Everyone welcome avid Austenesque reader, Sarah! In addition to being ardent admirer of Jane Austen, Sarah is a lover of William Shakespeare, and all things British!
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You: Tell us about yourself
My name is Sarah Lockhart. I live in Corvallis, Oregon which is about a 1 hour drive south of Portland. I consider myself a wit; my friends and family do not.
Your Induction:
- When and how did you discover the Austenesque/JAFF genre? Well, after reading all of Austen’s novels I still wanted more. So, I started searching my local library and pestering the reference librarian with requests for any and all books about Austen or inspired by Austen.
- What was the first Austenesque novel you ever read? It was called The Third Sister by Julia Barrett. It was a continuation of Sense and Sensibility
- What did you think of it? I loved it!
Your Habits:
- About how many Austenesque novels do you read a month? A year? At least one a month, sometimes as many as four, if I happen upon a new author that I really like and she has multiple books available.
- Around what percentage of your total reads a year are Austenesque novels? Seriously! I majored in English at university, I don’t like math. I suppose I would estimate around 35-40 percent.
- Where/how do you obtain the Austenesque books your read? I purchase many at used books stores, or online. I also get some from my library to preview before purchasing.
- What is your favorite time of day to read? I usually read at night before bed, but I like to read in the afternoon usually; and preferably, with a cup of good tea and Pride and Prejudice playing in the background.
- What is your favorite place to read? A cozy chair by the window, or in bed.
- What do you like to listen to when you read if anything? Well, lately I have the Austenland film playing in the background when I read.
- What do you like to drink or eat when you read if anything? Tea usually and I will never turn down a scone. Like ever. Do you have any scones? Because that sounds really good, and I don’t have any in my house. I shouldn’t have mentioned scones. Now I am going to have to bake a batch.
- Do you read more than one book at a time ever? Always. I usually have an average of 3 books I read at the same time.
- Do you ever read the ending of a book first? Uh no, because that is illegal. Isn’t it? Well, if it is not illegal; it definitely should be. I mean I have started reading a book and gotten a hundred pages in and hated it; and so then I would skip to end to see if my decision to quit the book was warranted. Usually, if not always, my instinct to quit while I am ahead pays off and the ending is as disappointing as the rest of the book. However, I don’t make a habit of it.
- Do you ever reread? Oh yes! If the book is funny, or if I just really enjoyed it, I will definitely give it a reread.
Your Collection:
Collectively around how many Austenesque works do you own? 20 at this time.
- Where do you store your Austenesque collection? Bookshelves from Ikea
- What format are most of your Austenesque books in – paperback, ebook, or audiobook? Mostly paperbook, some audiobook.
- How many Austenesque books are currently in your TBR at this moment? 2
Your Faves:
- Pride and Prejudice Retelling: Mr. Darcy’s Diary
- Pride and Prejudice Modern Adaptation: Pride and Prejudice and Jasmin Field
- Non-Pride and Prejudice Sequel: The Third Sister
- Reference/Nonfiction Work: Jane Austen’s A Guide to Dating
- Austen-Inspired Original: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
- Austenesque Genre: Variations
Your Desert Island 5: (You are about to be stranded on a desert island for unspecified amount of time you must select what you will bring)
- Five Austenesque/Jane Austen Movies Austenland, 1995 Pride and Prejudice, 2007 Persuasion, Bridget Jones Diary, S & S 2008.
- Five Austenesque Books Austenland, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, Pemberley Ranch, Dreaming of Mr. Darcy
Would You Rather?:
- Have Lady Catherine or Mrs. Norris as a mother – Lady Catherine
- Live in Bath or live in London – London
- Be besties with Eleanor Tilney or Georgiana Darcy – Eleanor Tilney
- Dance every set at a ball or go horseback riding through the countryside with friends – Dance every set at a ball
- Marry Edmund Bertram or Edward Ferrars – Edmund Bertram
- Attend a strawberry-picking party at Donwell Abbey or attend the theatre with the Gardiners – The theatre with the Gardiners
- Go shopping with Lydia Bennet or have tea with Mrs. Elton – Go shopping with Lydia Bennet
- Discover and read the finished manuscript (by Jane Austen) of The Watsons or Sanditon –The Watsons
You Right Now:
- What Austenesque novel(s) are you currently reading at the moment? The Perfect Match by Lory Lilian and Pemberley
- What Austenesque novels are on your wish-list? A Weekend with Mr. Darcy, Only Mr. Darcy Will Do, The Trial of the Honorable F. Darcy.
- What Austenesque novel do you wish someone would write? I would like to see Pride and Prejudice told from the perspective of Mrs. Bennet, but really add complexity and depth to her character. Similar to what Gregory Maguire did with the character of Elphaba (The Wicked Witch from Wizard of Oz) in his novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West I am actually trying to write it myself!
- What do you love most about Austenesque novels? I love that I get to see the characters I love, live on in many different variations or imaginings. I love these novels because their existence proves that I am not alone in wanting more Jane Austen, and that I have amazing connections with so many people just because we share a mutual love of these novels.
- Where can we find you? I am on most social media formats. Here they are:
Thank you, Sarah for taking the time to participate in this feature and share your love and admiration of Austenesque literature with us!! Loved your answers, but I couldn’t help but wonder…did you make that batch of scones??? I could definitely go for a scone right now. 😉
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Sarah, how happy I am to get to know a local girl. We just moved to the Roseburg area less than two weeks ago. I loved your comment about your family’s impression of your wit. Cute! I look forward to reading your Mrs. Bennet point if view variation.
Yay! I can leave Sarah some comment love. Nice work getting things fixed, Meredith.
It was fun getting to know you, Sarah. I loved it that you took the less traveled route to Austenesque with a Sense & Sensibility story. I’ll have to look that one up. Love seeing your packed with Austen Treasure bookshelves too. Yummo on the scones! I’ve been on an apple cinnamon scone kick lately.
Hi Sarah! Nice to meet you 🙂
I´ve read that your first austenesque novel was “The Third Sister” and it was the first for me too!. I really enjoyed this story because I think Margaret Dashwood deserves her own story and to be the heroine.
I think it´s a great idea to write P&P from the perspective of Mrs Bennet, a total challenge! and I´m afraid the pages would contain a great deal of headaches, LOL So, keep going with this idea, it´s really interesting and I think you must be very witty to write such an story, so, good luck!
Okay, important question for you: What is your favorite scone? I know, it’s like picking a favorite child but really, what is it? I’m a blueberry scone fan, and if there’s some sort of icing on top, I wouldn’t say no.
Best of luck with your Mrs. Bennet POV variation. I’d read it; I think there’s a lot of potential there.
Thanks for telling us a little about yourself!
My favorite is a cream scone with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. If I made a batch who would want to eat the rest before I eat them all?
Me…me…pick me!! Please?
*waves hand like I’m starving* Me, me, me I’ll eat them!
Hello Sarah lovely to see you here! I enjoyed getting to read a bit about you and your love of all things Austen. So many admirers have mentioned the library you must have a good one! Very interesting that you have Austenland or P&P playing in the background they must send subliminal messages 🙂 totally agree about only peeking at the end of a book if your about to give up 🙂 thank you for sharing 🙂
Hi Sarah.
Mrs. Bennet’s story sounds like it ought to be a hoot, if you were to tell it as a comedy.
As for scones, I only just cracked making them myself last year. Previously you could have used mine to prop doors open or pave roads! Now, they’re light, fluffy and rise to mountainous proportions! It’s all down to a recipe from Paul Hollywood from the Great British Bake Off. If we’re out and about in the Yorkshire Dales (a short drive from home) and stop at a cafe, it’s always scones with jam and cream and a pot of proper tea.
I totally agree with you about peeking at book endings! There definitely should be a law against it.
The Third Sister is a book I haven’t come across yet but I’ll have to look it up. There’s not enough S & S JAFF out there.
Thank you for letting us get to know you.
Hi Anji, I´m Teresa.
In addition to “The third sister”, you can enjoy “Presumption” by the same author, Julia Barrett, but, in this case it´s a beautiful story about Georgiana Darcy.
Hi, Sarah.
It’s been fun getting to know you. I’ve never had a scone. They sound interesting. I never heard of The Third Sister, I will have to check it out. The book you are working on, from Mrs. Bennet’s POV sounds intriguing, I’m looking forward to reading it.
Hi Sarah, It’s nice to get to know you. I live in Puyallup WA, so we’re sort of neighbors. Meredith’s series of Ardent Austenesque Admirers has been so much fun after reading others’ comments on this blog. Too bad your friends and family do not appreciate your wit! They’re missing out!