Owning the Estate

I’ve got a chance for you to show off your Jane Austen knowledge – a quiz about the estates that figure prominently in her novels! But first a few bits of news.

Audiobook Update: Production is now finished on Return to Longbourn, and it should go live before the end of the month! The Darcys of Pemberley and Mr. Collins’s Last Supper are now “Whispersynced” to their Kindle editions. This means you can switch back and forth between audio and Kindle without losing your place. Or try “immersion” reading – listen to the audio while following along on your Kindle. Even if you’re not interested in getting the audio versions, I hope you’ll go and listen to the free samples, just for fun. I’m so proud of my narrators, Marian Hussey and Chandler Craig, who do a mean Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins respectively!

New Excerpt: It was my turn this past week to put up and “Exquisite Excerpt” at Austen Authors. I decided to use a never-before-seen passage from Return to Longbourn, one featuring the volatile relationship between Mary Bennet and her stormy-tempered employer, Mr. Farnsworth. Watch out for flying sparks! Read it here.

Magazine Review: A gratifying endorsement in the current issue of Jane Austen’s Regency World Magazine –

Shannon Winslow continues to add to her “stash of unpublished Jane Austen novels” with this picturesque tale of a young woman who comes into an unexpected fortune. Set in familiar Jane Austen territory – Hampshire and Bath – For Myself Alone follows Josephine Walker,a rather charming heroine, on her journey to self-knowledge and true love. Winslow is attracting quite a following, and this book will please her growing army of fans.

Now for the JA quiz I promised you! The source of this fun exercise is Sporcle.com, and I invite you to go there and give the official version a try. If you would prefer an untimed, totally unofficial, multiple-choice version, however, I’ve set that up for you below. Personally, I LOVE multiple-choice, and I’ve always suspected I could pass that kind of test on a subject I knew almost nothing about. So you should breeze through this. Then be sure to pat yourself on the back for how smart you are!

Match the estate name with the proprietors. You can find the answers below the quote, but NO peeking!

General Tilney A. Mansfield Park
Fitwilliam Darcy B. Barton Park
Emma Woodhouse C. Netherfield
The Dashwood Family D. Delaford
Sir Walter Elliot E. Rosings Park
The Bennet Family F. Pemberley
Mr. George Knightley G. Northanger Abbey
Colonel Brandon H. Longbourn
Mr. Charles Bingley I. Kellynch
Sir Thomas Bertram J. Hartfield
Sir John Middleton K. Donwell Abbey
Lady Catherine de Bourgh L. Norland

Their estate was large, and their residence was… in the centre of the property, where, for many generations, they had lived in so respectable a manner as to engage the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance. (Sense and Sensibility, chapter 1)

(Quiz answers: 1G, 2F, 3J, 4L, 5I, 6H, 7K, 8D, 9C, 10A, 11B, 12E)