I recently came across the blog Sharp Elves Society, which is dedicated to the exploration of Jane Austen's "shadow stories". Among the author's ideas are that Jane Austen was a more radical feminist than Mary Wollstonecraft, that there really was something nefarious going on in Captain Tilney's marriage and that Jane Fairfax had a baby, gave it to Mrs Weston ... and the father was not Frank.

I am in no way affiliated with the author, and indeed, find some of his hypotheses extremely circumstantial. However, I appreciate his bringing to light the complexity of Austen's intelligence and her knowledge of other authors.

Here's the link to his blog. I'd encourage anyone interested in Austen to check it out and come back here with some thoughts.

http://sharpelvessociety.blogspot.com/