] Once again, I am just blown away at how dead on Jane Austen's observations of people were and how they still ring so true 200 years later!

One of the reasons I LOVE Jane Austen is that her characters are, as you said, timeless. I see so many of my own thoughts and bumbles and mistakes in Catherine Morland. It's like JA read my mind when she wrote her books.

My own life is so far removed from the world of muslins, calling cards, and barouche boxes. I have never been wealthy to that kind of degree, and the time we live in bears so small a resemblance to the Regency world...and yet, Jane's characters are so relate-able.