I know Mother’s Day was three whole days ago. My mom and I spent the day together—in Idaho, in fact—until I got on a plane and she and my dad hopped in the car and started driving to California. But it seems that 2012 is the Year of Mom and Jane Austen, and so here we are. It’s Wednesday, but hey, I can still talk about my mom.
I mentioned it briefly during the read-along, but my mother read Mansfield Park along with the rest of the Austen Nation. (She even commented semi-anonymously, like the ninja she is, on one of our read-along posts! Can you spot the rogue parent?) It was her first time—not just her first time reading The Chronicles of Fanny and her Ha-Ha, but her first time reading Austen, period. Shortly afterwards, she joined my Beloved Sisters and me for the second half of Pride and Prejudice and immediately absconded with Miss Osborne’s DVDs, which were apparently better than the identical set that lived on her daughter’s bookshelf from late 2009 through the middle of 2011.
People, I think we have a new member of the cult. I mean, family.
According to mom, that Henry Crawford wasn’t such a bad guy until the whole wife-stealing thing. That was unexpected, but anyway, Maria and Julia weren’t very nice anyway. But before that, why was she so set against him? HE WAS NICE. And why do they call this a romance, again?
Also, Mrs. Bennet is hilarious and having to choose between never speaking to her mother again and never speaking to her father again is great. But is Jane supposed to be prettier than Lizzy? Because that woman looks like a man. And wait, what actor is that? Oh, right, Colin Firth. I liked him in The King’s Speech.
Rumor has it she might pick up Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice (the novel) (though I keep trying to press the Keira Knightley movie on her, for Colin Firth/Matthew McFadyen comparison purposes) next. I promise to stand supportively by, books in hand. Happy reading, Mom!
austenacious 
Aww, this is really sweet. It’s interesting that you’re introducing your mum to Jane Austen, whereas I’d say that for a lot of Janeites (myself included) it was the other way around. I also have my mum to thank for my enduring love for Firth-as-Darcy, because without her I might never have watched the 1995 Pride and Prejudice.
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Of course, Jennifer Ehle was also in The King’s Speech (Mrs Logue) as well as Pride and Prejudice (Elizabeth Bennet.)
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The first commenter has a good point. My first introduction to Jane Austen was my mom, who when I was 12 tried to get me to read Pride and Prejudice. (I got about 30 pages in, put it down in disgust, and said, “All they do is talk about going to balls!” to which my mom said, “Exactly.”) So it’s fun you got to be the one to introduce your mom to Austen. And now you have someone else to discuss the books with!
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You’ll love Persuasion , if you haven’t already read it. You may like to try Victoria Holt’s books. Theyr’e out of print now but they are all gotihc mysteries with a dash of romance, or romances with a dash of mystery, whichever way you see them. You can get them on ebay. I think you may like Philip Pullman’s Sally Lockhart series. The first one is The Ruby in the Smoke and the second is The Shadow of the North . I can’t remember the names of the other two. You can get them in any bookstore. Then there is Mary Stewart . Again out of print but available on ebay. For books featuring people of your age, try Anthony Horowitz. There are 7 Alex Rider books, and several about the Diamond Brothers. The DB books are humorous. The same cannot be said for Alex Rider, but both series are exciting and you can’t help liking the main characters, which is important in a book. Another Anthony H series is the Power of Five books. They have a supernatural twist but are just as exciting as Alex Rider. Only 3 have been written so far: Ravensgate, Evil Star and Nightriser.
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Liz, I can’t believe you were in Idaho! (Boise?) I wish I’d known; I’d have tracked you down!
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Steph, I was! And I thought fond “I wish I could go visit Stephanie!” thoughts! But we were in Moscow…so basically Washington.
Next time I’m in the great state of Idaho, though, we are definitely meeting up.
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