Jane Odiwe Jane Austen Sequels

Chapter One Door Number One It really did look like a Christmas card. The red brick house glowed with yellow light through frosted windowpanes brightening the gloom of the wintry day. Lizzy wrinkled her nose as feathers of snow tickled her face and settled like iced stars on her scarlet beret. It had been a bit of a nightmare to find it: a train, a bus ride, and a twelve-minute walk along snow-covered lanes, but now she considered it had all been worth it. Jane Austen’s house buried in the countryside village of Chawton couldn’t have been more perfect to Lizzy’s eyes. Perhaps deciding to visit the house in the middle of winter hadn’t been her brightest idea, but there was no denying her excitement. Lizzy felt a sense of anticipation, the house looked enchanted as if under a fairy spell, and she half wondered if she might bump into Jane herself at the door. Finding the entrance at a barn door by the side of the building Lizzy soon realised it was locked, and it occurred to her t...

Last night Monica Fairview (The Other Mr Darcy) and I went to the book launch of Dancing with Mr Darcy. If you haven't heard about this book before it's a selection of short stories inspired by Chawton and connections to Jane Austen. What is really worthwhile, I think, is that the proceeds of the book go back into Chawton House, which I'm sure you know was rescued, restored and turned into a library, which collects women's literature from 1600 - 1830 by the fabulous lady Sandy Lerner. The book started as a competition where anyone who felt inspired could submit their short story with a chance of being published. I've bought the book, and very good it is too - it was lovely to meet some of the authors - I now have a signed copy! We thought you'd enjoy seeing the pictures as so many of you who visit my blog live so far away. I'm always fascinated by the number of different countries that visitors to my blog come from - UK, America, Sweden, Italy, France, B...

...he was exactly the man who, in disposition and talents would most suit her. In chapter fifty of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth Bennet is beginning to think that she made a mistake when she turned down Mr Darcy's proposal. Her feelings towards him have changed and she can only contemplate on the fact that if he knew of her heart's transformation he would consider he had won a victory. What a triumph for him, as she often thought, could he know that the proposals which she had proudly spurned only four months ago, would now have been gladly and gratefully received! He was as generous, she doubted not, as the most generous of his sex; but while he was mortal, there must be a triumph. She began now to comprehend that he was exactly the man who, in disposition and talents, would most suit her. His understanding and temper, though unlike her own, would have answered all her wishes. It was an union that must have been to the advantage of both; by her ease and liv...

I'm thinking about my sister today, it's her birthday. Happy Birthday Gaynor! Although we now live far apart, it's easy for us to keep in touch by phone and e-mail. When you consider that people in Jane Austen's day had only the post to maintain communication when they were apart, it's difficult to appreciate how limiting that must have been, though I must admit that I still get a thrill when I receive a letter, especially when it comes from overseas. Jane Austen enjoyed a very close relationship with her sister and it would seem that they both had a happy childhood.Their mother and father educated them at home until 1782 when they both went away to school with their cousin Jane Cooper. Cassandra was to go alone at first but Jane would not be parted from her and though only seven, went away to Oxford, to a Mrs Cawley. Painting of Jane and Cassandra at their brother James's wedding There in the following year the school was struck by a terrible 'putrid sore t...

I hope you have all enjoyed the Pride and Prejudice adaptation that has just finished on TV in the US. I loved this version and I thought Julia Sawalha was a fantastic Lydia, petulant and precocious but still managing to be very funny! Adrian Lukis was perfect for Wickham too, just the right combination of charm and charisma to convince us in the beginning that he is an ideal partner for Lizzy but also imbued with a certain sleaziness, which soon shows us his true character. Poor Lydia cannot see this and believes herself to be in love with him. Whatever her faults, I could not let Lydia be miserable with Mr Wickham for the rest of her life - I had to find a happy ending for her in Lydia Bennet's Story! Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet was a wonderful Lizzy and I'm sure most will agree that Colin Firth is unsurpassed as Mr Darcy. I think the on screen chemistry between these two is what sparked so many web sites, blogs and sequels to Pride and Prejudice in the years since its...