Jane Odiwe Jane Austen Sequels

Here's a little piece written from Anne Elliot's point of view  - at this time of the year I start thinking about visits to the sea, especially Lyme, which is a favourite place to visit. I hope you enjoy it. My first view of Lyme and the sparkling sea glimpsed between cottages and inns teetering on the edges of the narrow winding street, was a sight to cheer the most hardened heart. The November weather was arrested, its habitual grey and dreary mantle banished by blue skies and the sharp light of winter sunshine. Stepping down from the carriage, a mild gust whipped the ribbons on every bonnet, teasing curls, and catching at muslin hems to billow and swell like the boat sails out on the water. My senses were overwhelmed, though the little town was quiet out of season, there was so much to take in - I could taste the tang of the sea and the brine on my tongue, I heard the seagulls mew and watched them soar and swoop, drift and dip. I could underst...

Jane Austen lived in Bath from 1801 - 1806, and used the city as a setting in two of her novels, which were published posthumously in 1817, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion . Her father was retiring in 1801, and he and Mrs Austen who had done some of their courting and been married in Bath, were keen to spend time there again. Mr Austen’s retirement meant that Jane’s clergyman brother James could take over the living of Steventon, and I can’t help thinking that the fact their two daughters were still unmarried might also have had a certain influence on their decision. Bath was a place to get husbands. It’s said that Jane fainted at the news they were to leave her beloved Steventon in Hampshire, though her letters at this period of time seem more resigned to her fate. Because Bath was such a distance, the cost of transporting the Austens’ possessions was prohibitive, and many had to be sold or left behind. These included 500 books from their personal library and Jane’s pianofort...

 Chapter One Ellie asked herself again, for the hundredth time, how it was that she’d been persuaded to join in. Archaeology was hardly her thing and for that matter, neither was Jane Austen. But, in the end, it was impossible to refuse Jess this small request. Jess, her best friend, who she loved like the sister she didn’t have, had pleaded with them all. And it was Ellie who had made sure the others had agreed to come on the dig, reminding them when she’d managed to take them to one side that they were lucky to still have Jess around after her horrendous health scare of the previous year. ‘It’ll be fun,’ said Ellie, packing her sketch book into her bag as she walked along in the sunshine, ‘especially as it’s our last summer together before most of us have to join the real world and work for our living.’ ‘So long as I can bring my straighteners,’ said Liberty, admiring her reflection and flicking back her chestnut mane as they walked past the refectory window on the...

Chapter Two                                                               The housekeeper opened the door. Mrs Naseby beckoned her in to a dismal corridor, lit by a single gas lamp that sputtered and hissed, providing a totally inadequate light. ‘Take a seat, Miss Austen, I’ll take you to her ladyship in a moment. They’ve just finished luncheon and she’s expecting you in precisely ten minutes. I’m glad to see you’re punctual, I can’t abide tardiness in any form, though I’m somewhat surprised to see you at the servant’s door.’ Mrs Naseby looked just as Jane’s imagination had pictured her. She was a spare, thin woman dressed in a long black gown of Edwardian tailor...