The Latest from Devoney (September '23)

More Sister Novelists, Returning to Jane Austen, and Surprise Haboobs

Dear Janeite and Sister Novelists Friends:

I hope this finds you well at the end of summer (for those of you who with whom I share a hemisphere) or whatever season you find yourself in. This week, at Arizona State University, the football opener was delayed for three hours by a haboob—a dust storm. I wasn’t at the game, for which I am very grateful. I did, however, enjoy watching The Today Show discover the word “haboob.”

I’m teaching an ASU graduate research methods course this semester, which means I’m introducing students to tools like the Oxford English Dictionary, so of course I looked up “haboob” there. It’s derived from an Arabic word and its first recorded use in English was in London’s Daily News in 1897. It wrote, “This was a real haboob—a tornado of sand and small stones.” It’s a very rare word in English, with .01 occurrences per million words. Never a bad day to be a word nerd, right? I do hope that you’ve endured or escaped all cataclysmic weather events over the past months.

Choice Magazine (American Library Association) Review of the Week for Sister Novelists in July 2023

This summer brought a few more pieces of good news about my recent book, Sister Novelists, including its being named a “Review of the Week” by Choice in July. The reviewer called it “groundbreaking and “significant” and noted it “often reads like a gripping novel itself.” Choice’s endorsement means the biography may be noticed more by librarians for collection development. I’d so love for the Porter sisters book to find its way to more libraries. If you know of one that ought to have the book on its shelves, I hope you’ll share the review. There was also a lovely review of Sister Novelists in the August 17th issue of the New York Review of Books, for which I’m very grateful!

Review of Sister Novelists in August 17th issue of The New York Review of Books

I’m continuing to give talks from time to time about the book. In May, I had the chance to read an excerpt from Sister Novelists at BIO, the Biographers International Organization conference. Following Stacy Schiff was both a great honor and an intimidating experience! You could watch the event video for yourself here, with excerpts from a dozen wonderful recent biographies. I got to reconnect with Ruth Franklin (who’s finishing a biography of Anne Frank), hang out with Laurie Gwen Shapiro (completing an Amelia Earhart bio), and meet documentary filmmaker Barbara Koppel (a hero of mine, especially for American Dream), among many others. I hope I’ll see some of you at a future meeting of BIO, a great organization for aspiring, new, and established biographers.

BIO members in photo op with Kitty Kelley (R)

In a few days, I’ll be giving a Zoom talk on Sister Novelists, including some new stories or outtakes that didn’t make it into the published version. I’ll be sharing an amusing story of a failed Regency marriage proposal and an account of Jane Porter on a train. The talk will be hosted by the Jane Austen Society of North America, Central Virginia on Sunday, September 10th, at 4 p.m. ET. Reservations are required, and more info is available on the group’s Facebook page. Or email me, and I’ll give you the details!

Upcoming Online Lecture on Sunday, September 10th

I hope I’ll see a few of you in person at the Jane Austen Society of North America AGM (Annual General Meeting) in Denver in early November. I’ll be presenting a new talk on Pride and Prejudice in popular culture and doing some amateur acting there, as it turns out! I’ve got a role in Syrie James’s hilarious play, Jane Austen in 48 Minutes, alongside Francine Mathews (aka Stephanie Barron), Diana Birchall, Janet Todd, and others. Is that a Janeite dream team or what? I’m also looking forward to fall events in my home state of Minnesota. Stay tuned. If we don’t reconnect in Denver, maybe Minneapolis-St. Paul will be just the place.

This past July, I had the chance to take a quick trip to England, researching at the Hampshire Record Office and Chawton House Library, for the first time since the pandemic. A highlight of the trip was hearing Janet Todd give a fabulous talk at the Jane Austen Society of the UK meeting in Winchester. It was just the best literary company, and timely, because I’m doing some new writing about Austen. I look forward to telling you more about that in the coming months!

Janet Todd’s Talk at Winchester College for the Jane Austen Society (UK)

Okay. I’m about to sit down to a episode of Down for Love on Netflix, a program produced in New Zealand that I’m enjoying very much so far. Let me know what you’re watching or reading these days? One of our sons has been assigned Jane Eyre for a class, and I’m planning to re-read that alongside him. It’s sure to drive him completely bonkers. Reader, I will get such a kick out of it!

Sincerely,
Devoney

P. S. I’M STILL LOOKING FOR HELP SPREADING THE WORD about Sister Novelists. If you’re willing, here are a few things you might do to lend a hand.

• Rate and review Sister Novelists on Goodreads, Amazon or BookBub.

• Choose Sister Novelists for your book group, drawing on its online reader’s guide.

• Listen to, recommend, or review the book on Audible.

• Suggest Sister Novelists to your favorite library for purchase. (ISBN: 978-1635575293)

• Forward this newsletter to a friend.

• Thanks in advance for considering these things and/or for reaching out with ideas you might have about getting the book before more sets of eyes and ears.