Essays

Sheila has been writing, speaking and publishing about Jane Austen, her family and her fiction since 1999:

“Wartime Worries of Fanny Palmer Austen and Jane Austen,” Jane Austen Society Report for 2020: 90-95.

“The Influence of Jane Austen’s Naval Family Members on the Creation of Persuasion,” in Approaches to Teaching Austen’s Persuasion, ed. Marcia McClintock Folsom and John Wiltshire, MLA, 2021:71-79.

“Fanny Palmer Austen at Godmersham Park,” Austentations, Vol. 20: Winter 2020: 19-26.

“Presenting Fanny Palmer Austen, Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister,” Sensibilities, The Journal of the Jane Austen Society of Australia, Vol. 59, December 2019: 5-20.

“Fanny Palmer Austen’s Accounts: her Pocket Diary for 1814,” The Jane Austen Society Report for 2018: 34-37

“Fanny Palmer Austen: Her Silhouette and Its Significance,” The Jane Austen Society Report for 2016:23-27.   

“Among the Proto-Janeites: Reading Mansfield Park for Consolation in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1815,” with Sarah Emsley, Persuasions On-Line 35, no. 1, 2014.

“Tidings of Comfort and Joy: A Note on Reading Mansfield Park,” Austentations 12, 2012: 35-40. 

“Jane Austen’s Naval Brother Charles in Bermuda, “The Jane Austen Society Report for 2010:37-48.                   

“The Influence of Naval Captain Charles Austen’s North American Experiences on Persuasion and Mansfield Park,” Persuasions 31, 2009: 115-129. 

“Jane Austen’s Naval Brother Charles on the North American Station 1805-1811,” Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society Journal 10, 2007: 25-46.

“Charles Austen’s capture of the French privateer La Jeune Estelle,” The Jane Austen Society Report for 2006: 50-53.

 “Two Naval Brothers, One City: Charles and Francis Austen in Halifax, Canada,” in

Jane Austen and the North Atlantic, ed. Sarah Emsley, Jane Austen Society, June 2006: 9-21.

“Charles Austen: Prize Chaser and Prize Taker on the North American Station 1805-1808,” Persuasions 26, 2004: 188-194.

 “From Puppet to Person: The Development of Catherine’s Character in the Bath Chapters of Northanger Abbey,” Persuasions 20, 1999: 196-206.