I know, I know. The calendar has barely flipped to December. We’re in the midst of the most intense month of the year. Probably your shopping lists, travel logistics, and holiday parties are calling a lot louder than your New Year. That’s cool. I’m a planner and I’m here for you.
Because if you’re a reader, there’s something you may want to have on your radar well before the ball drops. A fun and significant date that just may change how you approach the year to come.
The 16th of December, 2025.
What does that have to do with anything?
Any guesses? Yes? No?
That date, my friend, will mark Jane Austen’s 250th birthday. She was born on the 16th of December, 1775.
Now this is where you either yawn and click to the next Super-Duper-Thing-On-Sale email or start texting your book group about when to re-read every one of her books. Either way, prepare for the Year of Jane Austen celebrations to begin. You’ll likely experience Austen-Mania at bookstores, on podcasts, and in TV specials. You’ll see Gwyneth Paltrow, Keira Knightley, and Emma Thompson’s faces in your Netflix feed more often. And if you’re into costumes, I promise you’ll be able to find a ball or two to attend in period dress. Plus: bonus. Now you know what holiday gifts to get for the readers in your life!
If you’re not already a Jane Austen fan, my personal take is while her books may seem quaint at first glance, her heroines were actually quiet badasses with tons of relevance to women’s lives today. Refusing to make decisions for security alone despite social pressure. Struggling to find meaningful purpose beyond society’s expectations. Finding resilience after a major loss with the courage to pursue unconventional paths.
I’m particularly drawn to her theme of finding the courage to define success on one’s own terms. The genius of Austen’s rebellion was its subtlety. She worked within the system to critique it, using wit and irony rather than direct confrontation. This allowed her messages to reach and influence a wide audience while avoiding censure.
In other words, her books may sound polite in their dialogue, end in marriage, and not explicitly challenge the class system—which allowed them to be published at all—but look closer and you’ll see the woman wrote rebellion. Traditional authority figures are often shown as buffoons, the marriage market is soundly criticized, not romanticized, and her heroines value their intellect over their supposedly inherent female roles as caretakers.
I love these books because while I suppose I’m not your traditional rebel (the leather phase was short-lived), most of my life has been lived outside society’s norms. I remained happily child-free in a studio in the city until my 40s, focusing on career and travel. Though I got married in my 50s and inherited an amazing adult stepson, I think that still qualifies me as a Jane Austen spinster. And I chucked in the secure home for a dream of sailing around the world—one that hasn’t all gone according to plan, but I haven’t given up on either. Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing. Looking forward, since I still deal with plenty of angst, I definitely appreciate having a fiesty Austen heroine in my head, showing me how it’s done.
So happy 250th birthday, Jane!
Meanwhile, I've whittled down everything I own to what I can take on an Air France flight without paying extra baggage, in prep to become a nomad again.
I'll need to pack a little patience, too. The boat still needs a touch more work before we can move aboard. :)
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