Today is the last day as the NAIWE Words Matter Blog Challenge. Todays topic:

Words, like moths, are captured by writers who pin them to the page in various forms. What writer’s work most deftly captivates you? Why?

Easy answer for me: Jane Austen, particularly Pride and Prejudice. I read it at least once a year, or on a bad night when I need some diversion. Her astute portrayal of the worst in us and the best in us, her comic descriptions of family foibles, and the delightful happy ending, where love conquers all will never cease to engage me.

This isn’t to say there are not other authors whose work I’ll buy whenever a new book appears or an old one is reissued. Sarah Vowell, David Sederis, and Michael Chabon are among them.

But some of my favorite authors have echoes of Jane Austen: The Anglo-Irish author Molly Keane and England’s Elizabeth Taylor (not the movie star) who both figured out that novels of manners can make serious reading fun. I’ve tried to find more modern writers that do this stuff as well as Jane and Molly and Elizabeth, but haven’t yet. I’m willing to take suggestions, though.