Inquiring readers: Tony Grant from London Calling has been a frequent contributor to this blog, sending posts and images. He lives in Wimbledon and acts as a tour guide, taking visitors on tours to Jane Austen country, the Lakes region, and points of interest all around London and the U.K. Recently, Tony sent in his thoughts about Jane Austen and his wish to delve deeper into other authors and their lives. As an active guide, he knows whereof he speaks. I asked Susannah Fullerton, author, president of JASA, and also a tour guide, to give her response (with Tony’s approval). Here, then, is their very interesting conversation. I intend to weigh in. Does anyone else have an opinion? If so, please feel free to comment. Meanwhile, to all my U.S. readers, Happy Thanksgiving! Drive safely and have a wonderful time with kith and kin.
“Good-Bye to All That,” is an autobiography by Robert Graves. Graves said, “It was my bitter leave-taking of England where I had recently broken a good many conventions”.
I was reading a poem by Edward Thomas, (Philip Edward Thomas, 3rd March 1878 – 9th April 1917) recently, entitled, “The Brook.” In the poem Thomas is sitting by a stream and watching a child paddling in the brook. His senses are completely alert to the sights and sounds of insects, the sight of birds and the sounds of birds unseen, the play of sunlight, the rippling tinkling sounds of water and the memories of a past horseman and horse buried under a barrow on the heath nearby. The poem ends,
And then the child’s voice raised the dead.
“No one’s been here before,” is what she said.
It occurred to me that the child was right. Of course, probably, many people had been to that spot over years and decades. For each of us, however, when we go to a place for the first time that is pristine and natural and remains how it has always been we do experience something for the first time. It is as if nobody has been there or done that, or experienced that before us. We can experience things fresh and new for ourselves when we go somewhere like this, for the first time.
Signpost. Image @Tony Grant
Now lets take a visit to Chawton, Jane Austen’s last home before she died. I wonder if we can actually experience things fresh and new to us on a visit to Chawton and say,“No one’s been here before,” in the way the child in Edward Thomas’s poem did?
I remember standing at the crossroads in Chawton , years ago, for the first time. What I should have experienced, according to Jane Austen pilgrims to Chawton, is a sense of where she lived, a connection with Jane Austen – where she wrote, cooked, sewed, wrote letters, enjoyed the company of Cassandra, Martha, her mother and brothers and neighbours too. Indeed, Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) did all this over two hundred years ago. But can I or any of us get that feeling of, “No one’s been here before.” Do we really get an experience standing at Chawton crossroads next to that much photographed sign post put up in the 1930’s with pointers to the great house, the church and the cottage that it is the Chawton of Jane Austen? Do we really believe that we have a connection with Austen by being there? Isn’t it all in our imaginations because we want to believe?
Chawton Village street. Image @Tony Grant
Chawton high street is full of parked cars with Japanese, French, German, Spanish and Scandinavian makers emblems on them. The road is metalled and covered in tarmac. It has a pavement edged by slate and granite curb stones from Dartmoor. It has concrete and tarmac pavements. Houses surrounding the cottage have a mesh of telecommunication wires leading to each one. People who live in Chawton are all connected to the World Wide Web with broadband like the rest of us. Modern street lights light the streets at night. In the small park opposite the cottage there is a children’s playground with steal clambering structures and swings. The pub opposite, The Greyfriar, is a Fullers pub. They hold a quiz night once a week for locals that probably doesn’t include questions about Jane Austen. Fullers, by the way, is a London brewery situated on the Great West Road, leading out towards Heathrow Airport, close to where Hogarth had his country retreat. These very locals travel to Winchester, Southampton or even commute to London for work every day. Chawton C of E Primary School, just along the road, on the way to The Great House, is an ordinary primary school that teaches the national curriculum. The children are like children anywhere and this is where they live. The Jane Austen connection to them is by the by, not really pertinent to their lives. Although, I am sure, as the school is in Chawton the children will know a lot about Jane Austen, but she will really be just somebody else on their list of famous people and writers to know about. Those children play computer games on their Ipads at home. Chawton is an ordinary place where people live and get on with their ordinary lives, where Jane doesn’t loom much in their minds when they are peeling the potatoes or hoovering their carpets or watching the TV.
Chawton Cottage signs. Image @Tony Grant
Looking at the cottage from the outside, the Jane Austen societies have stuck large obtrusive signs on the walls facing the road. If you look at the structure of the building itself you begin to wonder what of it Jane would actually recognise if she were to come back today. Windows have obviously been bricked up. Was that a result of 18th century window taxes or because at one time the cottage was split into a group of smaller cottages? It has a variety of doors to enter by too which probably weren’t there or were in different locations in Jane’s day.
Staircase. Image @Tony Grant
When you go into the cottage you see modern radiators, electrical wiring, plug sockets and fire exit signs with the requisite fire extinguisher points. These are not subtly hidden or unobtrusive but are very prominent. Many of the display cases, especially upstairs, are bulky and obtrusive. They don’t look good. The staircase itself is not the staircase Jane Austen would have known in her time. The whole house has actually been restructured. The Austen’s might not recognise the place. It’s not really the place they knew.
The visitor’s entrance to Chawton Cottage. Image @Tony Grant
I always come back to the books and her letters. That is where to find Jane Austen. That is where we are going to get glimpses of the real person if we are attentive.
Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love reading Jane’s novels, her letters and the biographies written about her. However all these Jane Austen societies bother me. They worship and idolise her. They focus exclusively on her. They wring every bit of Janenness out of her. They make Chawton a false holy of holies. She was one writer for goodness sake. The world is a diverse and varied place full of great writers that we all need to read and not be partisan about. If I had my way I would get rid of all literary societies connected with all writers and say, just read. Reading develops us and helps us grow. Centering on one writer narrows us.
Penguin Classics
As a paraphrase of Robert Graves, this article “ (Is) my(not so) bitter leave-taking of (Austen) where I (have) recently broken a good many conventions”. We all need to stop squeezing the life out of Jane Austen and get on with real life and the rest of the real literary world. Returning to the essence of the Edward Thomas poem, I feel that my senses need to be open but to other writers without the weighty manufactured image of Jane Austen hovering over my shoulder.
Doesn’t anybody else feel that they would like to get out from underneath the weight of Austen and breath freely again?
Tony Grant
I am going to read all of Virginia Woolf’s novels after Christmas and post reviews. My mate Clive and I are going to do this in tandem. If you want an antidote to all things Jane, don’t stray!!!!!!! Clive and Tone are on their way.
Tony Grant, Wimbledon
Hi Tony,
I hope you are well. I enjoy reading your comments on Vic’s lovely website. Your photo of the Dolphin Hotel looks so nice in my new book, A Dance with Jane Austen. Thanks again for giving me permission to use it when we met.
I’m intrigued by your comments about Jane Austen societies, but don’t agree with you that they are in any way narrowing. My experience is quite the opposite. At JASA we’ve had talks on Jane Austen’s connections with / influence on many other writers – Kipling, Georgette Heyer, Byron, Radcliffe, the Brontes, etc. Such talks immediately send you hurrying off to get to know more about those other writers. We’ve had talks about Jane Austen and various historical figures, so you then want to learn more about them, and of course we’ve had talks and articles about the age in which she lived, so our members then explore music in her time, art and what paintings she knew, they learn about the church in that era, the navy and army, Georgian crime, fashion, food, travel, and the list goes on. I see JASA (and the other literary societies to which I belong) as a wonderful way of extending my reading and my knowledge, not limiting it.
And joining good literary societies is addictive. If you get great pleasure from learning more about one writer, you soon realise that you can do the same with another writer. It does not have to be exclusive – I’m extremely promiscuous indeed when it comes to joining literary groups! I’m part of an Anthony Trollope group (we have trouble knowing what to call our group – ‘The Trollopes’ has dubious connotations – I’d love to hear suggestions??) and we have been making our way through Trollope’s more than 40 novels with enormous pleasure. (Trollope, by the way, was a great admirer of Jane Austen). We have also read biographies of Trollope, biographies of his mother Frances, critical books about his writings, and books about the position of women in Victorian England. It’s a small group but we have all felt so enriched by it. Plus we have great fun, good food and wine, picnics (in places Trollope visited in Australia) and we have all made new friends.
And lastly a fabulous reason to join a literary society is for the social aspects. I have met some of my dearest friends through JASA and other Jane Austen connections. I can honestly say that joining JASA has totally changed my life – and all for the better – so there’s been nothing ‘narrowing’ about my passion for Jane Austen’s novels. Rather than ‘squeezing the life’ out of Jane Austen, my love of her writings has widened my knowledge, increased my appreciation of her books, life and historical era, has taken me around the world, given me new friends and given me intense happiness. The more I turn to her novels, the more I get from them; and the same goes for JASA – Jane Austen keeps giving and giving and I receive so very happily all she has to give in so many ways.
Am I waxing too lyrical??? I think you need to pay a visit to Australia, Tony, so that I can show you in person all you could get from a great literary society. Please come and visit any time!!!! JASA would love to welcome you to sunny Sydney.
Cheers,
Susannah
Jane Austen's World 
I have to agree with Ms. Fullerton regarding the Jane Austen societies, that they are definitely not narrowing. Since joining JASNA I have come to appreciate many authors, the discoveries are endless.
However, I am looking forward to your reviews as you explore Virgina Woolf and other authors.
Ummmm I find it funny that the writer who is negative about Jane Austen societies is male…..
A hint of sexism creeping in I see.
I don’t agree with this slight to manhood.. If you mean Jamie, that men aren’t interested in Austen or dare I say you were thinking men do not read novels i would have to disagree with you. Many of my mates read voraciously.. I have one friend,who has read all of Dickens, D. H Lawrence, George Elliot Hardy and many other novelists. He is a little extreme in the fact that if he reads one novel he must read all the novels by that author. He thinks he ight miss something about the authors development. Another very close friend is reading all of Dickens this year. If you think that Dickens novels are often over 800 pages in length you will get an idea of the scale of his task. He is also writing a lengthy researched review of each novel. I myself have read all of Austen a couple of times and know her letters and biographies well. I have also read novels by most other authors you care to mention. Actually reading poetry is my thing. Do you think that is a male thing to do?.
Hi Jamie,
Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment, which I truly appreciate. I think that Tony’s stance goes beyond the fact that he is male. Many of my female friends think that the Janeite societies and Jane Austen’s current popularity among film buffs and her modern commercial success with prequels,sequels and Austenesque novels are eclipsing her fine work. I must admit to having been one of those people UNTIL I met the bloggers and authors online and in person. I then discovered that most Janeites are like me – interested in art, music, and broader areas of literature than just Jane Austen novels and their spin-offs. Tony, who guides numerous groups all around England, would like to concentrate on a wider variety of authors. I think that both he and Susannah have valid points of view. (Susannah agrees wih Tony, except for his stance on JA societies.) My Janeite group, for example, has talked about expanding its horizon and reading Anthony Trollope, Elizabeth Gaskel, and Edith Wharton. After meeting for 8 years, we have rehashed Jane’s 6 novels, uncompleted works, and juvenilia to death. We are ready to move on and compare Jane’s classics to that of other equally fine authors. – Vic
I think Susannah’s reply to my thoughts about saying goodbye to Austen are very valid… To use Austen and things Austen as a sort of spring board to many other interests, 18th century history,, dance, other authors and so on is admirable. However is Austen necessary as a starting point for all those interests and pursuits and I wonder that by using a fixed point of reference,, in this case Austen, it doesn’t somehow still narrow the choices.?.
The social aspect I can completely emphasise with.
Hi Tony, I think there is always a starting point for all of our interests and pursuits, isn’t there? I don’t see how using Jane Austen as a starting point would necessarily narrow the choices any more or less than any other starting point would. My opinion is that whatever means an individual uses to broaden their interests is a good thing. Books and authors are a starting point for so many of us and I’m just not sure I can agree that that in any way limits us unless we want it to.
Very grudging remarks about Chawton Cottage: “The whole house has actually been restructured. The Austen’s might not recognise the place. It’s not really the place they knew.”
I think Tony Grant misrepresents the nature of “the place” and the motives of the people who visit Chawton. Chawton Cottage has never been a house like Shaw’s Corner (Ayot St Lawrence, Hertfordshire), where the rooms remain much as George Bernard Shaw left them at his death in 1950. In the case of Chawton Cottage, when Miss Dorothy Darnell discovered the house in the 1930s, there was no one left in the village who could say how the rooms of the original building had been disposed. “Darnell’s vision of restoration therefore involved not just trying to buy and repair the building, but to reinvent the structure, layout and contents of the interior.” (Claire Harman: Jane’s Fame, 2009.) In other words, Chawton Cottage as we know it now has been a process of reinvention right from the start. I first visited Chawton in 1976; since then there have been enormous changes to the house and garden, not least the main visitor entrance. The house evolves, just as the Jane Austen legend evolves. (Claire Harman on the Jane Austen legend: “There is no doubt that the historical Jane Austen would not recognise herself in any of it, even its grains of truth.”) But how fortunate we are to have the house, and how grateful we should be to the small group of enthusiasts who founded the Jane Austen Society, specifically ‘to promote or procure the acquisition of the residence of Jane Austen, at Chawton in Hampshire, as a national memorial to the novelist’. I would imagine that most modern visitors to Chawton think of themselves as visiting the ‘national memorial to the novelist’. We all agree that the novels are the important thing, and a visit to Chawton is our way of affirming that. As for the residents of Chawton, with their broadband and modern street lights – well, I don’t suppose that the residents of Keats Grove in Hampstead (London) spend much time thinking about the poet, despite the presence of the museum in the street. So what?
Chistopher, i have been to Chawton many times and probably will go many times more. It is on my route between where i live in Wimbledon , South London and my parents home in Southampton. And I do enjoy a beer and a meal at The Greyfriar, the pub opposite Chawton Cottage. What i have done in my article is switch off the romantic bit, the historical connections and focussed on the unadorned reality, warts and all. It is a particular point of view but I think it is worth stepping back from the dream. You can reconstruct the Jane bit afterwards. I must admit I purposely left out describing the beautiful countryside , the thatched cottages and the English country gardens that proliferate in Chawton, to create the effect i wanted to.
All the best,
Tony.
It is not for me to validate Tony’s or Susannah’s thoughts expressed here, but my thoughts are that interests vary in intensity throughout our lives, focuses (foci) shift, and it’s all perfectly marvelous. Just as I’ve enjoyed Tony’s words and pictures about All Things Jane, I’m sure I’ll enjoy hearing what he has to say about other authors. Never a member of a literary society, I suppose you could call me a Janeite at Large. I’ve often thought it would be great fun, though, and just may turn up at a JASNA event at some point.
Jean, great to hear from you. You must design/invent/create, a cake or perhaps pudding to commemorate Jane. There is a great recipe book written by Martha Lloyd, Jane’s best friend, that might of interest to you.
All the best,
Tony
PS That might be a new line for you Jean, creating literary inspired food!!!!
Tony and Samantha, I am a Janeite to the core, but that has quite a bit to do with the way I was introduced to her. I was very ill with a disease that has as its hallmark fatigue. It was Lupus at the time and now it is Lyme Disease with Lupus components. Anyway, I went from a very active person with 3 children in less than 3 years so I had to be busy by nature. When my disease hit, I had this very active mindwith an inactive body, but no distractions for my mind. I was a reader but hadn’t been taught to be discriminating about it and thought the “classics” were just a bunch of boring “hooey”. A lovely friend who watched my decline decided Jane Austen was just what I needed. She introduced me to her by coming over several nights to bring the 1995 P & P and watch it with me. She was absolutely sure this would be something that would help with my active mind and my inability to get around. I HATED Mr. Darcy at first but she kept saying, “give it time, just watch a bit more.” I did and realized what a gem I had overlooked. Thus began my interest which became not quite an obsession, at least clinically, with all things Jane. She brought to me a pleasure commensurate with my illness. Thus began my pursuit of Jane Austen and anything related to her and her time periods. I read all the non-fiction that I find about that time period and those before and after her. I was never at all interested in the Napoleonic Wars before but have realized that I have grown in that area as a result of reading JA and some of the “sequels”, etc. My love for history, which I did not major in at university because we were told in our first and only required history course, that if we intended to pursue that as our degree, we’d better change that dream right there on the spot because there were no jobs in that field. My hopes were crushed. As it turns out, my future husband whom I met at that university, had had the exact same experience. So history has been a common interest that has drawn us together. When I realized that there was so much available in this area of history and that I really cared about it, I plunged in. My husband really gets charged up by WWII and I’ve entered into watching movies with him about it and will be dragged to Normandy in the next few years, and I will enjoy it. He brought me to England to hit the Jane Austen highlights for our 30th wedding anniversary because even though it is not exactly his cup of tea, he knew that I’d be absolutely stunned with joy. Jane Austen has given me the use of the gift of an intellect that had nothing to put its focus on until I “met” her. She helped me to continue to choose to be grateful during my chronic illness and not be bitter. My Christian faith had a great deal to do with that, primarily, but Jane Austen was the physical thing I was allowed to find out about and I wouldn’t apologize about it for a minute. I guess my point is this: there are several ways that people get introduced to Jane Austen and mine was unique, but that in no way means that I’m only there to “worship” her and ignore other authors. I just have such a sentimental connection to her for helping me through such a difficult time and for the first time I began to read literature seriously. For that I am forever grateful. I stood at the foot of her grave with the plaque over it at Winchester Cathedral two summers ago, and a few tears of joy escaped my eyes as I thanked God for the joy she has brought to me at such a difficult time in my life and continues to give me with my limited physical resources.
kfield2 I loved reading your response. So reading Jane, suggested by a friend,was a starting point for you to help you cope with your illness and to give you a focus in life. I think that is absolutely wonderful, I can only say I admire your strength and passion derived from reading Jane.
There are a few things that have happened to me in my life, meeting somebody, going to a place, reading a book, seeing a picture, listening to a piece of music that have sparked new directions for me too. I can only admire your fortitude.
All the very best,
Tony
PS Isn’t it a wonderful experience walking around Winchester Cathedral.. It must always be remembered it is not a museum, not a relic from the past, it is a living working place of Christian worship. Every part of it has significance and is a prayer in itself..
[…] Jane Austen’s World […]
Well, this is a wonderful conversation! And while I agree with some of what Tony says, I agree more with Susannah’s response – Tony, you seem to feel that those of us who love Austen and visit her haunts [and how aware we are of the realities of the intrusive modern world – no, Jane would not recognize her home, but she would recognize the spirit of the place and that is what we are there for… and we are not really experiencing it as she did in any number of not-so-wonderful ways – horse-poo everywhere, the odors of early 19th life, the cold, the candlelight nights, the constant household duties, etc!] – but to just stand there and stare at the table she actually wrote at is worth the airfare over there alone – but you seem to think that we who read and write about Jane Austen, or go to Society meetings, or ooh! and aah! over the movies and Colin Firth in a wet shirt, are in some tunnel-world where only Austen exists – you know and see only this side of us – and you and I have discussed this! – I love Hardy, I love Eliot and Dickens, I adore and idolize John Steinbeck, about as far from Austen as one can be – but I don’t mention this much in what might appear a single-minded obsession with Jane Austen. I can be re-reading Austen and at the same time be reading a mystery about WWI – or a non-fiction book on Amelia Earhart – don’t assume I exist in some Austen-only [sorry Julie W!] sphere just because that is the only public piece you see of me and many like me…. I could write a blog about Hardy or Frances Burney or Steinbeck just as easily…
And as for limiting one’s life – I concur with Susannah as to how being a part of Jane Austen’s world has enriched and broadened my life in innumerable ways – people I would never have met [I can even add you to this group Tony!, and Susannah! – how lucky can one person get?! – and I cannot even begin to mention the cyber-friends I have made these past 5 years! – and just meeting Vic for the first time in person!], – there are places I would never have seen [would I ever have gone to Lyme Regis if I had not read Persuasion? – indeed, would John Fowles have written The French Lieutenant’s Woman if Austen had not written Persuasion [or perhaps more accurately Hardy’s A Pair of Blue Eyes?!] – goodness the connections are endless – all I know is that I know more about the Napoleonic Wars than I would ever have thought possible! – and from there about Regency life, which leads to an appreciation of the architecture and the art, and the food, and the dancing and even the parlour games! – some of us become dressmakers, some crafting various Austen-relating items, some write sequels because they cannot let the characters’ lives end, some veer off into classical music of the period, and some just re-read and share with friends. Karen’s story of Jane Austen giving her life meaning when all hope was gone is not an unusual story about Austen’s effect on her readers – and her wish to see Chawton is just about trying to make contact with someone that has moved us, given a life meaning, taught us about our fellow man. Do you know that I cried uncontrollably at Hardy’s statue in Dorchester – he looked just like my father and I was again a child with a father who was not long dead – we need and want to make these connections – and if anyone would understand that it would be Jane Austen! [I cried at Keat’s grave in Rome also – who wouldn’t cry there!]
I love Tony what you do, what your write about, and most of what you say! – but sometimes I do think you put us all in a little box that says “Austen-obsessed” on the top and do not know that most of us on any given day are not in that box but living full lives – if Austen happens to come up in discussion, then that is only because she is so universal – what can you think about or talk about that we could not cite something from Austen in the conversation!
Thanks you three for sharing all your thoughts!
Deb
Me again – forgot to say congrats to you Tony and Clive for doing a marathon Virginia Woolf reading in the new year – I look forward to your blog posts on her and her writings – you do know of course how Woolf felt about Austen, what she wrote about her – so you see it all comes back to Austen no matter how hard we might try to get past her!
Thanks for your long reply and taking the time to think and write, Deb.
Do you know, i agree with so much you say. I love your impassioned plee that you could just as easily write articles about, Hardy or Francis Burney or Steinbeck. That really is the point I am trying to make. You too can be imapassioned about other writers apart from jane Austen and that is a good thing Deb. I look forward to those articles. I hope you do write them..I like to write articles about other authors and to me that is a healthy mind expanding pursuit full of rich treasures and personal growth. I feel at times it is a little claustrophobic the world of Jane. I am not rejecting Jane and her writing I just feel like throwing off the shackles of her world for a while. I agree, Jane is a great starting point for many interests whether it is a study of the 18th century in general, country dance, 18th century fashion, an inspiration for story writing, a reason for social gatherings, a way to make friends and so on. But there are so many other starting points out there that might bring other treasures and fruits that Jane might not lead to.
As for Karens (and now LacyJ’s) heartfellt response about Jane helping her live with her illness, I think that is wonderful and that should be a reason to read good literature, not just Jane. I once worked, during my student days,,, many years ago in Southampton Docks. A forklift truck driver explained to me one tea break in the works canteen how Tolkeins Lord of the Rings had helped him through the break up of his marriage. For myself i have always had a strong emotional response to Hardys novels.. I found from my teenage days that Far from The Madding Crowd, Tess of the Durbevilles The Woodlanders and so on transported me emotionally and imaginatively. I had a similar youthful response to Charlotte Brontes Wuthering Heights.
I think the thing is that good literature is vital for our wellbeing, our imaginative lives and our own emotional growth. We have to be widely read with no favours. It’s as vital as breathing, drinking and eating..
Thanks for everybody’s fantastic replies.
it is not often there is such a great discussion on a blog. Thank you Vic for publishing my comments and thank you Susannah for writing your piece to go with mine. Susannah, i will be out to Australia one of these days. I have Richmond Virginia to visit, and also Vermont too..
All the very best,
Tony
kfield2,
Thank you for bravely writing about your health challenges and how Austen’s work helped you through the early phases of the trials you endured. The first paragraph you wrote could have been mine. First, diagnosed with lupus then with Ricketssia – a form of lyme, and then, bad medicine practically put me out of commission completely!
Fortunately I discovered Jane’s work at the onset of illness before things got really bad. Over the years, I’ve written (and been published) on mostly non-fiction/women’s issues, health & fitness – yes, there’s some irony there! So, I love to read and write and in recent years as illness has taken a harsher toll, I’ve enjoyed blogs such as this one and really like reading everyone’s input – whether from Tony’s stance or Vic’s and of course, all of the comments.
One thing that I love about Austen is that she always had such a light hearted wit and charm to her books and letters (in spite of the fact that she too, dealt with a chronic illness which she succumbed to later in her life).
I think when we face physical pain and limitations daily, we especially need to seek that which is uplifting to our souls. I have greatly enjoyed Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, and the Bronte’ sisters; but there is a heaviness or a harsher reality to their stories that can be a bit too weighty when health symptoms are in full flare. So, I turn to these authors on better health days and back I go to Jane (and the films and mini-series based on her books) when illness hits harder.
I’m not sure if it’s okay to include this but this is a link to one of the articles I wrote about another author and how her book effects me in relation to my health (hopefully you will find some common ground there): http://www.lifebeyondillness.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html
Anyway, thank you also Tony for your candid take on your walk with Jane and to Vic for this blog.
I’ve found this conversation very interesting, and found I was nodding in agreement at both Tony AND Susannah, for I see both sides. Is it possible it has something to do with Tony being English and Susannah being Australian? Sometimes it seems to me that for those who are native English speakers but not actually British find in Austen a certain authentic “Englishness” that has a cozy allure. It is not their own, but it speaks to them in a special way. While for a native Briton, that sense of real Englishness is more elusive. It would seem to be all around them, yet (what I get from Tony’s description of visiting Chawton Cottage) it’s not. Their standards are more demanding, and the prospect of people from all over claiming dear Jane as their own might be irksome, even. Do they feel others don’t really understand her, or at least not properly? Is this possible? I write this as an American of Irish descent, who as should go without saying, loves Jane Austen. Thanks for the excellent post.
Amazing!