Join other Jane Austen enthusiasts at this historical talk presented by Kathy Wilson, Historian. The program is brought to you by the Urbandale Public Library and The Iowa Region of the Jane Austen Society of North America.

Her contemporaries paid scant attention to her and the Victorians found her passionless and parochial. Yet in the 21st Century, an age where seemingly 'anything goes', the reserve and restraint, modesty and manners of Austen's characters continue to captivate many readers. Why should stories filled with what author Anthony Trollope once called "sweet lessons of homely household virtue" be so popular more than 200 years after their publication? This program looks at the world of Jane Austen in an attempt to understand not only what influenced her writing, but also why we still love her books today.