Miss Austen – The Other Sister

July 28, 2022July 28, 202239 Comments

Due to the perennial popularity of Jane Austen, An Interview with Jane Austen, remains my most read post to date, but the topic of today’s blog is her much neglected sister, Cassandra Austen – keeper of the flame or literary arsonist, depending on your point of view.

While Jane Austen died relatively young (age 41 – 1817) after enjoying a few years of moderate publishing success, her sister Cassandra lived until old age, (age 72 -1845), long enough to know that Jane’s fame would long outlive her. Cassandra died a decade before her nephew James wrote his famous biography about his aunt which served to revive her popularity but also enshrined her reputation as a sweet and pleasant old maid. Jane’s letters told another story – witty and often full of satire and snark, they revealed a side of Jane’s personality that Cassandra felt was best forgotten….and so she destroyed 400 of them in the years before her death. One can assume that Cassandra thought she was doing the right thing in preserving Jane’s legacy, but what Janeite scholars wouldn’t give for those letters! Only 160 survive and they provide the most revealing glimpses into her personality.

But what do we know about Cassandra? Separated by two years, Cassandra was the responsible older sister, to Jane’s more sparkling and clever personality. They were close, the only girls in a large family, with her mother famously remarking that if Cassandra decided to cut her head off, Jane would too. Their father believed in education, and they spent time away in boarding schools, as well as learning at home where he ran a boy’s boarding school to supplement his vicar’s income. It was here that Cassandra met her future fiance, the young reverend Tom Fowle of KINTBURY. They were considered an ideal match, but as he was in need of money for the marriage, he signed on as a ship’s chaplain on a voyage to the West Indies and died there of yellow fever. Cassandra was heartbroken and like Jane, never married, sharing a household with her sister and parents for the remainder of her life, first in Bath and then later after their father’s death, at Chawton Cottage.

Cassandra spent a considerable amount of time at her brother’s houses assisting with childbirth (two of her SIL’s had eleven children), so the letters flew back and forth between the sisters and other family members. Cassandra was the quiet capable one. It was commonly acknowledged that she ran the Chawton household, which allowed Jane the time to write in her later years. She was also the prettier of the two (the old pretty vs smart debate), and as a watercolorist, her two drawings of Jane provide the only evidence we have of her appearance.

Small 4 X 3 sketch in the National Portrait Gallery London and the basis of the later Victorian version now on the British bank notes.

As for Cassandra herself, there is only a black and white silhouette, as seen in this Ten Things to Know About Cassandra article. (link)

These are the bare facts of Cassandra’s life and about all you will get in most biographies of Jane Austen, but doesn’t it leave you curious about Cassandra? Although history relegates her to a shadowy supporting figure, did she have her own story to tell, as Gill Hornby, the author of Miss Austen, writes.

Publishers Blurb:

Whoever looked at an elderly lady and saw the young heroine she once was?

England, 1840. For the two decades following the death of her beloved sister, Jane, Cassandra Austen has lived alone, spending her days visiting friends and relations and quietly, purposefully working to preserve her sister’s reputation. Now in her sixties and increasingly frail, Cassandra goes to stay with the Fowles of Kintbury, family of her long-dead fiancé, in search of a trove of Jane’s letters. Dodging her hostess and a meddlesome housemaid, Cassandra eventually hunts down the letters and confronts the secrets they hold, secrets not only about Jane but about Cassandra herself. Will Cassandra bare the most private details of her life to the world, or commit her sister’s legacy to the flames?

Moving back and forth between the vicarage and Cassandra’s vibrant memories of her years with Jane, interwoven with Jane’s brilliantly reimagined lost letters, Miss Austen is the untold story of the most important person in Jane’s life. With extraordinary empathy, emotional complexity, and wit, Gill Hornby finally gives Cassandra her due, bringing to life a woman as captivating as any Austen heroine.

About the Author: Gill Hornby is the author of two novels, as well as The Story of Jane Austen, a biography of Austen for young readers. She lives in Kintbury, England with her husband and children.

After noting that the author lived in Kintbury, I was inspired to find out more about her and found this fascinating article about how the book came to be. (link) After moving to the village she discovered that she lived on the site of the old Fowle vicarage, the home of Cassandra’s fiance. In a bit of serendipity, she was asked to write a book about Jane Austen for young readers and was drawn into Cassandra’s story. Enjoying the same scenery that Cassandra had once viewed, the author found she began to haunt her mind – perhaps her ghost was lingering about the place, asking for her story to be told, longing for a bit of notoriety for herself.

Discussion:

As a fan familiar with all things Austen, I found this book intriguing. Of course, it’s historical fiction, an imagining of someone’s life, but it was surprisingly well researched and well done, which made it a believable read.

The story is told from the point of view of Cassandra in her old age, re-visiting the Fowle vicarage after the death of her fiance’s brother in order to retrieve both her and Jane’s letters to his wife Eliza. Interspersed are flashback chapters to the time of her engagement and subsequent grief (1795), their years in Bath where her parents retired with the added hope of finding husbands for the girls (1805), and their years alone in Chawton cottage (1913). Instead of focusing on Jane’s alleged romantic affairs, this time it is Cassandra who takes centre stage, but after meeting the perfect man at a seaside resort, Cassandra turns him down. (It never fails to amaze me how three promenades in the company of family chaperones could net a marriage proposal, but for the sake of the plot it works.)

The dialogue and letters captured the spirit of a Jane Austen novel, and in some cases exceeded it. Here are a few excerpts. “ Once home, Jane at once sat down to her writing with an air of great satisfaction. She had repulsed Mr. Hobday with an expert efficiency. She could return to her invented world.” Of course ,Jane knows it is really Cassandra he is interested in. “What matters a bad sister off in the background.…I am quite sure I saw sparks flying off him. I think one caught my bonnet. Because of you and your charms, I might have gone up in smoke.”

The author presents some perfectly plausible explanations for certain episodes in Jane’s life, such as her one and only marriage proposal. (see link to post by Caroline, JA’s great niece). When Cassandra refuses her suitor, Jane accepts a marriage proposal from Mr. Wrong in Every Way, hoping that seeing her settled will free her sister to marry herself, but changes her mind when she realizes Cassandra has no wish to marry. This decision, hastily reversed the following day after a sleepless night, has long remained a puzzle considering Jane’s well known opinion on marrying for love.

Why did Cassandra reject Mr. Right’s proposal? After the death of her fiance she had made a pact with a vengeful God never to marry again. While spending a very quiet Christmas with her mild-mannered fiancé and his family at the Fowle rectory she realizes she has doubts, and after his death, felt those doubts were a curse of sorts. (Her fiancé had left her a small legacy which might have compounded her guilt). Or was the pledge just an excuse when the truth was she missed her sister and her boisterous Austen family and didn’t want to be so far away from home. Perhaps it was not true love after all but a long held expectation?

Although marriage might have been an ideal and an economic necessity for women of the time, it also meant motherhood and a high risk of death in childbirth. Two of her SIL’s died shortly after birthing their eleventh child and Cassandra was often called in to help care for the children. Being an aunt in those days might have seemed the safer occupation.

The sub plot of the novel concerns what will happen to the three spinster Fowle daughters after their father’s death when they must vacate their own vicarage. The plight of the spinster in Austen’s world was often the centre of Jane’s books, but wasn’t it possible to forge a purposeful, happy and contented life without a husband or children, as the author illustrates?

As an aging and joyless spinster Cassandra knew well that she was made fun of, but perhaps she destroyed the letters, as much to protect her own story as to hide certain aspects of Jane’s. The other spectre raised is that of Jane’s moods and bouts of melancholy, and this is surely an interesting aspect and pure conjecture as I have never heard reference to such, but it has been the downside of many a brilliant and creative mind, particularly those who seek fame and success.

“Of course, their cottage (Chawton) had been a place of great joy when they had lived there together. But that joyfulness was Jane’s natural and dominant emotion was far from the truth. Oh the power upon reputation brought by an untimely death and a modicum of fame and success! Still, she thought as she gathered her things, she would not contest that legend, if that was what they chose to send out to posterity. The moodless Jane Austen. What a splendid image. She rose from her chair. Now it only remained to destroy all evidence to the contrary.”

Reading through the letters she notes, “She stumbled across references to Jane’s high spirits, remembered and smiled. That those spirits were, sometimes, perhaps too high, that the happiness had an almost hysterical edge to it, that this tended to happen when they were in the comfort of the stable established homes of their family and friends, these were not observations that Cassandra had shared with Eliza. She had chosen to keep them to herself. But the other extreme of Jane’s temperament, the seemingly endless days in the darkness, these she had written of, for she had to tell someone. Cassandra licked a finger and flicked through, searching for the letters of danger. There. January 1805. That was where it all began…..” According to the book, their father’s death started Jane’s downward spiral into despondency, and indeed those were years when she wrote nothing at all.

As a beloved and devoted sister and best friend, Cassandra knew that Jane would not, could not write again, until she was settled into a home of her own, so she hinted to her rich brother Edward, who owned several estates, including Godmersham Park, that they needed a place of their own – Chawton Cottage was offered and accepted, and Jane began to write and revise and publish, and the rest is history.

After Jane’s death, Cassandra wrote, “I have lost a treasure, such a sister, such a friend as never can have been surpassed. She was the sun of my life, the gilder of every pleasure, the soother of every sorrow; I had not a thought concealed from her, and it is as if I had lost a part of myself.”

Such a close sisterly bond is a rare and wonderful thing, so perhaps that fateful bonfire was Cassandra’s final gift to Jane after all. They were private people, and would remain private for eternity, and doesn’t that add to the mystique?

Author’s Note: “It is a matter of family record that, in the last years of her life, Cassandra Austen looked over the letters that she and her sister had exchanged. All those she found open and confidential – the majority of them, then – she burned. We cannot doubt that there would have been a long and deep correspondence between both Cassandra and Jane, and the Fowle family at Kintbury. None of this has, as yet, come to light. The letters in this novel are entirely imagined. The beneficiary of her will was Isabella, now married – she left 45 pounds, and to Elizabeth, the only one left unmarried, she bequeathed the extraordinary sum of one thousand pounds – presumably in reparation of that bequest she herself had received so many years before.”

Of note, this novel is being developed into a four-hour Masterpiece miniseries. (link) Just my cup of tea!

The author also just released a new book, Godmersham Park (link) in June – might as well ride the Jane Train while you can. Of course, it’s all pure speculation, as the best of historical fiction is, but I’ll be ordering it anyway.

The Jane Austen Society

November 19, 202028 Comments

This month’s literary salon pick, The Jane Austen Society, by Natalie Jenner, is a novel set in post-WW2 England about a group of villagers determined to maintain the legacy of Jane Austen by opening a museum at Chawton House, the cottage where Jane spent the last eight years of her life and the most productive period of her writing career.

Who would have predicted that Jane Austen would still be so popular 200 years later, with her face on the ten pound note, dozens of biographies in print, and entire museums devoted to her fame, not to mention the whole tourist trade to places she visited, lived, or described in her novels.

It’s a further testament to her continuing popularity that An Interview with Jane Austen remains my most read post, at 150 some views, from every country in the world, with several more added weekly. Yes, some frivolous little piece I dashed off for Valentine’s Day two years ago is more popular than any post I’ve slaved over for days. But to give credit to Jane, other than the interviewers questions, most of the words are hers, famous quotes from a book I received for Christmas that year, The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen. The post itself was inspired by a question – which dead person you would most like to interview? I can’t imagine my small blog of 300 readers is high up on any google search list, so I can only surmise that it must have been shared by a Janeite on one of the many Jane Austen websites.

I would not describe myself as a Janeite, having only ever read Pride and Prejudice and Emma, and watched the movie versions, the dashing Mr. Darcy/Colin Firth, and the petulant Gwyneth Paltrow who forever spoiled Emma for me, and the classic Sense and Sensibility with Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant. Other than Pride and Prejudice I find her life more interesting than her books.

JA was born in 1775 and lived most of her young life with her large family of siblings at the rectory in Steventon, where her father was a clergyman. Upon his retirement, they sold everything (including a thousand books, for hers was a well-read family) and Jane moved to Bath with her parents and sister Cassandra. Bath was a very social place and it’s widely assumed this change in residence was partially intended to find marriage partners for the daughters, but that was not to be, for despite rumors of several failed romances Jane never married. After the death of their father and the rental of diminished living quarters, her wealthy brother Edward, who had been adopted by a childless couple in need of an inheritor, eventually offered his widowed mother and sisters the use of the steward’s cottage on his large estate and so they moved to Chawton House in 1809.

The cottage was a large L-shaped building, quite near the street and a busy crossroads, so the thundering of coaches passing by offered little privacy,

but there was a large private garden at the back and they were grateful to finally have a permanent residence of their own.

Although she had written earlier drafts of her novels, this was the scene of the final revisions and the long hoped for dreams of publication, starting first with Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published posthumously with the seventh and last, Sanditon, left unfinished. (Although never published, PBS filmed a horrible adaptation of Sanditon last January which was universally condemned. Jane would certainly never have approved of the unhappy ending.)

She wrote at this small desk, still a fixture of the museum today, placed by the window for maximum lighting as she wore spectacles, and was known to cover up her manuscript if there was an unexpected visitor at the door. From her niece’s recollections we have an image of Jane sitting by the fireplace and laughing, as a sudden thought occurred to her and she leapt up to write it down. Much of her early writing originated as a means to amuse herself, and her family, as there are only so many samplers you can embroider before you die of boredom.

After her untimely death in 1817 at the age of 41 (of Addison’s Disease), her mother and sister lived on in the cottage, with Cassandra dying in 1845. Although Jane lived long enough to enjoy some initial publishing success and literary fame, it was after the publication of a biography by her nephew in 1850, that her literary reputation was revived, and it has remained steady to this day.

Today Chawton House is the site of the Jane Austen Museum. (link to a virtual tour of the house). As well as original clothing and furnishings of the period, several of her letters are on display, as well as some jewelry (two topaz crosses) given to the sisters by their naval brother. The nearby great house houses a JA library with first editions of all of her books. Jane memorabilia is in such high demand that one of her handwritten letters was recently auctioned off for $200,000, a four page missile to Cassandra, dealing with fashion trends and family news. It saddens me to think of a future with no such memorabilia, only emails and texts which we blithely delete. I’ve never been to England but Chawton House would be high on my list of historical sites to visit. Although thousands of tourists frequent Bath every year in search of Jane, I’d prefer to see where she wrote, not where she went bathroom dancing.

Now back to our book club selection.

Here’s the publishers blurb: “Just after the Second World War, in the small English village of Chawton, an unusual but like-minded group of people band together to attempt something remarkable. One hundred and fifty years ago, Chawton was the final home of Jane Austen, one of England’s finest novelists. Now it’s home to a few distant relatives and their diminishing estate. With the last bit of Austen’s legacy threatened, a group of disparate individuals come together to preserve both Jane Austen’s home and her legacy. These people―a laborer, a young widow, the local doctor, and a movie star, among others―could not be more different and yet they are united in their love for the works and words of Austen. As each of them endures their own quiet struggle with loss and trauma, some from the recent war, others from more distant tragedies, they rally together to create the Jane Austen Society.”

About the author: “Natalie Jenner was born in England and emigrated to Canada as a young child. She obtained her B.A. and her LL.B. from the University of Toronto, where she was the 1990 Gold Medalist in English Literature at St. Michael’s College, and was Called to the Bar of Ontario in 1995. In addition to a brief career as a corporate lawyer, Natalie has worked as a recruiter, career coach, and consultant to leading law firms in Canada for over two decades. Most recently Natalie founded the independent bookstore Archetype Books in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs. A lifelong devotee of all things Jane Austen, “The Jane Austen Society” is her first published novel.” (Goodreads profile)

Quite a distinguished resume, but what’s so interesting about Natalie Jenner is that in her 30’s she wrote five unpublished books – Five. Unpublished. Books. There’s a lot of tenacity there. After her husband developed a serious illness, she turned to re-reading her favorite novels for solace, including the JA novels. Later, when he had recovered, she was contemplating writing a novel set in a great house similar to Downton Abbey but decided to change it to a fictional novel about how the JA museum came to be. For research she took a bucket list trip to a Jane Austen Festival in Bath, (yes there are many of these conventions) as well as the village of Chawton, in order to immerse herself in the world of all things Jane.

Discussion:

This was an enjoyable read, even if you aren’t particularly a JA fan, in much the same genre as The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and the Chilbury Ladies Choir. I’m sure the movie rights have already been sold. In true Jane Austen style, the author manages to pair off most of the characters, some more successfully than others and some in a politically correct way, although I had difficulty getting a sense of the two characters who were mirrored after Emma and Mr. Knightley. A minor point, but there’s one graphic scene (me too/movie starlet on the casting couch) which seemed out of place. This was noted in a a Goodreads review, and it’s like when someone points out a flaw, you can’t un-see it. The reviewer said she quit reading after that, saying that such a jarring scene had no place in a Jane Austen-like book. I wouldn’t abandon the book over that but subtle allusion might have been more appropriate, or perhaps some gentle editorial guidance.

This book debuted on the bestseller list, as any book with JA in the title is bound to attract attention due to the sheer number of her fans worldwide. (I wonder if I changed my website to The Jane Austen Homeplace, if I might attract a few more followers?)

Jane Austen must have had a strong belief in herself, and a premonition that her works would live on, as she left the bulk of her estate (400 pounds, the proceedings from her books), to her sister Cassandra, with the unusual request that 90 pounds, a considerable sum back then, be set aside for a burial at the prestigious Winchester Cathedral, instead of the local churchyard where her family could visit. Her brothers made no mention of her literary life on the tombstone, perhaps deeming her novels too inconsequential to note, but thousands of tourists flock to her grave-site every year to pay homage to her literary greatness.

The extraordinary endowments of her mind!

#The Story of Pie – Wordless Wednesday

October 28, 202028 Comments

Let your photo(s) tell your story.

The Source – a trip to the apple orchard to buy six different kinds…because everyone has their favorite….

There’s nothing like a ripe juicy apple picked right off the tree…

Perfect for peeling, my kitchen place mats wipe clean…

Jane Austen was right – two hundred years later!

Strawberries, Snakes and Jane Austen

June 28, 2019June 28, 201923 Comments

It’s strawberry season again, but this year seems to be a washout. Blame it on the rain and the lack of sunny days. The local berries are just coming in but they are so sour I’ve decided to wait a week hoping we’ll get some sunnier weather. The kitchen reno is still ongoing so I can’t bake a shortcake or make jam anyway.

For every one sweet one ripening in my little garden plot, there are two that make your mouth pucker. Maybe that’s why the birds are leaving them alone? And here I thought those plastic snakes I bought at the dollar store were working!

This was a tip from another blogger last summer, as plastic snakes are supposed to act as a deterrent to the birds. Walmart was out of snakes, so these are cheaper versions from Dollarama and the clerk told me they work so well they can’t keep them in stock. They look more like skinny worms to me – and neon pink and blue? Those birds must be color blind, but upon further research it appears birds have better visual acuity than humans and can see UV light and a wider range of colors. I suspect they must be waiting for sweeter fare too.

So I’ll leave you with a link to better days and last year’s blog, Strawberry Fields Forever, plus some Jane Austen.

The Bestseller Code

November 30, 2018November 30, 201832 Comments

A Review of Three Writing Manuals

“What if there was an algorithm that could reveal the secret DNA of bestsellers, regardless of their genre? Thanks to authors Jodie Archer and Matthew Jockers such an algorithm exists, and the results bring fresh insight into how fiction works and why we read.”

This jacket blurb of The Bestseller Code – Anatomy of the Bestseller Novel promises to unlock all the secrets.

The Bestseller Code: Anatomy of a Blockbuster Novel by Jodie Archer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As a scientific person I found the computer analysis of the DNA which makes a book a bestseller very interesting, but I’m not sure you can distill the magic of writing down to such generic common denominators. Still this was a worthwhile read, especially considering the growing field of AI. Plus we all like to read about books like The Help being rejected multiple times, as it gives us hope….

Although this book was published in 2016 it only recently came to my attention, through another blogger’s review. As I had half-jokingly written in my One Year Blogging Anniversary of my wish to write a murder mystery, I thought reading this book might give me some tips as to what might sell in the unpredictable world of publishing. Normally I do my book reviews on Goodreads, but as there are many writers on WordPress who may secretly be harboring the wish to write a novel or are actively pursuing that goal, this book might be of interest to some. I made notes, as it was a library book and had to be returned prior to posting this.

Some points and random notes: (The observations in brackets are mine)

Pg 3 In the US about 50-55,000 works of fiction are published every year. Of these, about 200-250 make the New York Time bestseller list. That’s less than half a percent. (The odds are slim).

Pg 3. The sudden and seemingly blessed success of books like the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy, 50 Shades of Gray, The Help, Gone Girl and The DaVinci Code is considered as lucky as winning the lottery. But is it really? After feeding 20,000 books into a computer program and developing an algorithm, the authors feel they can predict with a fair degree of accuracy which ones will make the bestseller list due to certain common characteristics.

Pg. 27 you have about 350 pages to take us somewhere and back. Journeying is the main thing, as is the theme/topic of human closeness/connection. (The Goldfinch was awful, 600 pages of nothing. So was All the Light We Cannot See. But Gone with the Wind was wonderful at over 1,000).

The average age of the heroine is 28??? (With Mary Higgins Clark it is usually 32, although lately they have aged a bit with her. I’m not sure age matters that much as long as you have sympathy for the character. I never thought I would read a Young Adult novel but Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games was totally captivating. I loved the middle-aged protagonist in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, but those four sixtyish women in Frances Mayes new novel, Women in Sunlight, annoyed me to such an extent that I would not recommend the book to anyone….yes, four main characters that I could not keep straight and not one likable. Tuscany was the best part of the book by far).

There was a chapter devoted to themes and topics, what sells best, crime/legal thrillers/romance etc, and getting the right topics in the right proportions. The computer model picked Danielle Steel and John Grisham as the two names who did this best. (But then how to explain the success of Orphan Train, Water for Elephants, The Help, all diverse topics indeed. The Help was rejected 60 times, mostly because editors thought the topic, black maids in the South in the 1950’s, would not be of interest to anyone. I remember someone reading Water for Elephants in the lunch room at work and saying what a really good book it was and thinking they were crazy, who would want to read a novel about the circus during the depression? After I read it, I thought it quite wonderful).

Pg 67 – The most common topic among bestselling writers was human closeness and human connection, which crosses all genres. (perhaps self-evident as books do tend to be about people?)

Pg 89 – There are seven different types of plot-lines with sample charts of peaks and valleys. You must hook your reader within the first 40 pages or they will nod off forever. (I persisted through 150 opening pages about thet the poor and lonely protagonist in Ruth Ware’s latest The Death of Mrs. Westaway and was glad I stuck it out, as the last half was well worth it. Some novels are slow going at the beginning).

Pg 115 The compute algorithm could detect with great accuracy whether a book was written by a female or male, even those such as JK Rowling writing under aliases.

Pg 121 Opening sentences must be gripping and create an authentic preferably active voice, but a comparison of the opening sentence of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice with a Jackie Collins novel??? (I think not. It is a truth universally acknowledged that one is classy and one is trashy. But then the authors appear to have an obsession with the success of Fifty Shades of Gray/Garbage).

Pg 136 Sentences do not need decorating with additional clauses. Verbs prefer not to be followed with a string of really very pretty lovely little words ending in ly. (Oh no…my nemesis….sighs sadly). The sentences of the bestseller are not gaudy Christmas trees, carrying the weight of lights and baubles and tinsel and angels and stars. Better the plain fir tree brought into simple relief. (But wouldn’t that be like imitating Hemingway who famously never used a word you needed to look up in a dictionary and ignoring Dickens whose verbose descriptions ran on forever?)

Pg. 148 There was a chapter on the dark heroine or the Girl phenomena – The Dragon Girl, Gone Girl, The Girl on the train. The Girl is not your average heroine. What is their popularity saying about our society? (These are strong women, but are they nice? Is this anything new – Scarlet O’Hara was not nice either – she was strong, selfish and determined. Frail Melanie Wilkes was the nice one, but where did it get her in the end – she died young).

Pg. 194 In the final chapter, the computer picked the one novel 100% most likely to succeed. (I will not spoil it for you, but it was not a book or an author I was familiar with, nor do I have any desire to read based on subject matter, but it was somewhat ironic).

Pg. 209 In the epilogue there was a discussion about whether we will ever see a machine-written novel. As far back as 1952 they tried to set up a program for a computer to write a love letter by feeding it common words used in such, but it was a complete failure, (and sounded like one of those spam comments I occasionally receive on WordPress – “It is lovely worth sufficient for me. In my view, if all siteowners and bloggers made excellent content as you probably did, the web will probably be much more helpful than ever before. I can help make very pretty….” Poor Mr. SpamBot is not going to get anywhere using all those adjectives that end in ly!)

To sum up, while this was a worthwhile and interesting read, but other than a few tidbits, I don’t think there was any major earth-shattering advice or analysis offered. It was based on what was popular at the moment, but tastes change. Some books endure, and others don’t. I believe most writers write about what they find interesting, which is what makes the book world so diverse and unpredictable….and magical. While common denominators may predict a winning formula for what sells, you can’t sell your soul either trying to imitate them. I do read some of the authors on the bestseller lists, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham, Kate Morton, Elin Hilderbrand, (all of their latest books have been great), but not others such as James Patterson and never ever Danielle Steele or Gray Garbager. I don’t care how much money they make. An analogy would be, while there may be a large market for reality TV shows, how many times do we tune in because that is all there seems to be on TV? Shouldn’t we strive for something unique, something better than the norm no matter how well it sells….or just be content with more of the same…luckily as both readers and writers we get to decide.

Perhaps we should turn to Jane Austen, who has endured over the centuries, for some writerly inspiration.

The Jane Austen Writers’ Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World’s Best-loved Novelist by Rebecca Smith

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an entertaining guide to writing by a five times great niece of Jane Austen who has also been writer-in-residence at the Jane Austen House Museum, and so is well qualified to write about her methods, characterization and plotting. There were some useful tips such as writing an autobiographical sketch on each character, but I found the extensive quoting of large swaths of JA’s novels (sometimes for pages and pages), to be irksome, and in truth I skimmed most of it only ever having read P&P and Emma. There were lots of exercises suitable to a classroom setting. In truth, a book only for true Janeites, who know the novels inside out.

Last spring, I picked up The Jane Austen’s Writer’s Manual, by Rebecca Smith, at a discount store. Written by a many-times great descendant of Jane Austen, it too had some interesting points, but as it quoted extensively from her seven novels, (at least half the book consisted of pages of direct quotations), I found myself just skimming it. Jane Austen had many years between the first drafts of her novels and the finished products, long enough to perfect them into the polished gems they were. One of the most useful pieces of advice in this book was to write an autobiography of each of the characters before you start. But then what about writers who don’t write with any plot-line in mind, and just let the story and characters evolve? Sometimes characters have a mind of their own and may take you places you might never even have thought of. Plan the ending scene before you begin. I believe Jane did this, but as all six of her completed novels end with weddings, the happy endings readers have been longing for, that’s not much of a stretch. Much of the book was devoted to writing exercises as the author holds writing workshops at the Jane Austen House Museum. This book is probably more for true Janeites, of which I am not, having only ever read P&P and Emma a long time ago. I find her life more fascinating than her books, as is sometimes the case with writers.

The Best Advice Manual:
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Although I read this book well over twenty years ago, it remains the best book on writing that I have ever read. Time to re-read it again, plus I loved the inspiration for the title. When you are overwhelmed, that’s what you need to do, take it bird by bird…..or rather page by page.

Although it’s been twenty years, the best advice manual I have ever read on writing, was Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I have a copy somewhere down on the basement bookshelves…..I should re-read it, but that would be procrastinating…..

Best to just get on with it then……

So, we need a 28 year old Girl Detective who is vacationing in Provence when she sees a man walking up the lane of her rented farmhouse. There has been a dead body discovered in the nearby sunflower fields. (see April in Paris Part Two blog for the muse of this story). It is Monsieur Darcie Leduc, une inspector with the French police force, (but much more Mr.Darcy-like than Hercules Peroit with his ridiculous mustache and undiagnosed OCD).

Opening sentence: “Paige Protagonist was tired of thinking for everyone. She had come to Provence to rest, mind body and soul, and intended not to think of a single thing for the next two weeks. Let them solve all their own problems back home – she would not be there. She would be here on this lovely terrace with a glass of wine in hand, looking out over the lavender fields…..and wondering who was that man walking up the lane to the farmhouse.”

Um……would a 28year old be tired of thinking for everyone….no…..best to make her older….and that “lovely” adjective has got to go. I think I’ll rest now. I don’t want to overdo it….a little at a time…..page by page….

PS. On Cyber-Monday I was browsing on the http://www.bookoutlet.com site for books about Provence when I noticed that this story has been done before, several times, and the proof is in the remainder bin, but alas, as John Grisham said in a recent writing workshop podcast, everything has been done before. I hope Santa brings me a nice plot-line and some characters for Christmas as I have no idea where to go from here…..

Song of the Day: Paperback Writer – the Beatles

Four Quotes and a Wedding

May 25, 2018May 25, 201810 Comments

A month ago, Chomeuse with a Chou, knowing how much I love quotes, challenged me to a repeat of the Three Days Three Quotes Challenge. The whole month of May was devoted to gardening and all things floral, so I set it aside to ponder while digging in the dirt. And speaking of dirt, while viewing the Royal Wedding on Saturday, this Jane Austen quote came to mind as being particularly appropriate, because who doesn’t love a little gossip.

While the royals would hardly be considered my neighbors, I do live in a commonwealth country, (which makes me common and them royal), and I remember learning God Save the Queen years ago in grade school, but otherwise the monarchy doesn’t mean much here in Canada anymore, other than the occasional royal visit, which are few and far between now as people complain about the wasted tax dollars. (Imagine how you would feel if people were expected to give you a party but then complained about the cost – would you want to go?) I am not a royal-watcher but I do have a bit of a soft spot for the Queen as she is the same age as my mum and she has been through so much in her sixty-year reign. So, a few random observations about the wedding of Harry and Megs.

I thought the Queen looked lovely and spring-like in her lime green and purple ensemble – so kudos to whoever put that combination together, plus Prince Philip was looking dapper and quite spry too – no cane two months after hip surgery at 97!

I remember getting up at 5 am to watch Lady Diana’s fairy-tale wedding (and we all know how that turned out, poor girl), but on Saturday I slept in until 7:30 and woke up just as they were saying their vows, so I missed the grand entrance into the church but like fashionistas everywhere all I wanted was to see The Dress. I think it is the nicest royal wedding dress yet. Lady Diana’s was lovely and fitting for a young girl of 21, full of frills and bows and puffy sleeves in the style of the time, but Meghan’s was classic and elegant, in an Audrey Hepburnish way. It was covered, and form-fitting, but not too tight, and no cleavage, (I hate it when brides yank at their strapless gowns to pull them up), so everyone’s attention was on her face. (Beyonce-lovers of the barely-there-strategically-placed-cut-out look should take note of what true elegance is). The veil was exquisite with the additional feature of all that embroidery representing the 52 countries in the commonwealth. Her hair was lovely too, a simple chignon, but those strands on the one side that she kept pushing back annoyed the heck out of me so I can imagine how she felt, plus they ruined the first kiss by dangling in her face. Was it a windy day? Was there a shortage of hairspray? Or maybe they were supposed to be there, as in one of the official photographs they have pulled them out even more, perhaps a quick repair job? Conversely, I did not at all like the dress she wore to the evening reception, some high-necked halter thing that looked saggy in front, but I did like that little Jag convertible, very James Bondish. Imagine driving away to your reception in that little gem.

The bridesmaids and pages were cute, but there should be an age limit on that position. That littlest toddler waddled up the aisle like she was still in diapers. As for Charlotte, she has that royal wave down pat, but no child should be required to wear a hair wreath with flowers bigger than she is. The Mulroney page boys were cute, even if they did photobomb the entrance pic with their missing-teeth grins. One of my favorite pics was a silhouette of the twins holding up her train at the entrance to the church.

Meghan seemed to be a very composed, relaxed, happy bride, but wouldn’t you expect a bit of nerves on your big day? I suppose if you were an actress you would be skilled at covering it up. I recall Kate barely cracked a smile in the church on her wedding day, and looked pale and tired, (plus her and Wills barely glanced at each other so nervous were they), and Diana who was young and nervous (and searching for Camilla), also looked tired under her veil. In contrast Megan was smiling and looked rested, like she’d had a good night’s sleep. But perhaps that is the difference between an introvert and an extrovert. An introvert doesn’t like being the center of attention, (especially when millions of people are watching), while an extrovert actually enjoys it, and as an actress she would be used to having all eyes upon her. If she was nervous, it didn’t show. She certainly has a lot of poise, which is admirable in a way. But all that gaze-into-your eyes and smiling just seemed a wee bit much to me, (like roll playing to the camera), but maybe it just seemed excessive in contrast to the rest of the royals and guests none of whom looked very excited. Maybe it’s against protocol to smile on such a solemn dignified occasion? When they panned the camera over the pews, all I saw was a bunch of blank stoic faces, probably thinking, let’s get this over with and on to the party, although even coming out of the church they didn’t seem like a very joyful crowd. (This could just have been the Canadian telecast however, maybe others had a different point of view?)

The guests: Amal Clooney. If you are that tall, you don’t need sky high heels, even if you do have bored-looking George to cling to if you feel off balance, but no one should ever wear mustard yellow, so pass on the mustard unless you’re at a barbecue. And why oh why did they keep showing Harry’s old girlfriend – she’s jolly well relieved she didn’t sign up for all that pomp and circumstance. Oprah, that dress was too tight, and too pink, and that hat way too extravagant. I didn’t recognize anyone else, but I am not a big TV watcher, and have never seen a single episode of Suits even though it was filmed in Toronto.

Meghan’s mother did well to survive all the attention with dignity and style. She looked nice in her soft green but should have had a better hat. She must be commended for raising such a strong, confident daughter, (and Lady Diana likewise. I hope she was looking down with love on Harry’s special day). Hers was the only face I saw which showed any true emotion, as she was fighting back tears several times. Hey, it’s a wedding, it’s okay to get weepy, although Harry apparently wiped a few tears away too. I felt sorry for her being the only member of her family in attendance, as anyone who has ever gone to the wedding of a friend or colleague and known absolutely no one can sympathize. I just hope they didn’t stick her at the singles table. I felt bad about what the media did to Meghan’s dad before the wedding, but have to wonder, if she’s been going out with Harry for two years, and engaged for six months, and if the news reports are correct that her father had never even met Harry, well that should tell you something. But what would a wedding be without some family dynamics or someone from either side disapproving? Wedding drama always reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Pride and Prejudice.

Although single, Jane Austen had many quotes on the marital state, being the astute observer of human nature that she was. She was a great defender of marrying for love, which was not a common theme in her time, as women were in need of financial support and expected to marry well to have advantages in life, (ie a carriage instead of a Jag). Although it must be said, no one really knows what goes on in a marriage except the couple, as a seemingly ill-suited match might be perfectly happy, while a perfect looking marriage might be hell.

Hats – the day was full of women of all ages in silly hats – if you are going to wear a hat, make it a hat, not a six-inch fascinator. But Kate’s and Camilla’s hats were too elaborate and must have been strategically designed to hide their faces during the service. They were even looking down when the vows were being said. Perhaps they were in shock over the sermon, (does love require a 15 minute sermon, or did the happy couple know he was going to go on and on), and that gospel song I haven’t heard in decades and would rather forget. As Meghan apparently attended a Catholic high school, (where she wore a navy and white uniform similar in ugliness to mine), I’m not sure what religion she is, if any? If that was a nod to her heritage that’s fine, but it did leave me wondering. I did however love the wide-brimmed hat she wore at her first post-wedding appearance – very chic. I have faith in her choice of hats. Except for the Queen, (I loved the purple sprigs on her matching hat), the rest of you ladies are hereby sentenced to watch reruns of Downton Abbey – take notes – not a bad hat to be seen in all six seasons.

Mr. Darcy – Harry was Harry, a decent chap, red and scruffy as usual. (I know grizzly beards are in style, but could he have shaved on his wedding day? His bride was perfection, while he looked ungroomed, pardon the pun). Appearances aside, they seem well suited as a couple. What impressed me was the fact they had gone to Botswana, (must be one of the 52 commonwealth countries), for a three week vacation early in their relationship. Perhaps they just wanted to be alone, but any couple who can safari together can probably live together. But who knows maybe it was glam camping. But then she will be glam living. (Perhaps she was very smiley at a future of not having to work, clean house, do laundry etc. There’s something to be said for having servants, not to mention an unlimited clothing allowance). Plus, if you can handle a herd of wildebeests on safari, you can probably handle the paparazzi. I’m sure she knows what she’s getting into and has the poise and confidence to handle it. I wish them all the best in their married life. As Jane said, they have as good a chance as anyone.

The weather gods certainly smiled on them – it was a picture-perfect day for a wedding, and there’s nothing like some sunshine to light up the mood of the waiting crowds. Even the horses were in high spirits. I noticed they were having a really hard time controlling some of them in the carriage procession. I’ve often wondered who cleans up the streets afterwards? Maybe they don’t feed them beforehand and they were hungry and galloping towards the stables…

Speaking of food, I made tea and rhubarb scones in honor of the occasion while watching the two hour recap in the evening, but the recipe was not the best, so I won’t post it. I should have known better, as it did not have any butter just cream, and the oven temp said 400, which in my oven should be 350, so they turned out burnt on the bottom and soggy in the middle and rather tasteless overall. But they were certainly edible with some strawberry jam, and it gave me a chance to use my new blue teapot. As my grandmother used to say, “there’s a lid for every teapot.” I think I’ll stop now, as I have exceeded my three quotes.

An Interview with Jane Austen

February 8, 2018October 24, 202021 Comments

I’m a Jane Austen fan. Although I would not consider myself a Janeite, whenever a new book comes out about her life I’m sure to check it out. Recently I saw this one, Jane Austen at Home, on the new releases list, and reviewed it on Goodreads.

Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Can there be such a thing as a bad book about Jane Austen – no. Even though we know every detail of her story, and there is really nothing new to be discovered about her life, (excepting the photo of the blue and white egg cup excavated at the Steventon Rectory), Austen fans still find any new book about her fascinating. This is a particularly satisfying read as it focuses more on her quest for a home – after all she is the author who wrote “There’s nothing like staying home for real comfort.” Of course, there are the usual biographical facts, literary and otherwise, seeming to focus more on her personal life, including her five marriage proposals, thus dispelling the myth that she was a lonely old spinster. (Really the woman was so intelligent as to be intimidating, and would she have been happy with any of them?) There is a satisfying number (40 pages or so) of footnotes, always a sign of a good biography, and some photographs, including said egg cup. A lovely read for commemorating the two hundredth anniversary of her death – we remain as captivated as ever.

A friend gave me The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen, (edited by Joelle Herr), for Christmas as she knew I was a fan, and it is full of her famous quotes and observations. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite Austen book, and then Emma, but some of the others I must admit I have never read, although I have seen the movie versions. It is her life that I find most intriguing. I often find authors lives to be as or sometimes more interesting than their books, (check out Margaret Mitchell’s biography for parallels to Gone with The Wind, the character of Rhett Butler was thought to be based on her first husband and Ashley Wilkes on her second). If you are a writer, you want to know where they got their ideas. Due to the lack of media back then and the passage of time we have little to base our conclusions upon, and baring someone discovering a cache of old letters in their great house, there is nothing new under the sun about Jane Austen, but we still can’t get enough of her life. She remains a puzzle, an enigma, we want to figure her out. A fellow blogger asked me which historical figure I would most like to interview, and my answer was Jane. And so, as Jane said, indulge your imagination in every possible flight.

An Interview with Jane Austen

Welcome to the BBC show, Portal to the Past. We would like to welcome renowned British author, Jane Austen. Even though she has been dead for over two hundred years she has been gracious enough to grant us this exclusive interview, and we thank her for the opportunity, because two centuries later we remain as fascinated by her as ever. (Cue opening pianoforte music link). Jane enters, wearing a white flowing Stella McCarthy gown, because a woman can never be too fine while she is all in white. (Camera man sighs, white is not good for the camera, adjusts lighting).

Host: Welcome Jane. Would you like some tea?

Jane: (demurely declines refreshments. She doesn’t want to smear her lipstick – imagine lipstick! Something to make your lips ruby-red and kiss-worthy. She wonders if she’ll get a free swag bag from Sephora).

Host: I’m so glad you could join us today.

Jane: There is nothing like staying home for real comfort, but if adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.

Host: Did you ever imagine when you were sitting at your little writing table in Chawton Cottage, scribbling away about three or four families in a country village, that your novels would still be read two hundred years later?

Jane: (smiles sweetly) Alas, it is only a novel… or, in short, some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humor are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language.

Host: Did you ever dream that you would become so famous?

Jane: I have no talent for certainty, but I always had a quiet confidence in my abilities. The fame though was quite unexpected, though slight initially it has now has grown to such proportions that I find myself adorning the ten pound note. (blushes modestly). Pictures of perfection make me sick and wicked. I lay the blame on my nephew for that biography he penned. Fame can be a double-edged sword, for regrettably I have now lost all privacy, and sometimes when I want to pay a visit to Chawton Cottage, there are too many tourists milling about.

Host: (surprised) Are you saying you haunt your old sites?

Jane: I do enjoy dropping by occasionally, but the tourists, their fashion choices are really quite beyond comprehension. It would be mortifying to the feelings of many ladies, could they be made to understand how little the heart of man is affected by what is costly or new in their attire, but still…yoga pants and t-shirts. (shakes head, and thinks silently, for what do we live, but to make sport of our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn.) Chawton House was my only true home and I was very content there. Sometimes I like to sit at my little desk and recollect….or I might visit the kitchen if the new cook is on, because as you know good apple pies were a considerable part of our domestic happiness. As for my childhood home there is nothing remaining, although I read that a blue and white egg cup was discovered recently in an excavation at Steventon Rectory, but it wasn’t mine, it was Cassandra’s. An egg cup – really! Which of all my important nothings shall I tell you first. It seems like a fair bit of nonsense that people would be interested in such things, but that is the price of fame. One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.

Host: Are you aware of how many copies of your books have sold, 20 million of Pride and Prejudice alone?

Jane: Yes it’s quite astonishing to be so immortal, but I wish I had the royalties. A single woman with a narrow income must be a ridiculous, disagreeable old maid, the proper sport of boys and girls; but a single woman of good fortune is always respectable, and may be as sensible and pleasant as anybody else.

Host: That portrait of you in the National Gallery, is it a fair likeness, because I’m not seeing too much of a resemblance? (it might be the makeup and hair blowout, thinks to self, but a little makeup can make even the plainest Jane quite pretty.)

Jane: I believe it has been photo-shopped too often to be an accurate portrayal. (ponders uploading a new photo via Instagram for the ten pound note). To look almost pretty is an acquisition of higher delight to a girl who has been looking plain the first fifteen years of her life than a beauty from her cradle can ever receive.

Host: Are you happy with your media image? The sweet loving demure persona, sunny Jane?

Jane: I must confess I was a bit annoyed with my sister Casandra for destroying most of my letters, especially the ones full of sarcasm and wit. The ones that survive make me out to be some sort of vapid ninny. I suppose she thought she was protecting my reputation…(sigh)…but she destroyed the best ones.

Host: You had five marriage proposals and turned them all down, did you ever regret being a spinster?

Jane: One should only marry for love. And the more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much! You must be the best judge of your own happiness.

Host: What do you think of the movie versions of your novels?

Jane: Some were of more merit than others, but Colin Firth was simply divine as Mr. Darcy. Such a handsome man. I wish I had thought of that wet shirt scene but that would have been too risqué for the era.

Host: Speaking of Mr. Darcy – who was the model for that darling man?

Jane: ………………(prolonged silence, that wasn’t in the script, looks extremely annoyed).

Host: (quickly changes subject). And that famous speech, let me tell you how ardently I admire and love you. Did people really talk like that back then?

Jane: HA, that speech……(contemplates laughing)…..Said. No. Man. Ever.

Host: Jane you seem to be well versed in the ways of the modern world, colloquial speech, photoshop, how do you know about all these things?

Jane: The afterlife is heaven – there’s plenty of time to read and learn new endeavors. With a book, you are regardless of time. You ask yourself, why did we wait for any thing? Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation! There are balls and a fair bit of dancing, and dancing leads to romance, for to be fond of dancing is a certain step towards falling in love. If one has been forced into prudence in one’s youth, one can learn romance as one grows older.

Host: Well that sounds fascinating….romance in heaven. (eyes camera man signalling time’s up). Any advice for modern day lovers?

Jane: Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. But don’t settle. Do anything rather than marry without affection. Wait for your own Mr. Darcy…..(flutters false eyelashes and smiles coyly)….I have found mine….

Host: Thank you Jane. (notices camera man motioning cut). You have delighted us long enough. Would you like more tea?

Jane: Thank you, but I must dash to Sephora before the portal closes and I have to return to the past.

And so there you have it folks, Jane in her own words. Like I said, nothing new there…..other than the blue and white egg cup was Cassandra’s.

(Disclaimer: I apologize in advance if I have messed up any of the quotes or facts as I am by no means an authority on Jane Austen, merely a fan. Next up, the Brontes – Branwell would be on board for sure, Charlotte and Anne might be tempted but Emily would never agree.)