LONA MANNING
"Manning's writing style is so Austenian that I'm
​second-guessing the possibility of reincarnation."
               -- AE Walnofer, author of A Girl Called Foote
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Welcome to my website, which includes information about my writing and my time in China as an ESL teacher.

I'm an award-winning writer of Austenesque fiction and a freelance non-fiction writer.
​My Mansfield Trilogy is based on Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. 

My novella about Percy Bysshe Shelley, Shelley and the Unknown Lady, is based on a true-life mystery in the life of the romantic poet.

​The first post of my blog series about Austen, "Clutching My Pearls," is here.
"Manning makes a fine job of echoing Austen's writing style, at the same time turning a distinctly 21st-century eye on some of the "problematic" themes raised in Mansfield Park. The slave trade, sexual inequality, the first moves toward the emancipation of women -- all are explored in a way that would have been unthinkable in the early 19th century, unavoidable today."                     -- Jane Austen's Regency World Magazine 
"Lona Manning is quite skilled in capturing the voice and matching the tone and style of Jane Austen's characters... Well-crafted, meticulously composed, and richly researched... This series is definitely a perfect choice for readers who love stories that plausibly flesh out Jane Austen's characters and are not afraid to implement some surprising new twists."                                                     -- Austenesque Reviews