Ending an Engagement: Break Slowly or Snap Suddenly? Love & Marriage 27 January, 2022

Ending an Engagement: Break Slowly or Snap Suddenly?

Dear Erica, I’ve gotten engaged to my boyfriend of nearly five years, but after just a few short weeks, I’ve decided I can’t go through with it. How can I end it as nicely as possibly? Do I tell him I’m having doubts now and then later on break the news gently? Or do I tell him right away? I know I ...

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Dreading a visit from some old friends? Heed Elizabeth von Arnim's wise words and you might just have a fabulous time!
Family & Friends 14 October, 2021

Dreading a visit from some old friends? Heed Elizabeth von Arnim's wise words and you might just have a fabulous time!

Dear Erica, I’m having some old friends to stay next weekend, and although I adore them, I’m rather dreading it. I just don't want us to get on each other's nerves. Do you have any advice? Nervous in ...

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What would Jane Austen say about your brilliant friend's less than brilliant fiance?
Love & Marriage 17 June, 2021

What would Jane Austen say about your brilliant friend's less than brilliant fiance?

Dear Erica, My best friend just got engaged and I don’t know what to do. Her fiance is nice enough, and he treats her well, but I just don’t think he’s good enough for her. I don’t mean to be a snob, ...

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Seventeen and never been kissed - What's the real problem according to Jane Austen's Emma and Clueless's Cher?

Dear Erica, I am concerned about my younger cousin. She is seventeen years old, and has yet to be kissed! She is very pretty and smart, and I am unsure what the problem may be. My only clue is that wh...

Motherhood and Middlemarch: The trials of baby bathtime
Family & Friends

Motherhood and Middlemarch: The trials of baby bathtime

Dear Erica, I just had a baby, and he is the most beautiful, adorable baby boy in the whole world(not biased at all of course!) My sister is now visiting and meeting him for the first time. Although I...

How do you get your boyfriend to propose? Some tips from Ali Wong and Jane Austen.
Love & Marriage

How do you get your boyfriend to propose? Some tips from Ali Wong and Jane Austen.

Dear Erica, I’ve been with my boyfriend for 3 years now and I want to know how get him to propose. We’re definitely on the same page when it comes to long-term plans, but it just hasn’t translated int...

Why are we so good at giving advice, but so bad at applying it to our own lives? As EM Forster explains Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice...
Love & Marriage

Why are we so good at giving advice, but so bad at applying it to our own lives? As EM Forster explains Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice...

Dear Erica Why is it so much easier to see what others should do in their love lives? My best friend is engaged to this banker who is totally wrong for her and I know she still loves her ex-boyfriend....

The growing divide in politics and society - Is social media really to blame? Or would George Eliot say it's always been this way?
Current Events

The growing divide in politics and society - Is social media really to blame? Or would George Eliot say it's always been this way?

Dear Erica, In a world where everyone seems so far to the left and so far to the right, both here in the US, and abroad in Europe too, what do you think the classics can tell us about our growing poli...

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