When I was asked this question by Maria Grazia, who’s from Italy, I instantly thought that if I hadn’t met Austen, my world would probably be smaller. I used to dislike romantic period novels, because I was full of prejudices, even though my sister Almudena was totally in love with that Austen novel she was reading, called Pride and Prejudice. But time went by, and we watched a TV series with Colin Firth who I loved, and then, at school, I had to watch that film by Emma Thompson too. And I was really got and then, fell in love with the writer and her works.My sister and I, along with other family members and friends, had fallen in love with Mr Darcy, Elizabeth and even Mr Collins. But Internet was happening around those years, and we started to meet “janeites” online through forums. Almudena and I thought that we had to share in a more active way, and we even designed a website, a bit rough in that moment. After this, we started to receive emails and signings in our guestbook every now and then...and you know, we were so happy, because we were making people happy.
Years have passed since the moment we opened our website, which has been redesigned and rebuilt. We keep the main images drawn by my sister in the beginning, because they are the main reference point of El Sitio de Jane. We were encouraged to open a forum, and thank God we did it, because we have met great people there that we can call now friends. No matter where they come from (rest of Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay…), as well as the mails or the tweets, they share the same happiness and love for Jane Austen. We even have met some of them in “real life” and they are such a lovely “austenitas” and human beings.Our goal was to make people know about Austen so they could be happier, just like us. We never knew we were going to receive so many good things like hope, encouragement, points of view, love, happiness and more. So yes, our world has become bigger and brighter thanks to Jane Austen.
The pic is from our Austen Meeting for the Bicentennary of Pride and Prejudice in Madrid. Almudena wears the Regency dress...I am the girl with the white T-Shirt.
Carmen
El Sitio de Jane: http://janeausten.zxq.net o http://www.janeausten.es.vg200 Años de Orgullo y Prejuicio/200 years of Pride and Prejudice:http://prideandprejudice200years.blogspot.comEl Salón de Té: http://janeausten.mforos.comTwitter:@SalonJaneAusten
www.almudenaromero.com
