But during the many and various celebrations in 2025 that will mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, others, it seems, are planning to take a rather more full-hearted approach.
In Bath, where Austen took up residence in 1801, a series of costume balls are to be staged. At Chawton in Hampshire, where she lived with her mother and sister Cassandra from 1809, festivals will be devoted to Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma.
Austen died in Winchester in 1817, and by September a lifesize statue of the writer by the sculptor Martin Jennings will be installed in front of the city's cathedral. It is reputed to have cost £100,000 ($126,000).
Less expensive by far is the Regency ball that will be held in the cathedral's nave in May.
Esta historia es de la edición January 03, 2025 de The Guardian Weekly.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición January 03, 2025 de The Guardian Weekly.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar

THE SAVAGE SUBURBIA OF HELEN GARNER
Over 50 years the Australian has become one of her country's most revered and beloved authors, writing as if readers were her friend, party to her most candid thoughts. Is she finally going to get worldwide recognition? By Sophie Elmhirst

Israel's block on aid raises health fears for underfed population
Briefing the Israeli press after Benjamin Netanyahu’s order last Sunday to turn off the aid supply to Gaza - in an effort to pressure Hamas into accepting a change in the ceasefire agreement to allow for the release of hostages without an Israeli troop withdrawal - government officials claimed the Palestinian territory had several months’ worth of food stockpiled from earlier deliveries.

Dam it! How eager beavers became the farmer's friend
A Cornish farmer is behind a change in the law to release wild beavers in England after witnessing the incredible benefits on his land

Call of duty
This rural English village phone box was used fewer than 10 times in the whole of 2024-but Derek Harris sees it as a lifeline and is determined to save it.

Santa Fe mourns the mysterious loss of Gene Hackman
As New Mexico authorities investigate the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, their adopted home town of Santa Fe is grappling with the mystery of what happened to the couple.

Ramadan should be a time for reflection, not date-scented shopping
Supermarkets have wheeled out the 20kg bags of rice. High-street stores have popped hijabs on mannequins. Cosmetic companies are churning out products scented with pomegranate, cardamom, saffron and “sticky date” - at Lush you can buy Salam shower gel, Noor lip butter and a massage bar that apparently smells like a turmeric latte. All this can only mean one thing in our modern, consumerist world: Ramadan is upon us.

Days of Gracie
After dodging toxic fans, 'nepo baby' jibes and her own projectile vomit, pop star Gracie Abrams explains why she's writing about our uncertain future
I'm upset by my troubled mother-in-law's extreme views
I've had a terrible run in with my mother-in-law and don't know what to do about it.

Only connect - The NigerianAmerican author returns with an ambitious, astute and moving exploration of female experience
Novels had always felt to me truer than what was real,\" declares a character in Dream Count, the highly anticipated new novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Labour's aid cuts are wrong morally - and economically, too
Get right down to it and there are two reasons for thinking that cuts to Britain's aid budget to pay for defence are a seriously bad idea.