A Taste of Victorian Literature
A Taste of Victorian Literature is a unique book group experience focused on four enduring authors of the Victorian era from February – May 2011 at the Plaza Branch.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
A Taste of Victorian Literature is a unique book group experience focused on great works and enduring authors associated with Victorian literature: Jane Austen, author of Mansfield Park, her most ambitious and most underrated novel; Charlotte Bronte, author of Jane Eyre, a seemingly innocuous gothic romance; George Eliot, author of The Mill on the Floss, a tragic story of siblings whose antagonism is washed away amid a flood; and D.H. Lawrence, author of The Rainbow, a nuanced and controversial family saga.
The Plaza Branch will host participants for conversations about these featured books with the guidance of expert discussion leaders and a small cadre of like-minded readers; these discussions will take always take place on Wednesday evenings every month at 6:30 p.m. from February through May 2011.
The Plaza Branch has reserved copies of all four novels, available for check-out by participating readers.
This program is free, but space is limited. Participation in A Taste of Victorian Literature is contingent on completion of a Reader Profile Form, a quick survey that will help the Library assemble a diverse group of readers. This form is available online.
Those readers who are not selected at this time will receive a customized list of recommended readings (prepared by Library Readers' Advisors) based on the information submitted on this form, as well as early notification about future book group programs.
WHAT IS VICTORIAN LITERATURE?
A broad definition of Victorian literature includes any work published during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 – 1901) of England. It is during this timeframe that the literary world first welcomed women into its fold, as both serious fictional subjects and serious authors on equal footing with (if not a step above) their male peers. Victorian literary voices are distinctly different from those of contemporary authors, but these voices proved integral in shaping the attitude and narrative approach of contemporary literature.
PRESENTERS:
Andrea Broomfield is author of Food and Cooking in Victorian England: A History and co-edited the anthology Prose by Victorian Women. She is associate professor of English at Johnson County Community College.
Kaite Stover is the Head of Readers’ Services for the Kansas City Public Library, where she serves as the resident expert on book groups. She hosts workshops and presentations nationwide that focus on improved book group experiences. Booklist magazine publishes her side of its regular column “He Reads/She Reads.” She is the lead coordinator for A Taste of Victorian Literature.
Melissa Carle is a Reference Librarian and the Weekend Supervisor at the Plaza Branch. Along with her B.A. in English Language and Literature, she nurtured her love of English Literature by studying for a year at Oxford University. Her favorite Victorian novel is Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure.
BOOK GROUP SESSIONS
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
