Jane Austen Made Me Do It

Stories by:

• Lauren Willig
• Adriana Trigiani
• Jo Beverley
• Alexandra Potter
• Laurie Viera Rigler
• Frank Delaney & Diane Meier
• Syrie James
• Stephanie Barron
• Amanda Grange
• Pamela Aidan
• Elizabeth Aston
• Carrie Bebris
• Diana Birchall
• Monica Fairview
• Janet Mullany
• Jane Odiwe
• Beth Pattillo
• Myretta Robens
• Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway
• Maya Slater
• Margaret C. Sullivan
• …and Brenna Aubrey, the winner of a story contest hosted by the Republic of Pemberley.

"My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." If you just heaved a contented sigh at Mr. Darcy's heartfelt words, then you, dear listener, are in good company. Here is a delightful collection of never-before-published stories inspired by Jane Austen.

In Lauren Willig's "A Night at Northanger," a young woman who doesn't believe in ghosts meets a familiar specter; Jane Odiwe's "Waiting" captures the exquisite uncertainty of Persuasion's Wentworth and Anne as they await her family's approval of their betrothal; Adriana Trigiani's "Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane" imagines a modern-day Austen giving her niece advice upon her engagement; in Diana Birchall's "Jane Austen's Cat," our beloved Jane tells her nieces "cat tales" based on her novels; Laurie Viera Rigler's "Intolerable Stupidity" finds Mr. Darcy bringing charges against all the writers of Pride and Prejudice sequels, spin-offs, and retellings; in Janet Mullany's "Jane Austen, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!" a teacher at an all-girls school invokes the Beatles to help her students understand Sense and Sensibility; and in Jo Beverley's "Jane and the Mistletoe Kiss," a widow doesn't believe she'll have a second chance at love…until a Miss Austen suggests otherwise.