We are all familiar with the marriage plot: Girl meets boy, girl loses boy, complications ensue, and, inevitably, there is a happy ending. Think Shakespeare’s comedies, Nora Ephron’s screenplays... and Jane Austen’s novels. In Austen’s novels, we also encounter issues of class, money, gender roles, and social conventions, as well as elegant prose and scathing satire. Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton novels and TV series are only the latest of many descendants of Austen. These are again “marriage plots” in a Regency setting, but here, we also encounter a faster pace, a mysterious Mrs. Whistledown, and some steamy scenes.

Format: We will read Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Julia Quinn’s The Duke and I, the basis for Season 1 of Bridgerton, which we will also view. Participants will be asked to give 20–30-minute presentations or to bring significant passages from the novels to class for discussion. The coordinators will provide a list of topics, but participants may also suggest their own relevant topics.

Resources/Expenses: Pride and Prejudice, paperback from $1.68 used and up; The Duke and I, in paperback from $6.23 used and up; a Netflix subscription, $6.99/month.

Coordinators: Both Susan and Nancy are first-time LLC coordinators.