Eastern Pennsylvania Region
Jane Austen Book Fair with Barnes & Noble and WHYY
February 5, 2008
Oh! I am delighted with the book! I should like to spend my whole life in reading it.
—Northanger Abbey
JASNA's Eastern Pennsylvania Region partnered with Barnes & Noble and local PBS television station WHYY in February to host a Jane Austen book fair and festival promoting Masterpiece Theatre's "Complete Jane Austen Season." Region members and admirers of Jane Austen met at the Plymouth Meeting Barnes & Noble store. Elizabeth Steele, Regional Coordinator, introduced the audience to JASNA and local authors Maggie Sullivan and Diane Wilkes.
After giving a short talk on marriage customs and laws that every Jane Austen reader should know, Maggie Sullivan, webmaster of her "own darling child," AustenBlog, signed copies of her book The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World. Diane Wilkes, an expert in Tarot and an avid devotee of Jane Austen, signed copies of her work, The Jane Austen Tarot Kit. Diane also drew cards and explained their significance in terms of Jane Austen and the day's events, then gave a tarot reading to one lucky attendee who won the coveted prize.
Other prizes given away at the event included a year's membership in JASNA and the Eastern Pennsylvania Region, a basket of tea items, a DVD of The Jane Austen Book Club, and the Jane Austen Action Figure, provided by WHYY.
Lorna Carton and daughter Emma browse
through a wonderful selection of books compiled
by member Chris Broome.