Bonnets At Dawn

This week, we’re talking about Ann Radcliffe and the female gothic with author Helena Kelly. We also cover chapters 17-24 of Northanger Abbey (a most excellent set of chapters) and bang on about General Tilney.

Our Northanger Abbey read-along continues with highlights from chapter 9-16 and an interview with academic Lydia Craig, the co-founder of the Loyola University Chicago Victorianist Society. We talk Northanger Abbey vs. Sanditon, and take a quiz to determine if Catherine and Isabella are in a toxic friendship.

We’re kicking off Season 4 with a discussion about castles, crumpets and John Thorpe! Join us as we begin our breakdown of Northanger Abbey, and talk about the lost books of Jane Austen with professor and author Janine Barchas.

This week, we discuss your favorite reads of 2019 and talk to Dr. Glynis Ridley about her excellent book, The Discovery of Jeanne Baret. A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe. We also reveal our read-along picks for 2020 and share some of our literary goals.

In our Brontë season finale, we compare and contrast the 2006 and 2011 adaptations of our beloved Jane Eyre.

This week, we’re bringing you a conversation between author Gill Hornby and Sophie Reynolds from the Jane Austen House Museum, about Cassandra Austen. They answer your questions about Cassandra and Jane and talk about those infamous letters. Look for Gill’s new book, Miss Austen, which will be out in January 2020: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1117549/miss-austen/9781529123760.html

We’re taking you on the road to the Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. This time around, you’ll hear clips from the B@D Friday night event, the ball, and Dr. Glynis Ridley’s excellent talk on Northanger Abbey. For more information on the Jane Austen Festival, go to http://jasnalouisville.com/

We're ranking Jane Austen's Bad AND Sad Lads in front of a seriously well-informed audience. Very special thanks to everyone in attendance, and Page 1 Books in Evanston, Illinois for hosting the event! Please check out their awesome book subscription service: https://page1books.com/

This week, we’re talking Dickens, Victorian seances, and your reactions to The Old Nurse’s Story by Elizabeth Gaskell. We’re also giving away comic copies of this spooky tale! Share your favorite episode of B@D from this season on the internets, tag us, and we’ll throw your name into a fishbowl and draw winners in November.

This week, we’re discussing the life and work of African American poet, journalist, activist and short story writer, Alice Dunbar Nelson. We’ll be joined by Dr. Tara T. Green, who is currently working on a biography of Dunbar Nelson, and re-joined by actress Stacey Thomas, who will read some of Alice’s poetry.

This week, we’re talking about the 18th century actress, novelist and publisher, Eliza Haywood with Dr. Glynis Ridley. We also discuss our surprising reaction to Haywood’s Fantomina.

Team Eliot, your day has finally come! This week, we’re all about Mary Ann Evans. First up, Lauren interviews George Eliot expert Dr. Ruth Livesey. And then Hannah and Sam take the show on a mini road trip to Eliot country.

This week, we’re talking to Austen scholars and friends Danielle Spratt and Bridget Draxler. These gals met at Chawton House and have gone on to author the book Engaging in the Age of Austen. We chat about reading historical fiction through contemporary eyes, Henry Tilney, and yes, Mansfield Park does come up. This might be a Mansfield Park podcast now. Apologies.

In this FINAL Mansfield Park episode! This week, we’re discussing listener comments and comparing Mansfield Park to Wives and Daughters. We also discuss our upcoming short story read-alongs for the Fall.

In addition to being one of the first African American novelists, Frances Harper was also a teacher, abolitionist, suffragist, poet and orator. We’re discussing her amazing career with academic Joanna Ortner, who has turned up some excellent Harper discoveries while working on her dissertation. Special thanks to Stacey Thomas for her reading of Harper’s Bury Me In a Free Land.

This week, we are talking about the FASCINATING Eaton sisters with Dr. Karen Skinazi from the University of Bristol. We can’t even sum these women up in a clever and concise way because they just did SO MUCH -- I mean, Winnifred was a rancher on top of being a bestselling novelist and Hollywood screenwriter -- so just listen to the episode! Also, for those of you that are playing 6 degrees of HBS with us, here ya go: Winnifred Eaton --- Jean Webster --- Mark Twain --- Harriet Beecher Stowe. Take a shot!

Are you ready for even MORE Mansfield Park? This week, we’re talking to Dr. Patricia Matthew about abolitionist literature and how it links to Mansfield Park. We also discuss The Woman of Color and Amma Assante’s Belle.

This week, we’re continuing our Mansfield Park discussion with esteemed Brit Lit experts Devoney Looser and George Justice. Follow George and Devoney on Twitter @devoneylooser and @ProfGeoJustice.

It’s the first episode of our Mansfield Park read-along and boy do we have a treat for you! Hannah interviews Dr Helena Kelley, author of Jane Austen the Secret Radical, and talks all things Austen and Mansfield Park. There are a lot of Henry Crawford feelings.

This week, we tried out some Victorian recipes from Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management and it went great! And by great, I mean Hannah had a meltdown. We also talk to Maria Damkjaer, author of Time, Domesticity and Print Culture in Nineteenth-Century Britain, about Isabella Beeton and the making of Mrs. Beeton’s.