Content area
1 Why do novels focused on the breeding habits of early 19th-century rural Brits have such appeal? Because they're like the breeding habits of early 21st-century Americans -- plus a few more layers of clothing.
In All Roads Lead to Austen (Sourcebooks, $14.99), California literature professor Amy Elizabeth Smith, 48, describes her journey through Latin America visiting book clubs that were reading Jane Austen and finding her own Mr. Darcy! She spoke with USA TODAY's Deirdre Donahue.
1 Why do novels focused on the breeding habits of early 19th-century rural Brits have such appeal? Because they're like the breeding habits of early 21st-century Americans -- plus a few more layers of clothing.
2 Your favorite Austen novel is Northanger Abbey? I'm a book nerd, and NA is Austen's "book about books." She's playing with types of reading that were popular in her time -- sentimental and gothic literature.
3 Which book club response most surprised you? The Emma mutiny of Paraguay. Which shouldn't have surprised me, I suppose, considering that Austen herself suspected a lot of people might not like her ritziest heroine.
4 If someone has never read an Austen novel, which would you suggest? Pride and Prejudice -- it's a classic for a reason.
5 Were you inspired by Reading Lolita in Tehran? Absolutely -- that's a beautiful memoir about why reading is so important in people's lives, and how sharing literature brings us together.
(Copyright (c) 2012 USA Today. All Rights Reserved.)