Bea commented, "When your Austen phase occurs during high school, the culture is alarmingly familiar. They talk differently and dress differently, but otherwise, it's just the same: the rigidly hierarchical and stiflingly unvaried society, the narrow focus on social opinion and heterosexual attractiveness."

I believe she's right but I can't say I know it to be true from my own high school career, which was a study in obtuseness. I never could figure out what was going on.

I love that in Austen's novels, (most of) the main characters do understand what's going on. They know what behavior – what dress, what manners – will send their neighbors into a tizzy of gossip. They know what is morally right and what's wrong. The rules of society are very clear to them. Her characters may choose to act against the rules, but they do so consciously, knowing full well what the consequences will be.

I never had that kind of clarity. I still don't.

My husband tells this little joke. Actually it's a test. All single men under age 30 fail this test. It goes like this: A man and his wife are driving down the street. Suddenly the woman claps her hands and says, "Oh, honey! A little coffee shop just opened! It looks so cute!" The man says, "Oh? Is that right?" and continues on. When they get home, the wife is angry with her husband. Why?

My husband gave his older brother this test about a decade ago. I still remember his brother's response. It was so funny and so telling. He got kind of wild-eyed and he stuttered, "I don't know! She's angry? Did we ... did we pass an old girlfriend or something?" I laughed but I sympathized. Oh, how I sympathized. She's angry! Is she angry? I don't know why! Is it my hair? Is my make-up a mess? Did I talk to a guy she likes?

I wandered through high school bewildered. I never could follow other people's relationships, and I certainly could not fathom the rules of behavior or dress. In fact it took me awhile to understand that there were rules.

For me, Austen's books are a relief.

Lizzy doesn't wonder why Lady Catherine De Bourgh would drive miles out of her way to reprimand her. She knows what De Bourgh is about, and she knows exactly how to respond, and she knows what her response will convey to Darcy. I so admire that!

I'd like to think that I'm as clever as Elizabeth Bennet, but you know which Austen character I most resemble, right? Catherine Morland!