Hello, dear friends. Rachel Dodge here. I just moved to a new city (and state) and I’m feeling under the weather and can’t do too much at the moment. I won’t be able to post the article I’ve been working on for this month, so I thought I’d just hop on and say a quick hello to you all.
Watch Lists for the Ailing Austen Fan
While I’m recuperating, I’m in need of some good Jane Austen / Downtown Abbey type shows or movies to keep me going. I know this group will be a great place to ask for some watch lists!
In the comments below, please tell me the shows or movies that get you through sick days. There’s nothing like a warm cup of tea and a lovely movie to help the hours pass.
Good Neighbors
After we moved in, it was very quiet at first, but today a neighbor left flowers and a card on our front porch! I texted her to say thank you and to let her know I’d love to meet her in person soon, once I’m feeling better, and she immediately asked if she could get anything from the grocery store for me. I needed a certain brand of vitamins and she went right out and got them. What a good neighbor!!
My kids have been walking our dog which gives them outings to fight off the boredom. It also means they get to wave at people as they walk up and down the sidewalk. Here’s a picture of our dog if you want to see why he’s a great helper when it comes to making new friends.
Has anyone ever done something for you when you first moved into a new house? What do you like to do for new neighbors?
Caring Friends
Once my friends “back home” heard I was sick, I soon received a flurry of text messages, calls, and Door Dash gift cards.
One dear friend who lives about 30 minutes from our new home set up a meal train with her friends in the area, even though she just broke her ankle! I can’t begin to express my gratitude.
A few care packages have arrived as well. Perfect timing! If you’ve given or received a care package, what was in it? If you could choose the perfect care package, what would you like to find inside? I found a note, a candle, a packet of tea, and a beautiful book of poetry. Absolutely perfect!
Be Still
Like most people, I’d much rather be the one to serve others, rather than be the one who is served, but I’m learning to be thankful and be okay with letting people help. It’s okay (and even needful) to be still sometimes. I’ve been thinking about the verse, “It is better to give than receive.” It certainly brings a lot of joy to both people, don’t you think?
Signing off now. Here’s to a new article next month that’s much more on topic. Wishing you all the very best in the meantime!
RACHEL DODGE teaches college English classes, gives talks at libraries, teas, and book clubs, and writes for Jane Austen’s World blog. She is the bestselling author of The Little Women Devotional, The Anne of Green Gables Devotional and Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen. You can visit Rachel online at www.RachelDodge.com.
Jane Austen's World 
The movie I watch over and over again for comfort is Leap Year. It isn’t set in the era of Jane Austen’s novels or even of Downton Abbey, but it is sweet and funny and the setting (Ireland) is gorgeous. Oh, and the hero is Matthew Goode, who played Henry Talbot in Downton Abbey. Hope you feel better soon.
Hope you like the new location. When ill, light hearted fare is best. You can rewatch old favorite series such as Still Game or Derry Girls, or the Miss Marple’s from the 60s with Margaret Rutherford, or maybe old feel good classics like The Awful Truth with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne or Ruggles of Red Gap with Charles Laughton. Feel better soon!
Hope you’re feeling better soon.
Nearly any comedy with Cary Grant will lift my spirits.
Denise
There are two movies I have watched so often, and the one fitting into my love of Jane Austen is Kate and Leopold. I also love watching Lost in Austin.
Sounds like you moved to a great neighborhood, Rachel! Take care and get well! And if all else fails, just watch Downton again…perfect escapist fare!
Both Cranford and Lark Rise to Candleford if you want series set in the 19th century. More contemporary: Shakespeare & Hathaway is a quirky comedy mystery series set in Avon. White Collar is smart and fast paced and funny but there are some violent bits which I put on mute and fast forward through. Sister Boniface is set in the 1960’s and is quirky and another comedy mystery series.
Other movies: Princess Bride, The Devil Wears Prada, You’ve Got Mail, Bridget Jones Diary, The Love Punch, are all ones I put on in the background. And the BBC Pride & Prejudice of course! Hope you feel better soon! :-)
Rachel, I hope you feel better very soon, and I think you have some wonderful friends and new neighbors, just the kind everyone would like to have. One of my favorite films is Enchanted April. I usually cry in parts of it and smile in other parts, but watching it always comforts me. I also like the novels of Angela Thirkell and have wondered if any of them have ever been made into films.
Movies I never get tired of? Ninotchka, A Room with a View. If you subscribe to Netflix: Call My Agent is a terrific French show and Crash Landing on You is a fantastic Korean show (the more I watched the more I adored it… very romantic yet rich character development). Both are contemporary. So much to watch on Netflix! If you subscribe to HBO Max: Gentleman Jack for period drama (based on a true story). Acorn TV: If you haven’t seen The Detectorists… it’s a must watch. Absolutely fabulous. For classic movies: TCM (and HBO Max). So much tv, so little time!
Born Yesterday with Judy Holliday and William Holden; Enchanted April; Greenfingers, Arsenic and Old Lace and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society!
So sorry to hear you’re poorly. Hope you’re soon back to full health. I love Cary grant films and…have to say – at these times especially – doris day films. I’d be working my way, again, through Jane Austen films also.
Take care of yourself, Rachel. Glad you’re surrounded by kindness. Charlotte x
BBC Persuasion with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds; and for a comfort read, AJ Pearson Dear Mrs Bird: WW2 London, sone romance and lots of pluck. I also return to PG Wodehouse for comfort reading and humour. Oh and Rhys Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness series -1930s mystery plus romance, lots of great settings and characters. My main comfort film that I can watch anywhere any time is Hot Fuzz wirh Simon Pegg, because it’s funny and just so perfectly written, but may not be your cup of tea! Hope you get better soon.
My deepest sympathies, I hope you feel better soon. What lovely neighbours! My film suggestions which can be found on YouTube are ‘My name is Bach’ which is in German but has subtitles in English, and is an interesting insight into Freidrich der Grosse; and if you like epics, Ogniem i Mieczem, which is available with subtitles, set in 17th century Poland, a love-triangle and adventure story [with one or two graphic scenes of death and violence; be aware. I’m fairly unshockable but I swallowed hard over the impaling 2 hours in.]
Get well soon. What’s your dog’s name? Here’s my candidate for a truly entertaining, witty movie that’s very rare but on YT. Mr District Attorney, 1941, with Dennis O’Keefe and Peter Lorre.
Hi Rachel, Sending you lots of ‘get well soon’ messages from a fellow teacher in the UK (I currently teach history & English literature in adult education). It was great reading your post and lovely to hear about how kind people can be – we hear so much today of all the horrible things happening in the world it’s nice to be able to concentrate on the good!
The following are a few suggestions:-
Films: ‘California Suite’ – an oldie but goodie in my book – starring the wonderful Alan Alda and Michael Caine. Maybe not your typical ‘feel good movie’, but so funny and superb acting. The dry humour is just brilliant.
‘Guys and Dolls’ (Marlon Brando, 1950’s) and ‘High Society’ (Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, 1950’s) – my ‘go to’s’ when I’m under the weather myself
Books: ‘Cranford’ by Elizabeth Gaskell has to be one of my favourites – and Mrs G. herself said it was the only one of her books that she turned to when ill or ailing!
On the internet you can probably find re-runs of episodes of the drama series ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’, televised in England during the 1970’s, about life in the grand London house of an aristocratic family, from the early 1900’s.
My favourite ‘Jane Austen’s when I’m under the weather are ‘Emma’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ – I’d love to know your choices!
Here’s hoping you’ll be feeling much better very soon, take care of yourself.
Margaret x
Long before Downton Abbey there was Upstairs, Downstairs: Great cast and plots. Loved Enchanted April and think you would enjoy it. A great movie (that made me laugh and cry at the same time) is Front Page with Walter Matthau. Whatever you watch, have fun!
Oh, and the 1980 BBC Pride and Prejudice with Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul-even though I enjoyed the 1995 version the 1980 BBC version is my person favorite.
Stay well. Wherever you are now located, there will be new friends (Janeites!) and new sights.
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Rachel, thanks for sharing your struggles with us. Coincidentally, I’ve been sick also for this last week, so I appreciate these recommendations also! I pray both of us will be better soon. Thanks, all you other friends, for sharing!
In an effort to avoid the books and movies that have already been mentioned I’ll suggest “Seaside Hotel” – it’s an absolutely charming Danish series, in Danish with subtitles. However it’s one of the only foreign language shows that I’ve watched where reading subtitles wasn’t a distraction. It does bear a slight resemblance to Downton Abbey in that it portrays the staff of a summer hotel and the guests who arrive each summer for a 4 week stay. There are 8 seasons so far (a ninth has yet to be released in the states)n and it also follows a timeline, beginning in 1928 up to the 1940’s and we see the changes that take place as war threatens.
Depending on your location it may be available on PBS, Prime, Roku or other streaming channels.
I’ve recently enjoyed watching The Paradise on prime. It is only 2 seasons long and takes place in the Victorian period but I loved it. Based on an Emile Zola novel.
I can add my vote to this one as well…so delightful…even the music!
I’m watching Hotel Portofino on PBS. It’s a lot like Downton Abbey.
Rachel,
Sorry to hear you’re under the weather. Tonight I’m giving a slide show and talk at a local library on The Two Adopted Austens, based on my essay which was published in Persuasions online a while back; you may enjoy looking at it. Hope you’re feeling better soon.
Price
https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/volume-41-no-2/grisham/ The Two Adopted Austens » JASNAhttps://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/volume-41-no-2/grisham/ The Jane Austen Society of North America is dedicated to the enjoyment and appreciation of Jane Austen and her writing. JASNA is a nonprofit organization, staffed by volunteers, whose mission is to foster among the widest number of readers the study, appreciation, and understanding of Jane Austen’s works, her life, and her genius. jasna.org
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I love knowing about like minded people. As a great grandmother with four granddaughters and four great grand daughters I look forward to their enjoyment of Jane Austen. This is a wonderful treasure. I am so happy to know about this group.
I hope you get better soon!
I think nobody mentioned the North and South miniseries with Richard Armitage… need I say more?
Also, The Scarlet Pimpernel, both the Leslie Howard and the Anthony Andrews versions, though the latter is my particular favourite and watched it countless times.
I have a soft spot for the old Errol Flynn Robin Hood movie, and the Mark of Zorro with Tyrone Power, if we think of swashbuckling oldies.
OH, YES! North And South (E. Gaskill) – with Richard Armitage (sigh). Very good cast and follows authors script up until the end but I like this productions ending – oh, so romantic (another sigh). I think Gaskill, if she’d been given more time, could have written something similar to this ending.
Can I add my vote for North & South with Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe! Brilliant, – and flawless acting.
I’ll add another vote for North and South. Wives and Daughters is also very good. We have both on DVD. My two favorite Elizabetth Gaskell books also.
Willow and Thatch @gmail .com has lists of period movies divided up into eras.
Thank you so much! I visited willowandthatch.com and loved seeing all the period recommendations!’
Movie suggestions:
Charming movie- This Beautiful Fantastic.
Sweet movie- Enchanted April.
Great movie- The Guernsey Literary and
Potato peel pie Society.
Two of these have ‘Sybil’ from Downton.
Get well soon!
Rachel, check out Sanditon on PBS Passport. I can vouch for some of the other suggestions folks have posted. the Guernsey Potato Pie Society is great and Lost in Austin is an old favorite (hottest Darcy ever!) Hope you feel better soon!!
I hope you feel better. Most important for everyone is good health. I look forward to you posting the article when you feel better. I am very disappointed in the latest releases on the big screen or streaming. What are they doing? Persuasion is not coming fc well and Mr. Malcolm’s List while it has good reviews is only on the big screen. Also it is Jane Austen like? Lastly very disappointed in Sandition. I hope we can all look forward to some better productions that honor a wonderful author . Take care .
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society! Then there’s Sense & Sensibility, Emma (2020), and, even though it’s writers got carried away from Jane Austen’s way of writing, Sanditon is enjoyable. And it’s always a treat to watch Pride & Prejudice (BBC version as well as Joe Wright’s movie starring Matthew MacFayden (sigh) and Kiera Knightley. You have lovely friends and neighbors. Take one day at a time!
I wanted to reply about Sandition. I have felt in the second series it lost more then I hoped it would. Theo James as Sidney Parker was a big loss and his reasoning was pretty poor. He is now in Mr. Malcolm’s List. Rose Williams is lovely but Sandition is not Jane Austen quality. I can watch Pride and Prejudice almost every version and love them all. Be well everyone .
These movies are not exactly Jane Austen / Downtown Abbey types but these are movies I enjoyed when sick and are worth recommending. Here are links to the movie trailers.
King Charles III – https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/king-charles-iii/#
Somewhere in Time – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081534/
The Ghost & Mrs. Muir – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039420/
Just Like Heaven – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425123/
FAO Rachel Dodge.
You asked for other books I enjoy. My favourite author is Jane Austen but I also really enjoy Mrs Gaskell. Some of my favourites are Cranford, North & South and Wives & Daughters.
Rachel, I hope you feeling better. What lovely friends and neighbours you have. A favourite movie of mine to watch is Bright Star about Keats. I’ve also been reading books Jane Austen read, and loving them. The History of Sir Charles Grandison and Evelina are well worth a read.
A very unusual book called Longbourne has stayed in my mind for a long time. Itis about the servants of the house of Bennett. You might like it. Please take good care of yourself. You do serve all of us who love your blog. Best Wishes,
Elizabeth Quigley, Quakertown, Pennsylvania, USA