Showing posts with label Jane Austen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jane Austen. Show all posts
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Thursday, October 17, 2013
A Few Jane Austen Questions
During this writing challenge, I've been reading all of Austen's works, letters, unfinished works, unpublished works, etc. It's been fascinating to watch her grow as a writer, but also fascinating to realize how bloody good she was in her youth.
If you've never heard of, or read Lady Susan, one of Austen's earliest unpublished novels, I highly recommend it. It's an epistolary novel, meaning it's composed entirely of letters, and the lead character is quite a scandalous lady of her time. Hand-written correspondence has all but disappeared in the modern lexicon of life, so the delight of reading letters is ten fold increased today. Hence, my hypothesis as to why Lady Susan is making a comeback on bookshelves. Reading someone else's letter is a voyeuristic occupation. It allows the outside reader in on a secret. And this book, with a beautiful, charming lady seducing men many years her junior and carrying on an affair with a married man, is full of salacious secrets. The letters from the jealous wives of the seduced men are equally as intriguing.
This brings me to an observation about all of Jane's writings - the fact that women had little or no power over their fate. Lady Susan is her only character, in any of her books that even attempts to live life for her own happiness, and not to please others. She can not be happy if oppressed by the rules of society, so she defies every rule.
Women in the regency era, 1790's - 1820's, were always at the mercy of either a good marriage or an inheritance. If neither were in a woman's future, she may be forced into service as a governess. The stakes for a low-income, young, unmarried lady are great, it's either marriage or servitude. This situation is exactly why Austen's books are so enjoyable; a lady's merits overrule her income. A rich husband is always found for the lady of high moral character. The books offer hope to all the penniless gentlemans' daughters of the past and the present. The reader is instantly rooting for the underdog.
Now the question - as it pertains to my own Irish set Austen novel. If my young sisters each have £20,000, like Miss Crawford in Mansfield Park, are they allowed to marry beneath their rank? Knowing that women at this time have little choice in their fate, is it believable that a wealthy Anglo-Irish lady may choose to marry a working doctor? Is it believable at this time, in 1802, that a young lady may wish to find a greater purpose in her life than to simply sip tea with her morning callers, which is any well-bred ladys' fate as she fends off one fortune hunting suitor after another?
What's your opinion?
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Jane Austen Made Me Do It - Book Review
If you are anything like me and love the historical world of Jane Austen, but don't know what other books to read to continue the daydream, then this blog post is for you.
At the end of a good book, I always flip through the last blank pages hoping there’s more. In desperation for the story to continue, I seek out an appendix, references, epilogue, author’s notes, anything. The Harry Potter series, Lord or the Rings, Imaginarium Geographica, are all classic examples of worlds I never want to leave. These are all fantasy worlds. What I find fascinating about my desire to extend Jane Austen’s world, is that it’s real. Yes, Austen’s world is 200 years old, but it really existed in regency era England, and perhaps this is part of the draw that has created an entire genre of literature known as regency romance.
Jane
Austen only wrote 6 books. But there are at least 300 books continuing the
stories of her characters, her world and of the author’s life itself. After
rereading Austen’s 6 books multiple times, I wanted more. But with so many choices,
where to begin?
Jane Austen Made Me Do It is a brilliant anthology collection edited by
the creator of AustenProse.com, Laurel Ann Nattress. Every story is completely different, covering a
broad range of Austen related styles and all by established authors of regency
romance. This is a wonderful way to sample the current regency authors roaming the
bookstore shelves. I broke down the stories and other Austenite books I’ve read
into four categories:
-Stories of how Austen was inspired (biographical
fiction),
-Sequels & prequels (Austen characters continue in Austen’s world
- these are my favorite),
-Contemporary stories with Austen characters out of
time or following an Austen story structure (Bridget Jones’s Diary or Clueless),
-Austen stories in an alternate universe (Cue the Zombies).
I didn't review all the stories, but here's a decent smattering.
Hopefully this
review of anthology stories will help narrow down your decision of how to
continue your Jane Austen interest, addiction, or in my case, obsession.
Jane Austen as Biographical Fiction:
Jane Austen’s Nightmare by Syrie James
Other titles include: The Lost Memoirs of Jane
Austen, The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte
This is one of the best stories in the collection - all
the characters of Austen confront the author. Marianne Dashwood is angry with
Austen for making her so selfish and self-involved. Fanny and Elinor are too
perfect. Emma is oblivious to everything, including her own feelings. And then
there are the actual annoying characters that form a lynch mob. Will Jane find
any characters pleased with their incarnations? This is an author who really
understands Austen readers and dares to ask all the questions that constantly
dance in my dreams.
Jane and the Gentleman Rogue by Stephanie Barron
Other titles include: 11 bestselling Jane Austen
mysteries including Jane and the Canterbury Tale.
This is an enjoyable intrigue with spies and duels
during the Napoleonic wars with Jane Austen as a spy accomplice. This is
swashbuckling good fun and how I hope Jane lived her life.
Jane Austen and the Mistletoe Kiss by Jo Beverly
Other titles include: Over 30 novels - Publisher’s
Weekly declared her “arguably today’s most skillful writer of intelligent
historical romance.”
A sweet romance set in Austen’s town of Chawton.
It’s in the vein of a Mr. Darcy-esque gentleman meets Mrs. Dashwood-esque
woman, but the characters are given a little help from Miss Austen playing
cupid with her Mistletoe stories. The writing is excellent, the characters
endearing, and the story ends happily. This is definitely an author to explore.
Another book of note - Author not listed in the anthology:
A Jane Austen Daydream by Scott D. Southard
(Yes, it’s a man! The
only male author I know writing in this genre.)
All her heroines find love in the end–but is there love waiting for
Jane? Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small
countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her
into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her
heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood
friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess. Written in the style of
Jane herself, this novel ponders the question faced by many devoted readers
over the years–did Jane ever find love? This book is fun both for the Austen obsessed
or the new reader as it weaves fact with fiction. It re-imagines Austen’s life
using her own stories to fill in the gaps left by history, but gives her the
happy ending she most decidedly deserves.
Sequels and Prequels:
Waiting, A story inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, By Jane Odiwe
Other titles include: Lydia Bennet’s Story,
Willoughby’s Return, and Mr. Darcy’s Secret.
In Persuasion, remember that Captain Wentworth once asked Anne’s
father for her hand in marriage and was rudely denied. This story picks up at
the end of Persuasion, where Wentworth must again ask for Anne’s hand in
marriage. It also reveals a flashback of how Anne and Wentworth first fell in
love 9 years prior. I’ve often wondered about the beginning and ending of Anne
and Wentworth’s relationship, so this story was immensely satisfying. Judging
from Jane Odiwe’s other titles, this author definitely delves into some juicy
territory. Thank goodness someone is brave enough to bring back Willoughby!
Nothing Less Than Fairy-Land by Monica Fairview
Other titles include: An Improper Suitor, The
Other Mr. Darcy, The Darcy Cousins
In true Jane Austen spirit - we witness the trivial
disagreements of the wealthy. What happens when Mr. Knightly actually does move
into Hartfield with Emma and her paranoid, hypochondriac, overly polite, easily
offended father? Will Emma’s father ever comprehend the fact that his daughter
is now more than just friends with Mr. Knightly? Will Mrs. Bates find her
purpose in life? This author wonderfully captures all the subtleties and
subtext of Austen’s "Polite" society.
Heard of You by Margaret C. Sullivan
Other titles include: There Must be Murder and
The Jane Austen Handbook, which is a humorous and engaging non-fiction
romp regarding the proper life skills from Regency England.
In Persuasion, I always wondered how Admiral
Croft met a woman willing to travel the high seas with him. This story explains
the courtship between Wentworth’s sister and Wentworth’s “Captain” Croft. In
this story I learned that a “Roasted miller” is what sailor’s called a cooked
rat. This author fills her stories with such succulent details.
Mr. Bennet Meets His Match by Amanda Grange
Other titles include: 7 Austen retellings and Mr.
Darcy, Vampyre.
I always wondered how the reserved, contemplative
Mr. Bennet met and married the unreserved, frivolous Mrs. Bennet. This story
proposes a likely scenario. This author writes in an excellent Austen style,
has clearly read The Jane Austen Handbook, and is well versed in the
weather and ways of the regency era. However, I must admit that I didn’t find
the characters as real and relatable as Austen’s. But perhaps I love the aged
Mr. Bennet so much that the young Mr. Bennet simply seemed odd.
Austen Characters Out of Time:
When Only a Darcy Will Do by Beth Pattillo
Other titles include: Jane Austen Ruined My
Life, Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart and The Dashwood Sisters Tell All,
which is part of “The Formidables,” a secret society that guards a treasure
trove of “lost” Austen related writings. (That sounds fun!)
A modern day full regency attired tour guide stands
on a busy corner in London, hoping to pick up a few tourists to share in a tour
of Austen sites. Instead, Mr. Darcy, or at least a modern day person dressed
like him, joins her for a tour. The ending of this story was ultimately
unsatisfying. But the writing is good and she knows her Austen history, so “The
Formidables” series is probably worth a look.
The Mysterious Closet: A Tale by Myretta Robens
www.pemberly.com (The original Austen website, established
1997)
Other titles include: Just Say Yes and blogs
for Heroes and Heartbreakers.
A modern day story of a young woman wanting to
escape it all by giving herself a weekend away in a gothic abbey, akin to
Northanger Abbey. She requests the Radcliffe Suite (I would totally do that!),
unaware that the suite is housed in the yet-to-be-modernized section of the
rambling abbey. Remarkably, there is a closet that leads to an unknown room
with an unknown man that may be real, or the ghost of Henry Tilney. Regardless,
he’s hot! Austen has a talent for observing and displaying, with grand humor,
the annoying behaviors of society, and so does this author.
Me and Mr. Darcy, Again… by Alexandra Potter
Other titles include: 9 bestselling novels
including Me and Mr. Darcy and You’re Not the One.
Mr. Darcy appears to a woman in need of a little
romantic advice. But last time he appeared, he gave her far more than just
advice, and romance bloomed of a more physical nature. This is a tale of making
a choice between a fantasy and reality, but when neither is well defined. This
is the story in the collection that I repeatedly ponder. I keep discovering
layers to it. Hopefully her novels are just as layered with the complications
of human decision.
What Would Austen Do? By Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway
Other titles include: Lady Vernon and Her
Daughter, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s early book Lady Susan. (Lady Susan is written as letters, and it's juicy - akin to Dangerous Liaisons. If you've never picked it up, you should!)
This is one of the most charming, surprising
stories in the collection. A young boy simply wants to fit in to his new high
school, but quickly discovers that in order to win the girl, he needs to stand
out. Embracing his recent discovery of Regency English Dancing, he chooses to
enter high school as the endlessly well mannered, impeccably dressed, boy
gentleman, which obviously disturbs every teacher on campus. Every teenager
should read this story! Imagine how wonderful the world would be if teenagers
strolled around acting like gentleman instead of cell phone abusing, authority
hating, vampire lovers?
Alternate worlds - including
Zombie’s & Vampires
Jane Austen, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah by Janet Mullany
Other titles include: Jane and the Damned (Jane
as a vampire), Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion (Vampire invasion of
Chawton), Little to Hex Her (Modern retelling of Emma) in the
anthology Bespelling Jane Austen.
A 1960’s English teacher helps three teenage girls
better appreciate Sense and Sensibility by relating the male characters
to the four Beatle’s boys. I give the author merit for trying the idea, but
ultimately it failed. Considering she’s also the author famous for doing
terrible things to Austen, I’m gathering she doesn’t understand the
non-cynical, emotionally reserved heart of Austen's characters and doesn’t even
want to try to appreciate Austen for the many reasons that make the authoress still so
engaging 200 years later. But hey, if you have a love for both Vampires and Jane Austen, and for some odd reason think they should be combined, then this is your author.
Other noted titles are Pride & Prejudice and
Zombies and Sense & Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Personally, I
was disappointed with both these titles as they simply plagiarized the book,
changed a few lines here and there and added random monster scenes. Janet
Mullany, to her credit, is probably more creative and definitely a better
writer.
Intolerable Stupidity by Laurie Viera Rigler
Other titles include: Confessions of a Jane
Austen Addict and Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, which the
author concedes could be semiautobiographical had they not involved time travel
and body switching.
The anthology collection closes with a brilliant,
totally surprising story ala Alice in Wonderland meets Law and Order:
Special Austen Unit. The honorable judge Lady Catherine de Bourgh presides
over a corrupt court whereby the defendants are a collection of authors who
have retold, added zombies, or filmed Austen stories. In a Jasper Fforde-esque
world, the plaintiffs are the characters themselves who are straining to maintain
their true identity as Austen wrote them. Poor Mr. Darcy is perpetually wet
which has caused great discomfort to his love life and health, which also leads
to the swooning ladies of the regency court causing numerous offensive
disruptions. How will the defense attorney ever save his clients?
Another book of note - Author not listed in the anthology:
Lost in Austen - Create Your Own Jane Austen
Adventure by
Emma Campbell Webster.
This is great fun, as you get to play Elizabeth
Bennet and force her to make all the wrong decisions which result in her
meeting all the Austen men at one point or another. Your social manners are
tested as Emma foists you upon Mr. Elton while she rudely escapes with the
handsome Mr. Frank Churchill. Mr. Darcy and his cousin Capt. Fitzwilliam fight
duels over you, and Willoughby is extremely reckless with his carriage driving.
Beware Northanger Abbey’s secret passages, as you never know in which book you
might land. This is an adventure where Austen characters do everything their
emotionally reserved hearts prevent them from doing. And you as the reader will agree that Lady Catherine de Bourgh is simply biding her time until she
can murder Elizabeth Bennet.
There are new novels being written as historical fiction
that take place in Austen’s time and tend to follow her basic structure and
storytelling methods. Meryton Press is a good source for these stories.
More info - the two major Jane Austen websites are:
Austenprose.com - Created by anthology editor Laurel Ann Nattress
Pemberley.com - Where Jane Austen was born on the internet
(1997).
What books am I adding to my nightstand? Willoughby’s
Return, Jane and the Canterbury Tale, The
Dashwood Sister’s Tell All from “The Formidables” series, and Lady
Vernon and her Daughter. Laurie Viera Rigler is the most creative and
inventive author in the collection and reminds me of my love for Jasper
Fforde's Thursday Next series, so she’s another author I look forward to
reading.
And maybe one day I'll be invited to participate in such an amazing collection of stories.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Belvedere House - Location In My Jane Austen Ireland Book
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| Belvedere House, Lough Ennell, just south of Mullingar in central Ireland |
I've been happily buzzing along in the writing of my new Jane Austen styled novel which I've set in Ireland in 1802, and I came across an interesting problem. Like all Jane Austen stories, my country family must travel to town for the social season. So I need to move my family from Athlone to Dublin.
I was able to map out exactly which roads they might take, the quality of the roads, the number of turnpikes, which was a charge for maintenance of a section of road where a man literally collected tolls and opened a gate to let you pass, and which distances were reasonable within a day, changing horses every 10-12 miles at the Irish equivalent of a coaching Inn.
I also read a tremendous amount about The Highway Act passed by Irish Parliament in 1614. I was amazed to learn that Ireland had a better system of roads than England during the Georgian era (1714-1830).
As quoted from a young English traveler in the 1780s:
"...for a country so very far behind us as Ireland to have got suddenly so much the start of us in the article of roads is a spectacle that cannot fail to strike the English traveller exceedingly."
So I plotted my characters route from Athlone to Dublin and found a central town for the family to stay the night.
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| Map is from the Irish archive of roads in 1714. It's a fun map to play with if you desire. |
One of the houses has a fabulous history of a wicked Earl locking away his wife for thirty years and architectural mayhem due to jealousy over a brother's estate. So I chose Belvedere House, only a 1/2 hour carriage ride south of Mullingar as the family estate to host my characters for the night.
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| Ariel view of Belvedere House, Lough Ennell and gardens/woods |
Thankfully, Belvedere House is now a public attraction and has a great website. So I looked at a bunch of pictures and read several different historical accounts of the house.
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| I really like these curved wall rooms. |
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| Belvedere House Interior of curved wall drawing room. |
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| Belvedere House Interior of another room. |
Then I investigated the gardens and found a wonderful story about a ruined abbey folly in the gardens that was built by the wicked Earl to obstruct his view of his older brother's more magnificent estate. I thought this would be a great place for my young heroine to meet her first suitor. Jane Austen has a flair for dramatic entrances, so I thought I'd continue her tradition.
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| Ruined Abbey Folly at Belvedere House - called "The Jealous Wall." |
What better place for two young lovers to first meet, than at "The Jealous Wall." Am I hinting at a wee bit of foreshadowing? Maybe...
Using locations to inspire stories - Woohoo!
This Novel Travelist is signing off until next time.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Discovering a Jane Austen Story in Ireland
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| Writer's Tears Irish Whiskey - I needed this when I decided to embark on an entirely different book! |
I just returned from a month in Ireland, where I planned to research a totally different book then what I ended up with. If any of you have ever participated in NaNoWriMo.com, National Novel Writing Month, where you write an entire novel in November, then you understand the adrenaline rush of finding a story and running with it. Well, I did that during a vacation.
I entered Ireland for my fifth research trip with a planned itinerary for a novel I’ve been working on for years. Then I landed and entered my regency era Dublin hotel in the middle of Georgian Dublin and BOOM - Jane Austen was stuck in my head for the entire month!
I chucked my itinerary and researched a Jane Austen styled book to be set in Ireland in 1802, just after the Act of Union, which disbanded the Irish Parliament and greatly reduced the number of eligible bachelors for the “Social Season” in Dublin.
But first, why Jane Austen popped into my head upon landing in Ireland. I’ve been obsessed with Jane Austen for the past six months, ever since I saw a production of Jane Austen Unscripted by Impro Theater.
This is an improv theater company that performs long form narrative plays - as in they improvise an ENTIRE PLAY every evening. The genre is already stated, like Jane Austen, Western or Twilight Zone, etc., and then the play is based upon an audience suggestion, like “Purple ribbon,” or “Kidney pie.” I saw four productions and was so dazzled I signed up for improv classes. Reminder - I’m a writer and a scientist. Me standing up on stage causes severe heart palpitations, sweat stains and enormous grins of fear. But good golly, those improv classes are the happiest days of my life! I’m so excited to start again tomorrow night! The entire world should go to Improv classes. It makes you a better person. But that’s another blog post.
For the past six months, I’ve been rereading Jane Austen’s books and everything related. See reading list below:
So I guess it’s really no surprise that Ireland inspired a Jane Austen styled story and my original book has been side lined. Thankfully, NaNoWriMo.com offers Camp NaNoWriMo during April and July, so woohoo, I’m writing my novel during the month of July.
Since this blog is about using real locations in novels, you'll get the inside scoop on the real locations I'm using in my upcoming novel temporarily titled: Tolerance & Temperance. Just kidding. I'm really going with A Lady's Troubles. Um... Nope, not that either. Okay, you can help me name the novel. Think Sense & Sensibility meets Pride & Prejudice in Ireland. Go!
The novel opens at these two locations:
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| Muckross House. Photo by me. The weather in Ireland was stunning this trip. |
Muckross House is located in South West Ireland in Killarney National Park. I took a tour of the house and decided to use it as the model for the big country estate of my Anglo-Irish Protestant family with three daughters and one young sickly son. In my story the estate will be located near the city of Athlone, about 50 miles west of Dublin. The travel distances in Jane Austen novels are typically about 20 - 50 miles. Killarney is 150 miles from Dublin, so keeping the estate in it's real location can't happen. However I'm researching the Athlone area of 1802 to confirm that the industry and estate operations could be similar to that of Muckross.
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| Turin Castle. Photo by me. |
Turin Castle (which can be rented) is located in West Ireland, near Cong. We’ve spent many a joyful evening here, so I know it well. However in 1802, most of Ireland’s castles were in ruins because England destroyed them due to fears of Catholic military strongholds. Bummer! Not long ago Turin Castle was also a ruin. But thankfully our friends, Brendan & Marnie, restored it to the historical magnificience it is today. Seriously, click on the Turin website and check out the interior. It's an amazing time warp. So in 1802, the daughters and son will play at the romantic castle ruins, but imagine themselves Lord and Lady of the fully restored magnificient castle.
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| Interior of Muckross Abbey bell tower in Killarney. That's Wes, my husband. |
I wanted to imagine Turin as a ruin, but more than just from pictures. I needed to feel and smell the mossy stones, and see the bird's nests in the empty beam holes that once held floor boards. So we ventured into as many old ruins as we could find. Muckross Abbey, also in Killarney National Park, was a great example to explore for this purpose.
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| Banquet Hall of Turin Castle - Music Session. I've never seen anyone rock out with a mandolin. Awesome! |
Gathering a bit Irish culture to color the story, we were honored to partake in a music session at Turin Castle. My wealthy Anglo-Irish Jane Austen characters will play their harp and piano forte, but one of the girls might learn of a more interesting Irish tradition that lures her toward a rebellious intrigue with a celtic drum.
Upcoming novel locations will be Georgian Dublin, Aran Islands, Belleek Castle and the seaside town of Howth.
If you've got a name for the novel - toss it at me. Please!
Friday, May 3, 2013
Turning Real People Into Characters
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| Photo by Sara McBride |
The people one meets in life often inspire literary characters. It’s interesting to read an author writing about another author and how she might have met real people that morphed into literary characters we now know and love.
I’m reading Scott Southard’s new book A Jane Austen Daydream and marveling at how the characters are often a mash-up of several defined Austen characters. For example, Mrs. Catherine de Bourgh, with a sickly, pale daughter, is the physicality of Lady de Bourgh and her frail daughter Anne, but the character contains the jubilence and vulgarity of Mrs. Jennings from Sense and Sensibility, and the silliness of Miss Bates from Emma. Not just personality traits are witnessed, but also behavior habits, like in Emma, in an effort to include her elderly mother in conversation, Miss Bates is constantly asking her mother's opinion, but then continuously rattles on with or without a response. Scott Southard’s character of Mrs. Catherine de Bourgh demonstrates the same behavior, but toward her sickly daughter.
I expected A Jane Austen Daydream to be filled with “Real Life” people from Jane Austen’s world that directly and precisely resemble her well-defined characters. The film Becoming Jane is extremely guilty of this. But instead, Mr. Southard has given truth to the practices of an author. Authors take pieces of people and jumble them together.
In one scene alone, Mr. Southard gives us pieces from several Austen books. The high-and-mighty, always-extolling-advice personality of Lady Catherine de Bourgh is contained in a slender, tolerant woman who asks that her guests do not embarrass her, and offers advice on how a lady should present herself at a ball. Also in the scene are Jane Austen, her sister Cassandra, the aforementioned Mrs. Jennings/Miss Bates character and her sickly daughter. In the single scene, there is the creation of the malevolent Lady Catherine de Bourgh by transposing a personality of one person into the physicality of two others.
We also witness Jane Austen and her sister conversing about the ball, much as Elizabeth and Jane Bennet in Pride & Prejudice often do. Then Jane Austen is slighted by the woman giving advice, much like Fanny in Mansfield Park or Anne Elliot in Persuasion is never considered worth anyone’s real attention.
Rarely does a real life person or scenario completely transpose themselves into a novel. We, as authors, take pieces of events and people and mix and match to our liking. I’m pleased that Mr. Southard realized this when creating the fictional character of Jane Austen. All of Southard’s characters incorporate pieces of Austen’s characters, but nothing is blatant, it is all subtlety, as Austen is herself.
Another interesting point about Scott Southard is the he’s a He! Very few men have the nerve (or interest) to tackle Jane Austen. I’m very much looking forward to finishing his novel and gaining a man’s perspective on the iconic authoress.
So next time you’re on a plane and the drunk christian scientist seated next to you wants to buy the entire row a drink (This happened to me last Friday!), do what Jane Austen does (According to Scott Southard), and embrace the eccentricities of your fellow humans. Make a study of behaviors, traits, sayings and histories and start cobbling together the puzzle pieces of a character. You never know when parts of a Lady Catherine de Bourgh or a Mr. Bennet might leap out at you.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Turning Travel into a Novel - Visiting Jane Austen
Guest Post from Scott Southard, author of the upcoming A Jane Austen Daydream, to be released April 30, Amazon.com.
All her heroines find love in the end–but is there love waiting for Jane?
Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess.
Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess.
Written in the style of Jane herself, this novel ponders the question faced by many devoted readers over the years–did she ever find love? Weaving fact with fiction, it re-imagines her life, using her own stories to fill in the gaps left by history and showing that all of us–to a greater or lesser degree–are head over heels for Jane.
I went to England
to find Jane Austen.
To be honest, I
also went to find Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, George Elliot, John
Keats, William Shakespeare (or whoever wrote his plays), J.R.R. Tolkien, and
Winnie-the-Pooh.
Winnie-the-Pooh?
Yeah, with some research, I figured out where the real 100-Acre Woods is
located and spent a day wandering the fields, visiting Roo’s Sandy Place,
sitting at the Enchanted Place, finding the north pole, playing poohstick on
the actual poohstick bridge. As a kid who has fond memories growing up with
A.A. Milne’s classic books, I was in children literature heaven. It is a
magical and natural place, please don’t tell Disney!
That was me at age
23, Scott the explorer, the new college grad, future “bestselling” author (in
my mind), chasing down the legends, my heroes. I’m not sure what lofty goals I
had, per se, in making the six-week solo trip to England. I mean, I wasn’t
expecting any “haunting” encounters or secret treasures to discover, but it was
a voyage I needed to take. I needed to escape the confines of my small West
Michigan world, and chase down the locations that made my heroes… well… heroes.
-
At this point in
the creation of A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM I had the seed of the idea, but
whenever I sat down to make an outline of a plot I would get muddled. See, I
couldn’t put my finger completely on Jane as a character.
That’s one of the
funny things about Jane as a writer. When you read her books, you can feel her
alongside you, laughing with you, leading you down the path of her narrative,
but when you have to define her as an actual person things get complicated. Her
heroines have so many different traits; Emma is very different from the Bennet
sisters, etc. She is so good at characterization you have to wonder if any of
her “real life” experience or traits inhabit any of her characters.
Most scholars will
argue that writers grow from book to book, so could an argument be made that
she is more like Catherine Morland from NORTHANGER ABBEY than her
others?
No, I can’t see
it.
I can’t imagine a
character like Catherine (even with her wild imagination and love of books)
creating novels. Some Austenites would point to Anne Elliot from PERSUASION
for being the most like her (maybe the book is playing out a fantasy she had
about a returning love?), but that would be a much later creation when her
skills were at the strongest. Would it be near the end of her career that she
would really allow herself to slip in? With someone with her literary skills it
feels like a moment of weakness.
So in many ways
this first trip to England (with nothing but a full backpack and a paperback
showing famous literary locations), was a test for A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM. The possibility of
this novel becoming a reality rested on this outing.
 |
| Chawton House - Jane Austen's final home. |
The first place I
went around Jane Austen was the Jane
Austen’s House Museum in Chawton. This is where Jane spent the last years of
her life. It is where some of her classics first took breath and where many of
her works were fine tuned.
Chawton is a small
village and not at all easy to find. I had to take a train trip and then walk
to the village. Once arriving, it is very charming and I can see why fans of
her novels love visiting the city. It feels like one of her novels could take
place on those streets, in those gardens, in those fields… yet, something felt
off to me.
Jane’s actual
house, which is the museum now, was a modest home even in that time period.
Since Jane’s living there, there have been some structural changes to it. Yet,
it is still easy to imagine her wandering those halls, sitting in that garden.
And as I walked through the little building I took many pictures. Pictures I
knew that I would return to later if I was able to find the key to her
character. Still, in each little room, my feeling of discomfort was growing.
Yes, as I visited each room, the feeling increased until I had to leave and sit
in the garden, get a breath of fresh air.
It was then,
looking around me, watching other visitors come and go, that the feeling that
had been haunting me so prevalently became clear…
Trapped.
Jane Austen had
one of the great minds of her century, easily one of the greatest minds in
literature. So how could someone with her capacity be happy in a small house,
in a small village like this?
That is not to say
she didn’t enjoy her family’s company or her friends in the village. I’m sure
most days she must been happy with the arrangment…. But my gut was telling me
that quiet day that on many days she felt utterly trapped, stuck in a world she
couldn’t escape from. I’m not going to compare it to a prison. But consider
what the life of someone with Jane’s ability would be like today, and then
think of a person like that living in such a small environment with little
resources, and little capability for growth because of her gender.
You see what I
mean?
Then add in the
fact that her books were anonymous. She had no writing friends, no one she
could talk to really about her favorite artform, her passion.
Trapped, lonely, misunderstood.
This may sound
bleak, but it is this realization into what her life might have been like that
made me feel like A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM could be possible.
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| Austen's Chawton house from the garden. |
See, at the time
(and even very much so today), I’m a struggling author, trying to find an
audience, dreaming of possible literary success. I can relate to that feeling,
that desire. I can also relate to the feeling of being isolated, not feeling
like others around me “get me” or even sometimes understand why I care about
literature and books so much. For many, books are just books. For me, they are a
lifestyle, as important as breathe.
No wonder Jane did
so much during her eight years in this home. It was her only escape, her only
way to be herself fully.
Writing was life
and it was all she had.
I would go on
after that trip to also visit the Jane
Austen Centre in Bath (they interviewed me about the book which you
can read here) which definitely
is a wonderful tribute to her, and even the cathedral where she is buried.
I hope no one
feels that I am criticizing the Jane Austen’s House Museum. No, I love the
place. And, if A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM is successful I plan to make a
donation to it. See, it could be argued that it did exactly what it needed to
do for me. It gave me an insight into Jane and her life.
That visit made Jane real.
Scott D. Southard is the author of the new book A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM. It was released by Madison Street Publishing and is available
exclusively via amazon.com in both print and eBook. Scott also has his own blog
“The Musings & Artful Blunders of Scott D. Southard” where he writes on a
collection of different topics from writing to art to writing to parenting to
TV to movies to music to writing to life to writing.
View the Original Post at Scott's website.
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