics like D.W. Harding, Barbara explained that Austen used “regulated hatred” – employing satire, irony, and caricature – to subtly channel her anger at societal norms, class structures, and the precarious position of women. The talk highlighted how themes such as primogeniture, the transactional nature of marriage, and social hypocrisy are exposed in her works, with characters like Fanny Price serving as observers of moral failings within high society.

  The discussion also touched on the historical context of Austen’s life, including social upheavals and political events, which influenced her writing. It was noted that while Austen meticulously depicted societal flaws, her novels also emphasize self-knowledge, repentance, and forgiveness through her heroines’ moral growth. The enduring relevance of Austen’s work was underscored, with an emphasis on reading her novels directly to appreciate their multifaceted commentary on human nature and the complexities of her extraordinary age, rather than relying on simplified adaptations.

• November 15: Crackin’ Good Fun – Our November meeting was craft-focused. Members created Austen-themed party crackers, complete with Austen quotes, quizzes and trims. Translated passages from Jane Austen’s novels were read by members who speak languages other than English. 

• December 13: Emma’s (Re)Tellings: Stories about Women, Manly Gossip, and Upping our Game on Talking about the Films – Stepping into a Jane Austen talk can feel both comforting and wonderfully challenging, and Dr. Tiffany Potter from UBC delivered just that. Her recent presentation, a deep dive into Emma for its quarter-millennium celebration, wasn’t just another literary analysis; it was an invitation to elevate our “movie night game.” Dr. Potter, with her impressive background spanning 18th-century studies to Battlestar Galactica, deftly wove together popular culture and adaptation theory to explore how films re-tell Austen’s classic tale. She encouraged us to move beyond simply asking, “Is it like the book?” and instead, to probe the deeper cultural values and ideologies at play.

  One of Dr. Potter’s most compelling arguments was a re-evaluation of Emma herself. Far from being just a spoiled girl, Emma Woodhouse, she suggested, subtly critiques the “compulsory heterosexuality” of her era, with her financially enabled resistance to marriage and the strong, often overlooked, language of attraction between her and other women, particularly Harriet. While Austen’s novels are famous for their marriage plots, Dr. Potter highlighted how film adaptations frequently soften Austen’s prickly, complex heroine, making her a more conventional, simplified figure. Her critique extended to specific film choices, such as explicitly making Frank Churchill the instigator of gossip, which diminishes Emma’s complicity and, consequently, her depth.

  Ultimately, Dr. Potter equipped us with a powerful lens to view Austen’s work and its adaptations. By understanding popular culture as a “site of negotiation” and adaptation as “repetition without replication,” we can appreciate the nuanced interplay between Austen’s original text and its cinematic interpretations. The goal isn’t to find a “perfect” adaptation, but to engage with the choices directors make, how they reflect or challenge contemporary ideals of femininity, and how they reshape our understanding of Austen’s timeless stories. It’s an approach that promises to make every re-watching of Emma a richer, more thought-provoking experience, ensuring we never forget the joy – and intellectual rigor – of Jane Austen.