title: The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World
author:  Margaret C. Sullivan 
description: "What Would Jane Do?" No need to guess if teens have this handbook at their side. They will easily navigate the ins and outs of how genteel folk were expected to act in Regency society. Sullivan explains Austen's world and the everyday activities of its inhabitants with a gentle humor that makes their actions clear and, sometimes, even fun. Some of the activities described are outrageous for today's sensibilities, such as the idea of recruiting an actual hermit to live in your estate's hermitage "for full realism." On the other hand, "Country hospitality allows travelers to drop in and request a tour of any grand estate" is one some readers may wish was still allowed. Not all of the social hints are outdated; most of the rules on "How to Be a Good Correspondent" and those on planning a menu"Consider what is available in the current season and what kind of food can be obtained locally, and choose your dishes accordingly"are good contemporary advice. A valuable companion to Austen's novels. <b>School Library Journal</b>
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  Plan of a Novel according to Hints from Various Quarters  
    
  
  
  This page copyright © 2001 Blackmask Online.
  
  
  
  
  
  http://www.blackmask.com
  
  
  # Plan of a Novel according to Hints from Various Quarters
  
  
  ### Jane Austen
  
  
  
  
  
  This page copyright © 2001 Blackmask Online.
  
  
  
  
  
  http://www.blackmask.com  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  SCENE to be in the Country, Heroine the Daughter of a Clergyman, one who
  
  
  after having lived much in the World had retired from it and settled in
  
  
  a Curacy, with a very small fortune of his own. — He, the most
  
  
  excellent Man that can be imagined, perfect in Character, Temper, and
  
  
  Manners — without the smallest drawback or peculiarity to prevent his
  
  
  being the most delightful companion to his Daughter from one year's end
  
  
  to the other. — Heroine a faultless Character herself, — perfectly
  
  
  good, with much tenderness and sentiment, and not the least Wit — very
  
  
  highly accomplished, understanding modern Languages and (generally
  
  
  speaking) ev