The Literary Life Podcast

Today on The Literary Life Podcast, our hosts Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins, along with Thomas Banks, are discussing chapters 3-10 of Northanger Abbey. They start out talking about Jane Austen's light touch and her gentle satirical way of pointing out the pros and cons of the novel. Angelina and Thomas bring up some of the historical and social context for this setting in Regency period Bath. They contrast the proper social code with the way the Thorpes behave and with Catherine Morland's naïvetè and innocence. Cindy laughs about the way in which Jane Austen pokes fun at the novel's form while writing a novel herself.
After the critics' early disgust for the novel, Jane Austen elevated the form to the point that they finally had to recognize the novel as a worthy work of literature. Cindy also brings up the idea that Austen may have partly written this novel because she wanted to talk with others about all these books that she references. They chat about all the things that occurred in history that led up to the availability of the novel to the masses, and to women in particular.
Angelina observes that Austen plays with the tropes within a realistic situation in contrast to the over-the-top situations presented in sensational novels of the period. They wrap up the conversation with highlights about the different characters and what we can be looking for in the next several chapters.
Don't forget to head over to House of Humane Letters to check out the upcoming fall webinars, the 2027 Literary Life Online Conference, and the HHL annual sale coming up November 21-December 31, 2026. Also, Cindy has a new "Advent to Epiphany" group Morning Time coming up in December now open for registration at MorningTimeforMoms.com.
For the rest of this week's show notes, including book links and more, please visit https://theliterary.life/352.

This week on The Literary Life podcast we bring you an episode from our vault, the opening of a series from Season 1 all about Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. For this introductory episode, Cindy Rollins and Angelina Stanford are joined by Thomas Banks. Together they discuss the advent of the novel as a form, as well as some predecessors of Austen.
Angelina points out Austen's satirical voice in poking fun at the sentimental novel in the first few chapters. She also encourages us to look for the real life dangers the main characters encounter in contrast to those sensations of the popular sentimental or gothic novel. Furthermore, we ought to notice who is reading various genres of literature and what that says about those characters.
Cindy and Angelina also talk about Jane Austen's writing and her economy of style and the lasting quality of her books. Along with criticism of sensationalism, Austen also adds a healthy dose of criticism of the education given young women in her day. We also learn that this is a novel of development as we watch Catherine Moorland learn her way around the world.
Don't forget to head over to House of Humane Letters to check out the upcoming fall webinars, the 2027 Literary Life Online Conference, and the HHL annual sale coming up November 21-December 31, 2026. Also, Cindy has a new "Advent to Epiphany" group Morning Time coming up in December now open for registration at MorningTimeforMoms.com.
And for the full show notes for this episode, you can visit https://theliterary.life/351.

On The Literary Life podcast today, Angelina and Addison will wrap up the final installment of our series covering George MacDonald's Lilith. Throughout this conversation they make more connections to other books and stories that they have brought up throughout this series. They also talk about how this story highlights the realities of the journey of the soul, the problem of reading a story like this theologically instead of poetically, the pictures of repentance and judgment, and so much more!
To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/350.

On today's episode of The Literary Life podcast, Angelina and Addison are back to continue their book series on Lilith by George MacDonald. Before diving into chapters 17-32, they talk about the great influence that George MacDonald was on so many other authors. Addison also shares some further information on the character of Lilith in the literary tradition. Then they turn to examining each chapter in this section of the book, including highlights such as the skeleton couple, Mr. Vane awakening Lilith, the people of Bulika, Lilith's palace, the image of the horse, and so much more!
Don't forget to check out everything going on over at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, and sign up for the newsletter to stay up to date on all the upcoming new autumn classes and webinars, including more information about the 2027 Literary Life Online Conference taking place January 22-29, which is now open for registration!
To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/349.

This week Angelina and Addison are back on The Literary Life podcast to continue their discussion series on George MacDonald's Lilith. Today's episode will cover chapters 6-16. They open the conversation with some thoughts on the disorientation we experience when reading MacDonald in general and Lilith in particular. In comparing this work to episodic medieval romances, they give some advice on how to orient yourself as you read this story. Addison shares what it means that the images in this book are "un-displaced." After many preliminary thoughts, Angelina and Addison start moving through the chapters and talking about the major images and symbols we see throughout this section of the book.
Don't forget to check out everything going on over at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, and sign up for the newsletter to stay up to date on all the upcoming new autumn classes and webinars, including more information about the 2026 Literary Life Online Conference, which is now open for registration!
To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/348.