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Showing posts from August, 2009

Jane Austen Sequels, continued

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Apologies for this long break. I was off on a family reunion to celebrate my grandmother's one hundreth birthday (!!)(she's incredible, still full of energy, fun, and determination) , then recovering from the holiday, then frantically trying to catch up on my writing. Now I've re-emerged to join cyberspace again. To continue the discussion: 3. Myth : Jane Austen is a trembling old Auntie who needs to somehow be protected and sheltered. Reality : Jane Austen died young. She died at the age of 42 after a debilitating disease, which took its toll in her last year, but not enough for her to stop writing. Despite Victorian attempts to reduce her to a maiden aunt, scribbling away because she was deprived of the joys of marriage, she was a strong, resilient woman. Despite financial pressures, she refused to marry for convenience, and clearly preferred a career to the humdrum existence of the married woman of the time. She had a keen, razor-sharp wit, cutting and almost cynical. S