Cassandra and Jane: book review

Cassandra and Jane by Jill Pitkeathley. (Harper, 2008.)

Meh.

What did I expect of this fictional memoir of Jane Austen's sister, Cassandra? When I first heard of it, I thought the author was wise to use Cassandra's voice instead of trying to emulate Jane's. (Of course, Jane's narrative would have ended much sooner than Cassandra's.)

I have yet to read any of the Austen spin-offs because I don't read Austen solely for plot, and I'm not sure I want to know what happened once Jane had, as it were, closed the book on them. This book, however, posits itself as historical fiction.

Recently, I read Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman. Before I read this wonderful, rich book, I knew nothing of medieval Wales or Europe. I still cannot pronounce the names of most of the characters. However, I know them, I know how they fit into history, and I have a sense of how it was to live in those times.

(Trust me, I know this is an unfair comparison.)

I can not say the same of this book. The only character I got to know in any depth is Cassandra, and I neither like nor trust her. All I know at the end is that she was a jealous and sometimes- spiteful sister who enjoyed Jane's writings, but understood little of the creative process or spirit. Jane remains one-dimensional, shoved from one heartbreak to the next, or one disappointment to the next, with Cassandra interposing her own saccharine suffering into every nook and cranny. I didn't even have the satisfaction of reading colorful descriptions of clothes or foods, for heaven's sake! In fact, the lack of sensory detail probably predisposed me to dislike this book more than any other deficit.

Meh.

Emma; or, my Dublin Bay sock is not blue

Here is the beginning of a Dublin Bay sock that may look rather blue, but isn't. In real life, the Wildfoote luxury sock yarn is delicious and soft and very, very purple. The pattern calls for 72 stitches. I brought it down to 48 because, as we know, I am a loooose and sloffppy knittur knitter.


These socks are for a knitalong on Ravelry, and a knitalong with Anna. The "Austentatious" group is reading and knitting Emma, Jane Austen's matchmaker. Hence, a paired project! Not only are socks "paired" by nature, but the design on the sock is "paired" - one lovely, lacy panel down each side of the leg.

When I followed up on Ryan's description of the design, I discovered pictures of the Dublin Bay climbing roses that inspired the name. Aren't they lovely?

Which Jane Austen character am I?

So, I guess I'm the Jane Austen character who wouldn't have liked the new Persuasion on PBS last night... I didn't. I'm not alone, judging from some of the discussion boards. Had I not already loved the novel, I don't think I would have understood the story at all, and what was with that running around the streets of Bath ... and that very public kiss? No no no no no!

Check out Remotely Connected for the PBS commentary by Victoire Gerkins Sanborn (Jane Austen's World).

Jane always gets it right

From The Jane Austen Quote of the Day:

• "Where little minds belong to rich people in authority, I think they have a knack of swelling out, till they are quite as unmanageable as great ones."

(Emma on the small-minded Churchills - Emma, volume 1, chapter 18)

What would Jane do?

What would Jane do? She would ask the The Tarot of Jane Austen, of course ! This is so on my wish list!