Tag Archives: Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s Death – Could it have been Arsenic Poisoning?

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The Mysterious Death of Miss Austen

Jane Austen is famous for her  works of romantic fiction like Emma as well as Pride and Prejudice.  The beloved author was born on December 16, 1775 and died on July 18, 1817.

Over the years many people have wondered the cause of Jane Austen‘s death at the age of 41.  Was it Addison’s disease?  Maybe Hodgkin’s lymphoma?  Now Lindsay Ashford, a British crime novelist and journalist, puts forth a new theory in her book The Mysterious Death of Miss Austen.  Ashford speculates that Jane Austen died of arsenic poisoning. Evidently arsenic was a common ingredient in medicine during the time of Jane Austen.  Talk about the cure being worse than the disease!

 

 

 

More Zombies – Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

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Jane Austen I had heard of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies before.  To be honest, I didn’t really pay that much attention.  A rewrite of the Pride and Prejudice with Zombies?  I filed in my brain the same place as the ghost of Elvis and Big Foot.  Then I read the reviews.

Entertainment Weekly gave it an A-.  It made it to the top ten of the New York Times bestseller list.  The A.V. club states, “Grahame-Smith’s amendments add some interest, pathos, and essential motivation to Austen’s subplots.”

This one could be worth a read.  In the meantime, if you want Zombie-free Jane Austen:

“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” ~ Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen