The Ultimate Book Bash at Austenitis!

I've been meaning to post about this but my week has been rather busy.

August 22-26 Charity U is having The Ultimate Book Bash at her blog Austenitis! 

There will be interviews with authors, book giveaways and a book question tag to answer! 

I'll post the majority of my answers to the Book Bash Tag over at my writing/book blog Rather Bookish but I will let you all know here when I do post over there. 

Visit Charity's blog to find out more and to join in! I know The Ultimate Book Bash is going to be a lot of fun!  

Hope you're having a good weekend!

Very Truly Your's,


Edited August 31, 2011: 
The Book Bash was a great success and you can read my answers to the book tag at my book blog Rather Bookish.

Check out Charity U's Book Bash over at Austenitis!

My Book Bash Tag Answers are at my book blog Rather Bookish:

-Part 1

-Part 2

-Part 3

A Glimpse at Fanny Price

As some of you may know I've been reading Jane Austen's Mansfield Park lately and it's become a new favorite of mine. Each chapter takes a different turn and illuminates something interesting about each character in the story. 

In Chapter 22 the quiet heroine of Mansfield Park starts to come into her own. After her cousins leave the great house Fanny Price becomes more important to her family and their friends. One particular tete-a-tete she has with Mary Crawford while walking in the parsonage garden illuminated her character even more for me.  

Here is Fanny's part of the conversation (I put the parts that really interested me in bold):

“This is pretty, very pretty,” said Fanny, looking around her as they were thus sitting together one day; “every time I come into this shrubbery I am more struck with its growth and beauty. Three years ago, this was nothing but a rough hedgerow along the upper side of the field, never thought of as anything, or capable of becoming anything; and now it is converted into a walk, and it would be difficult to say whether most valuable as a convenience or an ornament; and perhaps, in another three years, we may be forgetting—almost forgetting what it was before. How wonderful, how very wonderful the operations of time, and the changes of the human mind!” And following the latter train of thought, she soon afterwards added: “If any one faculty of our nature may be called more wonderful than the rest, I do think it is memory. There seems something more speakingly incomprehensible in the powers, the failures, the inequalities of memory, than in any other of our intelligences. The memory is sometimes so retentive, so serviceable, so obedient; at others, so bewildered and so weak; and at others again, so tyrannic, so beyond control! We are, to be sure, a miracle every way; but our powers of recollecting and of forgetting do seem peculiarly past finding out.”
Miss Crawford, untouched and inattentive, had nothing to say; and Fanny, perceiving it, brought back her own mind to what she thought must interest. - Mansfield Park, Chapter 22

This proves the old saying that if you listen to a person talk long enough then you'll find out what they're really like!
I love the quote above because firstly it shows that Fanny is a rambler like me!
Secondly it shows that when allowed to speak her own mind Fanny does have a lot of interesting things to say! She's by no means dull and boring, she's probably one of the deepest thinking heroines in Austen's novels and this she's probably learned from Edmund who taught her to dig deeper, to draw conclusions and information from what she reads.
Also, as a young lady who cares for elderly people with Alzheimer's and dementia I found her thoughts on the intricacies of the human mind very relevant. God did design the human mind and body so amazingly and we can see that Fanny understands this when she says "We are, to be sure, a miracle every way...". It is my private opinion that it is Fanny's underlining and steadfast faith in God that guides her as she makes decisions and goes through the story untouched by the selfishness around her. I can't wait to read more about her!  

Have you read Mansfield Park before?
Have you seen this quote before?
Which of Fanny Price's characteristics is most interesting to you?


Very Truly Your's,

Winners of Anne Elliot's Birthday Giveaway!

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in Anne Elliot's Birthday Party and entering Anne Elliot's Birthday Giveaway! Thanks for following me, linking to me, posting about the giveaway and putting the giveaway button on your blogs.

Also much thanks to Masha Laurence and Alice Flynn, the two ladies who donated prizes for this giveaway! 

I am so excited to announce the winners, so without further ado here they are:

Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth Bookmark Set

donated by Masha Laurence from her Etsy shop Antique Fashionista

Winner: Jen Corkill

Jane Austen portrait pin with quote of Darcy proposal

donated by Alice Flynn from her delightful Etsy shop

Winner: Jemimah C

Jane Austen's Persuasion

Donate by Miss Laurie (Me) of Old-Fashioned Charm


Winner: Melody


Ladies to collect your prize please send me your full name and mailing address by commenting here (I won't publish it) or  e-mail me at: 
OldFashionedCharming@gmail.com 

Thanks so much to everyone! 

Very Truly Your's,

Blog Milestone!

I'm so excited and had to post as soon as I discovered this incredible news! 

Another milestone has been reached, Old-Fashioned Charm officially has:
200 Followers!!!
I feel so incredibly blessed to have that many people following along as I continue to post about Everything Old-Fashioned Under The Sun! Thanks so much to all of my followers! Your interest and comments mean so much!
With a very thankful heart,

Two Days Left to Enter!

Click button to enter giveaway!

Just a reminder, you have only 2 days left to enter Anne Elliot's Birthday Giveaway! The winner will be announced on August 17th! Don't forget that there are many ways to get extra entries!

I'm extra excited about the copy of Persuasion I'm donating because I'm going to be giving away my favorite edition of the book! Take a look:

The Modern Library Classics edition of Jane Austen's Persuasion features: 

• A short bio of Jane Austen
• An introduction by author Amy Bloom
• The complete text of Persuasion
• Jane Austen's original ending of Persuasion! 
• Helpful notes by professor Audrey Bilger
• Reading Group Guide questions
• A beautiful copper color detailed paperback cover featuring Portrait of Margaret Douglas by painter Thomas Sully

This is my favorite copy of Persuasion, it is part of my Jane Austen collection and I am so glad to be able to send the winner their own brand new copy of this edition! My favorite thing about this edition is that Jane Austen's original ending for Persuasion is unedited and it's so delightful to see when reading how most film adaptations blend the two endings.  

I'm so looking forward to announcing the winners!