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Archive for the ‘Jane Austen’s World’ Category

Pride and Prejudice Handwritten Classics Collector’s Edition

Posted in Book review, Jane Austen Book Collecting, Jane Austen gifts, Jane Austen Novels, Jane Austen's letters, Jane Austen's World, Pride and Prejudice, Regency letters on August 20, 2025| 2 Comments »

Hello, dear readers! This month, I’m featuring this new edition of Pride and Prejudice, a Handwritten Classics edition. This is a luxurious collector’s edition in two volumes, featuring Austen’s complete novel. Inside, you’ll find a collection of characters’ letters and papers, written and folded by hand.

This new collector’s edition offers a luxurious cloth binding, deluxe paper, and new printed ephemera that lend an additional dimension to the reading experience. Examples include a newspaper clipping announcing that Netherfield Park is available to let, an invitation to the ball at Netherfield, an illustrated guide to Pemberley, Darcy and Elizabeth’s marriage license, and so forth.

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About the Book

This collector’s edition invites fans inside the world of Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet. A deluxe, cloth-bound, two-volume set includes gorgeous replicas of the characters’ letters, plus all-new mementos, such as the Darcys’ marriage certificate and an invitation to the ball at Netherfield.

Heller’s specially curated edition, first published in 2020, brought these epistles to life and became a fan favorite. Pockets throughout the novel contain handwritten replicas of nineteen letters, from Mr. Collins’s unctuous letter of introduction to Jane’s urgent missive announcing Lydia’s elopement. Readers can pull out each piece, peruse its contents, and feel transported to the breakfast table at Longbourn.

Heller’s research notes shed fascinating light on how she imbued each letter with the character’s unique personality and recreated historical postage marks. Delve deeper into the history with guest essays by Philip Palmer, curator and department head at the Morgan Library & Museum, and Dr. Juliette Wells, curator of the Morgan’s 2025 exhibition of Austen’s own letters, A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250. For anyone who loves Austen, and for anyone who still cherishes the joy of letter writing or collects printed memorabilia, this book offers an immersive experience of a favorite story.

You can revisit Austen’s original text and experience it in a unique way with physical ephemera that links you directly to the world of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. From the masterful calligraphy and the painstaking attention to historical detail to the hand-folding of the letters and other paper memorabilia—this book is an object made by fans for fans.

The novel is presented in two volumes, cloth-bound, foil-stamped, and housed in an elegant slipcase. It offers an exceptional reading experience, stands apart on the shelf, and makes for a truly lovely gift and keepsake. 

Barbara Heller

Barbara Heller is a set decorator for film and television, including The Americans and When They See Us, and a writer and director of award-winning short films that have screened at festivals around the world (Cannes, Berlin, Sundance). She graduated from Brown University with a degree in English Literature. Her previous books include special editions of Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, Persuasion, and Anne of Green Gables. You can read about her work and visit her online HERE.

How the Series Began

Heller, an avid Austen fan, shares about creating this series of handwritten editions of classic books and how it all started:

“I was re-reading Pride and Prejudice for the gazillionth time, savoring my favorite passages in Mrs. Gardiner’s “long, kind, satisfactory” letter to Elizabeth, when a sudden desire to have that letter in my hand came over me. To hold the very letter that Elizabeth Bennet once received – ink faded, paper yellowed – would be utterly satisfying. In truth, I wanted to possess the originals of all the letters in Pride and Prejudice. A vision of myself at a flea market, happening upon the letters, was so real that I experienced the twin electric thrills of discovery and possession. I became determined to transform reverie into reality.

“[It took] three fascinating years during which I examined hundreds of letters written in early 19th century England; dove deep into their cryptic postal marks; agonized mightily over each character’s handwriting, and met the talented scribes who could write a period hand.

“I was extraordinarily lucky to find a home amongst the Austen lovers at Chronicle Books. In this special edition, each letter is tucked inside a glassine envelope bound at the appropriate place in the novel. I have now read the letters so many times I practically have them memorized; and yet, with every re-read, I still get caught up in the story, discover something new, and marvel at (and feel grateful for) the genius of Jane Austen.”

Jane Austen Book Collecting

I personally think this is an edition for serious book collectors and Jane Austen collectors. The price point is high, but it’s currently on sale right now on Amazon (subject to change). It would make a lovely gift or a fun splurge for yourself. It is truly an immersive experience.

As I thought about how I would use this book, I think it would make a wonderful display at a Jane Austen party, book club, program, or exhibit. I can imagine gathering a group of Austen friends together to dress up, have tea, and read the letters and papers out loud together.

As we step into Fall over the next few months, I look forward to sharing several new books that are releasing this year in celebration of Jane Austen’s 250th! I hope you’ve found a few books to add to your shelves along the way.

RACHEL DODGE teaches writing classes, speaks at libraries, teas, and conferences, and writes for Jane Austen’s World blog. She is the bestselling, award-winning author of The Anne of Green Gables Devotional, The Little Women Devotional, The Secret Garden Devotional, and Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen. A true kindred spirit at heart, Rachel loves books, bonnets, and ballgowns. Visit her online at www.RachelDodge.com.

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Jane Austen & the Price of Happiness by Inger Brodey

Posted in Book review, Jane Austen's World, Jane Austen's Writing Techniques, Mansfield Park, tagged on August 13, 2025| 6 Comments »

A Book Review by Brenda S. Cox

Austen’s Endings

A happy ending, but we don’t see how they got there: Edmund falling in love with Fanny at the end of Mansfield Park disappoints because of the lack of details.

A major complaint that readers have about Austen is her endings. In both Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park, we have a sudden romance that is practically a footnote to the last chapter—Marianne marries Colonel Brandon with just, “Marianne found her own happiness in forming his,” and Fanny marries Edmund once he learns “to prefer soft light eyes to sparkling dark ones.” Northanger Abbey introduces a new character, Eleanor’s viscount, to facilitate Henry and Catherine’s marriage.

In Emma and Persuasion we do get some romantic talk (or writing) from the hero. However, in response, Emma says “just what she ought” (which is??), and Anne receives Wentworth’s look “not repulsively.” Then they talk, but we don’t hear their words.

Darcy, of course, simply tells Elizabeth his “affections and wishes are unchanged,” perhaps not willing to risk another disastrous proposal, and Elizabeth “immediately, though not very fluently, gave him to understand that her sentiments had undergone so material a change, since the period to which he alluded, as to make her receive with gratitude and pleasure his present assurances.” But what exactly did she say?

In all cases we have more author commentary than demonstrations, more of what writers call “telling” rather than “showing.”

Movie-makers have had to put words to all these proposals, and fill in some blanks. For example, they show Colonel Brandon rescuing Marianne from the rain, and wooing her with music. But why didn’t Jane Austen, who gave us so many delightful conversations and events, show us all those details herself?

Jane Austen & the Price of Happiness

Jane Austen & the Price of Happiness, by Inger Brodey, explores possible reasons for Austen’s less than romantic endings.

When I listened to Jane Austen and Her Endings: A Visit with Inger Brodey on Austen Chat, I was intrigued by Inger’s thoughts on analyzing those endings of Austen’s novels and trying to figure out why Austen didn’t give us all the details we want. Recently I finally got to buy (at JASP, from Jane Austen Books), and read, Jane Austen & the Price of Happiness by Inger Sigrun Brodkjær Brodey.

It’s a fascinating book, and written quite accessibly. (I found only a couple of unfamiliar academic terms*; in general it’s written in everyday English.) The illustrations are fun, including cartoons, images from movies, and more.

Each chapter analyzes one of the novels, in the order they were written, so we see the development of Austen’s techniques. Brodey looks at various aspect of each novel with new insights and considers the impact of the ending. Then she looks at some popular adaptations of that novel, mostly films plus a few books. She considers how they handle the ending and whether their endings fit Austen’s goals.

Her chapter titles give you some idea of her thoughts:

  • Introduction: “Perfect Felicity”
  • Chapter 1: “Commonplace Happiness” (Northanger Abbey)
  • Chapter 2: “Expecting Literary Justice” (Sense and Sensibility)
  • Chapter 3: “The Limits of Romance” (Pride and Prejudice)
  • Chapter 4: “The Thin Veil of Comedy” (Mansfield Park)
  • Chapter 5: “The Art of English Happiness” (Emma)
  • Chapter 6: “Resources for Solitude” (Persuasion)
  • Conclusion: “Coauthoring Happiness”

Brodey says that, for one thing, Austen is trying to show readers that their expectations of romantic idealism come from the sort of sensibility she satirizes. Austen disrupts those expectations. She shows us that the romantic outcomes we want, expect, and demand are not inevitable: this is fiction. Her stories are realistic, with characters operating in ordinary, everyday life, but the “happily ever afters,” the “perfect happiness,” may or may not happen in real life.

There are other reasons for Austen’s nuanced endings, which I’ll leave you to discover from Inger’s book. However, I’ll share a few highlights from the chapter on Mansfield Park, as an example of some of the many insights in the book.

“The Thin Veil of Comedy” Chapter on Mansfield Park

Readers are expected to be attracted by Mary Crawford’s charm, which hides her poor moral values.

Mansfield Park was published after the light, bright, and sparkling Pride and Prejudice. It deals with harder truths. Brodey claims Austen’s “novels alternate between the bright and witty heroines whose primary obstacles are internal, and the more understated, misunderstood, and wiser heroines whose primary obstacles are external” (p. 138). I had to think about this one, but it’s true—Catherine Morland is not witty, but she does face internal obstacles of her own credulousness and illusions; Elinor Dashwood is wise and misunderstood; Elizabeth Bennet, obviously bright and witty, needs to overcome her pride and prejudices; Fanny Price is also wise but understated and faces external challenges; Emma is again bright and witty and needs to overcome her own pride; Anne Elliot is quiet but wise.

Austen shows, especially in Mansfield Park, that charm can be dangerous. Mary Crawford is lively and charming like Elizabeth Bennet. She and her brother Henry charm Edmund, Maria, and Julia, as well as readers, just as Wickham charmed Elizabeth. However, charm without a strong moral foundation leads to disaster. Austen is challenging her readers “to love the less prepossessing characters and see beyond the false power of charm.” 

Henry Crawford might have changed due to his love for Fanny, and might have earned her love, but he did not.

The final chapter of Mansfield Park tells us outcomes for many characters, who are apparently as important as Edmund and Fanny. We see the reformation of some, such as Tom Bertram and Sir Thomas Bertram. Austen reveals the sad but not completely tragic endings of those who were not willing to change, including Henry and Mary Crawford. Henry could even have had an alternate ending, with a happy marriage to Fanny, if he had been willing to persevere in his resolutions of self-improvement. Brodey says, “It somewhat diminishes [Fanny’s] marriage to Edmund to know that a marriage to Henry would not have been disastrous. Once again, Austen surprises the reader out of extravagant expectations of the novel. We get shades of gray where we hope for black and white, realism where we crave romance” (p. 148).

As in other endings, Austen intrudes in the first person, saying “My Fanny indeed at this very time, I have the satisfaction of knowing, must have been happy in spite of everything.” Austen reminds us that this is fiction and that she, as the author, is controlling the ending. She also refers to Fanny as a living human being, though. In showing her own attachment to Fanny (“my Fanny”), she “models the attachment that she believes Fanny deserves” (p. 147).

She challenges our readerly expectations of fantasy endings, including a sense that “second attachments are degrading for romantic heroines” (p. 149); shades of Marianne Dashwood! We believe that Edmund and Fanny will be happy together, even though it is Edmund’s “second attachment.” They do not need some intense eternal passion to experience happiness.

I hope these brief points pulled from one chapter might give you a little more understanding and appreciation of Mansfield Park. I encourage you to read all of Jane Austen & the Price of Happiness. I think you will find it fascinating and illuminating, as I did!

 

*Here’s one word I learned from this book: apophasis. It means “raising an issue by claiming not to mention it,” or, as Brodey puts it, “tell[ing] the reader what will not be told.” Austen’s endings often use this technique. For example, near the end of Mansfield Park: “But there was happiness elsewhere which no description can reach. Let no one presume to give the feelings of a young woman [Fanny] on receiving the assurance of that affection of which she has scarcely allowed herself to entertain a hope.” As Brodey says, it’s an annoying technique. But Austen has her reasons.

 

Brenda S. Cox is the author of Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England. She also blogs at Faith, Science, Joy, and Jane Austen.

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Jane Austen Summer Program 2025: Sensibility & Domesticity

Posted in 19th Century England, Jane Austen Summer Program, Jane Austen's World, Sense and Sensibility, tagged , on July 28, 2025| 2 Comments »

By Brenda S. Cox

Last month, June 19-22, I had the joy of attending JASP, the Jane Austen Summer Program. I had only attended once before, during covid when it was online. That was fantastic, so I was delighted to finally get to go in person.

This year’s theme was Sensibility and Domesticity. The focus was on Sense and Sensibility (S&S), domestic arts, and trans-Atlantic connections between the young USA and Austen’s England.

Laura Klein and Megan Poff play and sing pieces from Jane Austen’s own playlist that relate to Sense and Sensibility, such as “Begone Dull Care” which they connected with Willoughby. JASP 2025

Plenary Sessions

Plenary talks explored household books of the time; effects of the war on home life; “The Constitutional Safeguard of a Flannel Waistcoat”; and the Jane Austen Playlist, with a performance of songs connected to S&S.

In “Reading the Americas with Jane Austen,” Susan Allen Ford (author of What Jane Austen’s Characters Read And Why) explained what Austen would have learned about the Americas in books Austen is known to have read. For example, novelist Charlotte Turner Smith used her study of botany and travel writing to describe American scenery, as a teaching technique. In the introduction to her collection of tales, The Letters of a Solitary Wanderer, Smith argues that “young persons, who have no taste for any thing but narrative, may sometimes, by the local description of a Novel, learn what they would never have looked for in books of Geography or Natural History.” However, she presents Native Americans as savage and violent.

Anne Grant’s Memoirs of an American Lady, which Austen also read, gives a different perspective. It shows Native Americans as noble friends. Grant grew up in close contact with Mohawks, even learning to speak their language. Austen was able to get multiple perspectives on North America.

Susan Allen Ford, who spoke on Austen’s readings about America, shows rare books. JASP 2025

Jennie Batchelor, author of Jane Austen Embroidery, offered two fun embroidery workshops and a final plenary on “Transatlantic Domestic Arts in the Era of Jane Austen.” Jennie told us about resources used by women in England and America at the time, such as The Young Ladies School of Arts. That book gives instructions and receipts (recipes) for many kinds of ladies’ activities, from breeding canaries to gilding. It includes the technical, scientific knowledge needed for many of these skills. Fashionable boarding schools also taught such arts.

As one example, Sense and Sensibility mentions filigree work, which Lady Middleton expected Lucy to do at night by candlelight. Elinor kindly volunteered to assist Lucy. Filigree is quilling: cutting and rolling up small pieces of paper and fastening them onto a surface. This was quite fiddly, eye-straining work that Lucy was constrained to do in order to please her hostess.

Jennie Batchelor led two embroidery workshops, following patterns she adapted from magazines of Austen’s time. Some participants are tracing patterns onto their fabric at the windows, as Austen might have done. JASP 2025

Context Corners and Discussion Groups

I was particularly looking forward to one special feature of JASP: context corners and discussion groups. Graduate students led four 15-minute sessions (“context corners”) discussing various aspects of Sense and Sensibility. Topics connected S&S with sensibility and sisters; inheritance law; the East Indies; and “Scandal and the Fallen Woman.” For that final topic, we considered when the “fallen woman” was considered morally corrupt and when she began to be considered as a victim of immoral men or capitalism. We also learned definitions of a “rake” and saw comparisons with real people, noting similarities between William, Lord Craven, and the fictional John Willoughby.

In a Context Corner on “Scandal and the Fallen Woman,” Nellie Downie told us about a real Dashwood family who were involved in various scandals. They were quite different from Austen’s Dashwoods. JASP 2025

After each context corner talk, we split up into small groups named after places in S&S. Mine was Norland Park. Using lists of excellent discussion questions and quotes, we had far-ranging discussions which were great fun. We had 45-60 minutes per discussion, so we could really get into it and trade ideas, building off of each other’s insights.

Education was a major emphasis of the conference, and teachers had their own forums in addition to the regular events.

In the Norland Park group, as in all the other groups, we had lively discussions on many aspects of Sense and Sensibility. JASP 2025

And More Delights

The rest of the time was filled with fun events, including:

  • An opening banquet
  • Multiple fun dance practices with “Mr. Steplively” and a Saturday night Regency Ball, with Regency Games for those who preferred not to dance. (A nice touch was the availability of reasonably priced costumes for those who wanted to rent Regency gowns.)
Ready to promenade from the hotel to the ball. Breckyn Wood, Erna Arnesen, Betty Parker Ellis, Jeanne Talbot, JASP 2025.
Dancing at the Regency Ball, JASP 2025
  • A theatrical evening, where we got to watch an original play connected S&S with Hamlet, and a screening of Sense and Sensibility: The Musical, a delightful take on the novel.
  • An adaptations panel which included music and costumes used in film versions of S&S, and more.
  • Optional tours
  • An emporium selling Jane Austen Books along with other fun items, and a silent auction.
  • A display of early editions of S&S and contemporary books by William Cowper, Sir Walter Scott, James Thomson, William Gilpin, and more.
Inger Brodey, president of the Jane Austen Collaborative (of which JASP is a part), shows her early copies of books by Thomson and Gilpin.

Location, Location

Past JASPs have been held at UNC-Chapel Hill. This year about 150 participants met in New Bern, a historic town near the coast in North Carolina. Waterside views were lovely, and we got to tour the beautiful Tryon Palace and its extensive grounds. Our sessions were held at the North Carolina History Museum nearby.

Next summer, JASP is moving to Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The topic will be Pride, Prejudice, and the Pursuit of Happiness. I’m hooked on this great program, and I hope to see some of you there!

(Note: All photos ©Brenda S. Cox, 2025, please ask permission before using.)

Tryon Palace, first permanent capitol of North Carolina, also Governor Tryon’s home, completed in 1770. Reconstructed and reopened in 1959. Well worth a visit! JASP 2025
Touring the Tryon Palace was like touring an aristocratic home of Austen’s day, with period-appropriate furnishings, all the way down to the kitchen, where a real chicken was roasting in the fireplace. JASP 2025

Brenda S. Cox is the author of Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England. She also blogs at Faith, Science, Joy, and Jane Austen.

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Book Review: Jane Austen in 41 Objects

Posted in 250th Anniversary of Jane Austen, Book review, Inspired by Jane Austen, Jane Austen Resources, Jane Austen's enduring popularity, Jane Austen's family, Jane Austen's life, Jane Austen's World on July 14, 2025| 2 Comments »

As we continue our tour of new books and media for Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary celebration, my choice this month is the much-anticipated Jane Austen in 41 Objects by Kathryn Sutherland. This extensive new “biography” features the beloved 41 Objects from the Jane Austen Museum, along with beautiful photographs and in-depth information about each item in the collection.

“Jane Austen’s House holds an unparalleled collection of objects relating to Jane Austen’s life and works, her family circle and her legacy. Here you can see some of the treasures of the collection, ranging from books and letters to pieces of furniture, clothing and paintings. Many of these objects can be seen in the House . . .” (Jane Austen’s House)

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Book Review

For those who have had the opportunity to visit Jane Austen’s House Museum, many can attest that it’s hard to take everything in during a tour of the house. This book provides a closer look at each object in greater details. I was quite intrigued by the items and information I had missed during my visits over the years and from my searches online. For those who have not yet visited JAHM, this is the perfect book for your shelves! It gives Jane Austen fans a wonderful glimpse into the collection of objects often on display there, collecting them all in on place.

This book provides the perfect “virtual tour” because there’s so much more in the book than you can find online or in person. This book is also much more thorough in its explanation of and historic information about each of the 41 objects than anything I have seen. For instance, reading about the Jane Austen plate was brand-new to me.

What’s more, I believe that this book provides information about objects that may not currently be on view at the museum. I don’t think all 41 objects are always available to the public in one place. If memory serves, some objects move here and there to other exhibits, so again, seeing it all in one place is quite impressive and educational.

Jane Ausen’s Writing Desk

Book Description

Jane Austen in 41 Objects by Kathryn Sutherland is a new kind of biography on Jane Austen examining the objects she encountered during her life alongside newer memorabilia inspired by the life she lived.

More than two hundred years after Jane Austen’s death at the age of just forty-one, we are still looking for clues about this extraordinary writer’s life. What might we learn if we take a glimpse inside the biographies of objects that crossed her path in life and afterward: things that she cherished or cast aside, that furnished the world in which she moved, or that have themselves been inspired by her legacy?

Among objects described in this book are a teenage notebook, a muslin shawl, a wallpaper fragment, a tea caddy, the theatrical poster for a play she attended, and the dining-room grate at Chawton Cottage where she lived. Poignantly, the last manuscript page of her unfinished novel and a lock of hair, kept by her devoted sister, Cassandra, are also featured. Objects contributing to Austen’s rich cultural legacy include a dinner plate decorated by Bloomsbury artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, Grayson Perry’s commemorative pot from 2009, and even Mr Darcy’s wet shirt, worn by Colin Firth in the 1995 BBC adaptation.

This is a different kind of biography, in which objects with their own histories offer shifting entry points into Jane Austen’s life. Each object, illustrated in color, invites us to meet Austen at a particular moment when her life intersects with theirs, speaking eloquently of past lives and shedding new light on one of our best-loved authors.

Featured Objects

Sutherland provides a tour of all 41 objects with photographs and information about each one. This truly does gives the reader more time to examine and take a thorough look at each object. Though one could find many of these objects online, it’s much easier to study them in a book format.

Marianne Knight’s Dancing Slippers

About the Author

Kathryn Sutherland is a trustee of Jane Austen’s House and Professor of English and Senior Research Fellow, St. Anne’s College, Oxford. Her publications include Jane Austen’s Textual Lives: from Aeschylus to Bollywood (2005), the online edition of Jane Austen’s Fiction Manuscripts (2010), and Jane Austen’s Fiction Manuscripts (5 vols, 2018). Other edited works include: James Edward Austen-Leigh, A Memoir of Jane Austen and Other Family Recollections (2002) and Jane Austen, Teenage Writings (2017).

During the 200th anniversary year of Austen’s death, she curated two major exhibitions: “The Mysterious Miss Austen,” in Winchester, Hampshire, and “Which Jane Austen?” at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. She wrote essays for and edited the accompanying exhibition book, Jane Austen: Writer in the World (2017).

Celebrating 250 Years

This collection is another wonderful product of the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth and the celebrations happening worldwide all year long. I’m thankful that Kathryn Sutherland, Jane Austen’s House, and Bodleian Library Publishing, Oxford made it possible for Jane Austen fans to have access to these artifacts in book form. If you really want to “geek out,” this is the book for you!

ORDER YOUR COPY HERE

RACHEL DODGE teaches writing classes, speaks at libraries, teas, and conferences, and writes for Jane Austen’s World blog. She is the bestselling, award-winning author of The Anne of Green Gables Devotional, The Little Women Devotional, The Secret Garden Devotional, and Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen. A true kindred spirit at heart, Rachel loves books, bonnets, and ballgowns. Visit her online at www.RachelDodge.com.

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Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner: An audio book review

Posted in Austen at Sea, Book review, Jane Austen audio books, Jane Austen's World, tagged on July 8, 2025| 3 Comments »

Dear Reader: Two hundred and fifty years ago marked two significant events across two continents – Jane Austen’s birth in Steventon, England, December 16, 1775, and the start of the fight for independence by American colonists in Lexington and Concord on April 19th from Great Britain. And so Jenner’s book, set in GB and the American Colonies comes at a propitious time. The novel’s plot is set in 1865, 48 years after Jane Austen’s death, and just after the Civil War in America ends and followed by the news of Abraham Lincoln’s death, and And so the timing of this novel is timed brilliantly – in honor of the 250th anniversary –  J Austen’s birth and America’s fight for independence from Great Britain.

For this discussion about Natalie Jenner’s latest novel, I listened to an audio version of a book that spans over 300 pages and that the listener takes from 11-12 hours to complete. The author’s complex plot provides numerous characters, and their movements across two nations, often with historical minutia thrown in. One set back as a listener is that, unlike a novel in which one can quickly flip back and forth to check on a detail, an audio book forces one to rewind. Being ham handed, I often missed the stop I needed.

The good news is that once the introductions of the characters are over and the plot truly gets going, it’s hard to stop listening, especially sections 2 and 3. To help listeners keep track of the characters and their settings,, I’ve listed the four main divisions in the novel. They are:

1) Boston: In which the main characters are introduced. (a,b, & c) Sisters Charlotte and Henrietta Stevenson are the spinster daughters of Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice William Stevenson; (d) Constance Davenish is a Boston socialite and suffragette, (e) Thomas Nash, is also a Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice and Justice Stevenson’s friend, and (f) Denham Scott is a mysterious reporter from Great Britain (GB). All these characters, in one way or another, have a keen interest in Jane Austen’s work.

Although he lived in Portsmouth, GB, Sir Admiral Francis Austen, Jane Austen’s brother and the last surviving Austen sibling, is included in this section. Jenner weaves his presence throughout the novel, for he is the engine that propels the plot forward in every section of the novel. 

Also included in this introductory section are the Nelson brothers, Nicholas and Hazlett, who are both Civil War veterans. After the war ends, the bachelor brothers work in Philadelphia as rare book dealers. Philadelphian heiress, Sara-Beth Gleason, daughter of a Pennsylvania state senator, frequently visits the rare book shop, for she has her mind set on one of the Nelson brothers.

In this introductory section, Jenner narrates the details of the characters, their settings, and their connections to each other and their knowledge of J Austen. We know their background mainly through the narrator’s voice, but occasionally  get brief glimpses of their personalities through their letters, particularly between Sir Francis and the Stevenson sisters, as well as his correspondence with the Nelson brothers. Within these letters and the characters’ reactions to them, the plot of the novel unfurls in a more personal way.

2) The Sea. In the second section of the novel, the reader meets  Louisa May Alcott on board the S.S China, a ​​transatlantic mail packet steamer headed from Boston to Portsmouth. Traveling on board are the Stevenson sisters, journalist Denham Scott, the Nelson brothers, Justice Thomas Nash, and Sara-Beth Gleason, who has followed the brothers to England. Remaining in Boston are Justice Stevenson and Constance Davenport. 

By this time, Jenner has largely left narrative exposition in favor of having her characters discuss their thoughts and/or allow the reader to get into their minds via free indirect discourse, the writing method J Austen used inventively in her novels. FID allows Jenner to jump back and forth as the third person narrator as well as enter her characters’ minds. 

The journey on board the S.S. China is lively. Alcott, a spinster, author, and woman’s rights activist bonds with both the women and the men. On board the ship, the passengers find/discuss their common admiration for Jane Austen and her writings. After her death, and as the 19th century progressed, Austen’s reputation had spread to the U.S, whose growing popularity Jenner includes in detail. 

3) Hampshire. The third section of this novel is, frankly, my favorite part of the book. Various threads of  the major plots coalesce and intertwine, in particular, those of Admiral Francis Austen, the Stevenson sisters, and the Nelson brothers. Jenner takes us to Portsmouth Lodge, the admiral’s house, which rises on a point above the harbor. From his perch, Sir Francis looks out to the English Channel with a maritime telescope, watching the ships come and go in the harbor and the activities on the docks. Charlotte and Henrietta Stevenson and Nicholas and Hazlett Nelson visit Sir Frances, who shares important information with them. The group journeys to Chawton House and Chawton Cottage, and follow the paths and roads that J Austen has traveled. In addition, between the group’s conversations with the Admiral and their expanded knowledge of the author from his first-hand accounts, Jenner fully fleshes out the details of her life. Austen has become a living, breathing person in their and our minds.

This section has many twists and turns that lead to a mystery the Admiral holds close to the vest. He also keeps certain plans a secret. These mysteries play an important part in keeping me interested in finding out what they are.

 

4) The Court. This section, for me, was a let down. Instead of reaching a satisfactory ending that ties loose ends, new twists are introduced. My mind became confused, for I wondered about the reasons for adding additional threads so late in the novel. Of the reviews I read, however, over 90% of the reviewers were satisfied with the ending and praised the novel, giving it from four to five stars. I found only one review in which the reviewer felt that the book was chugging along nicely, until he reached the last section, when he stopped reading because of the muddling of the plot. 

I kept listening until the end, but felt like I had experienced a number of different endings. I thought, much like the endings in the film, ‘Return of the King’, in which the audience sat through Aragorn’s coronation, Sam’s return to the Shire, and Frodo’s departure by ship to the Grey Havens with the Elves, ‘enough is enough.’.

And so I have mixed feelings writing this review, since I like the author’s writing style and her remarkable research. Plus, listening to a novel that is over 300 pages long and has a quite complicated plot that contains numerous characters who live in and travel to different locations can be quite confusing. I’ll eventually read the novel, and am sure that  going at my own pace while leafing through the pages will provide a better ‘reading’ experience.

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