My obsession with Jane Austen began about ten years ago when I was struggling with the demands of a pretty normal life. I live in Melbourne, Australia, in a great inner city location where we know our neighbours, have a vegie garden and believe in community. I am a mother of three, wife, teacher, friend and neighbour. I started to wonder how to become better at managing the demands of daily life and just by chance I started re-reading Sense and Sensibility and it dawned on me that Austen wrote about just this. Sure it was 200 years ago but some of the issues were the same: how to bring up children, how to juggle family life, how to keep love fresh, how to sustain friends that nurture, how to be resilient when faced with disappointment, how to be true to beliefs in equality, how to juggle desire and needs and how to live the simple local life. (Yeah Yeah I know there was romance but there was also so much more.)
Without even drawing breath I started making notes and being a bookish sort of person I thought I would write a book. Some very special friends came on board. I had my own Cassandra who edited much and held my hand, my own Mrs Smith, Anne Elliot, Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Bennet and Elinor Dashwood who all sustained me as we read together parts of my book and discussed the issues. Without this coterie of friends I might not have got this far. Ten years later, the book is finished and you can download the first installment, on this site. I would have preferred a print copy but I have to keep reminding myself of Austen’s lessons with a modern twist : the way is often not smooth and failure can at times seem like poetry! (Remember that great line in The Commitments?) Anyway here is the blog. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to share.
© 2014 All rights reserved by
Shaunagh O’Connell
Austen's Guide to Happiness 
Hi, thanks for commenting and reading my blog, I thought that I would stop by and take a look, based on your recommendation. I’m really enjoying it, and will be clicking the follow button!
Hi Shaunagh61,
You have a beautiful blog here! It’s great to meet other Janeites like you.
Is your book fiction?
it is non fiction – my take on Jane Austen’s words
Oh okay. I hope you get published someday.
You really are a devoted fan aren’t you? I feel the same way about Tolkien. Slight difference in genres, but I do enjoy some Austen every once in a while also. I do hope that you are able to get your book published one day.
found you!!
And you by Jane Austen – certainly.
Impressive work!
very good to read
I am so glad I stumbled upon your blog! Jane Austen is my inspiration and it’s nice to see other people feel the same.
I always love stumbling across other Jane Austen fans. Congratulations on finishing your book – don’t let the words “published” or “unpublished” deter how proud you should feel. Thanks for stopping by Write Like Rowling.
Your passion is contagious! There must be something in this that has evaded me all my life so I will be off to the library shortly to borrow Sense and Sensibility! Thanks for opening up my mind to new opportunities.
Thank you for dropping by my blog! It’s always a pleasure to meet (whatever the manner) a fellow Austen fan. I know there are a lot of us, but still. I get excited. 😀
New follower right here! 🙂