September, 2019

​

Dear Jane Austen,

​

I am such a fan of your work. Thank you for sharing your insights about the workings of the heart, the universal desire for love and acceptance, and the eternal hope for true love and happiness.

​

Thank you for crafting unforgettable characters for the six completed novels and other writings. Who can forget your  leading ladies? Lizzie and Jane, Elinor and Marianne, Emma, Jane Elliot, Catherine, and even Fanny Price.

​

We both tried to find for our own lives and loves our version of the perfect Austen hero, whether he was more like Darcy or Bingley, Captain Wentworth or Captain Brandon, Edward or Edmund, or Henry Tilney.

​

The fact that so many books continue to be written about you--elusive lady that you are--and your writings, that so many movies continue to be made speaks to our enduring love of your wit, wisdom, hope, and our desire for each woman to overcome, to succeed, to beat the odds.

​

Thank you, dear Jane. I hope my attempts in writing will show that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

​

Forever your fan,

Marjorie Eddy Harris

​