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“a heroine whom no one but myself will much like”

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This is how Jane Austen herself described Emma, her most flawed heroine. I’m going to focus on this issue because I think it’s the crux of why there are such widely differing opinions on this book.

First I’ll say this isn’t my favorite Austen either. (PRIDE & PREJUDICE and PERSUASION are each my favorite, depending on which one I’ve read most recently.) When I first read EMMA as a teenager, I didn’t like it much. Being insecure myself, I didn’t want to identify with a heroine who made so very many embarrassing mistakes. At the time I would almost (hanging head in shame) rather identify with a Barbara Cartland heroine, though come to think of it they all had that embarrassing inability to complete a sentence in the hero’s presence!

Anyway, once I had outgrown the desire for perfect heroines, Emma grew on me. I’ve become more comfortable with my own flaws so now I also prefer heroines who make mistakes as long as they have the saving grace of learning from them as Emma does.

I even think I’ve come to a better understanding of Emma’s behavior toward Harriet Smith and her unkindness to Harriet’s suitor, the farmer Robert Martin. Emma’s most obvious motivation for “improving” Harriet appears to be an officious desire to manage everything. But reading between the lines, I wonder if part of the cause was loneliness. Emma’s sister married and moved away, then Miss Taylor did the same. She was encouraged to befriend Jane Fairfax but really, Jane Fairfax was not the stuff of which BFFs are made. Even Mr. Knightley admits that she ‘has not the open temper which a man would wish for in a wife.’ That open temper was a quality I think Emma longed for in a friend.

So Emma tried to mold Harriet into something more like herself, with disastrous results. I can sympathise with this because I once made a similar mistake. All I can say is that both Emma and I meant well and we are brave enough to admit when we are wrong. That ought to count for something!

I don’t find EMMA quite as romantic as P&P or PERSUASION, yet there’s a part of the romance that works powerfully for me. I like that Mr. Knightley loves Emma enough to always want to bring out the best in her and that he appreciates her courage in admitting her mistakes. The line from the book, so beautifully delivered by Jeremy Northam in the 1996 film: “I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it” is one of my favorites. I love the idea of someone being totally honest with you and loving you despite–or even because of–your faults.

So anyway, EMMA has grown on me to the point that it’s a strong #3 in my Jane Austen favorites list. But I still understand why it is last on many people’s lists. I have seen reviews of Joan Aiken’s spinoff JANE FAIRFAX (which I haven’t read myself) written by readers who say they detested Emma in the original. Jane Fairfax is a much more obvious choice of heroine by modern romance terms: virtuous, impoverished, an obvious object for sympathy. But being a bit of a contrarian here…why shouldn’t a heroine who is “handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition” have a romance too?

Let me know what you think about EMMA, either the main character or any others you’d like to discuss. And don’t forget, we’ll be giving away a copy of JANE AUSTEN’S WORLD to a lucky winner chosen from comments all this week!

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Posted in Jane Austen | Tagged , | 26 Replies

NORTHANGER ABBEY — Jane Austen week continues!

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Welcome to day two of Jane Austen week! In honor of Jane Austen’s upcoming birthday, we’re spending this whole week talking about her novels.

Today: Northanger Abbey!

I first read this novel in college. The only Austen I’d read before was Pride and Prejudice, and I’d found it wonderfully romantic. So I picked up Northanger Abbey one day. I was expecting an emotional, swoon-worthy, and delightfully short book. (I’ve always liked short books. Does that mean I’m lazy?)

The novel wasn’t quite what I was expecting. In fact, I was initially quite disappointed. I’d wanted a smart heroine (like Lizzy Bennet) and a powerful, yummy hero (such as Darcy).

Instead, I got a staggeringly naive heroine. And, sure, naive heroines (particularly young ones) may transform themselves into impressive women, but it seemed to me that would require strength and intelligence, or at least industriousness. Catherine had no great claim to any of the three. No, her best quality was that she was, you know, nice. Pleasant. Friendly.

Gullible.

Tilney was a bit more attractive to my eighteen-year-old reading self, once I figured out that pretty much everything he said was a joke. But Austen refused to let me get romantic about Tilney, no matter how much I wanted to. Instead, she kept pointing out that one of the reasons he was falling for Catherine was that she quoted his opinions on art back to him:

…though to the larger and more trifling part of the [male] sex, imbecility in females is a great enhancement of their personal charms, there is a portion of them too reasonable and too well informed themselves to desire any thing more in woman than ignorance.

…she soon began to see beauty in every thing admired by him, and her attention was so earnest, that he became perfectly satisfied of her having a great deal of natural taste.

And that wasn’t what I was looking for in a guy, either in literature or real life.

And yet, when The Official Risky Decision was made to blog about Austen’s novels this week, my hand went up with an “oh, can I have Northanger Abbey, please please please?”

It’s definitely one of my three favorite Austens (along with P&P and Persuasion.) And I’m pretty sure I lean toward it more than the average Austen fan.

So…what changed? Why do I love it now, when I was so disappointed at the outset?

I think one of the reasons is that I (extensively) revised my expectations. I no longer pick up the novel to have a wonderful romantic adventure, or admire a heroine or swoon over a hero.

I love the humor. The bright, sparkling, silly fun of the first half of the book is just great comedy. John Thorpe, always boasting… Isabella, so transparent in how she chases men… Mrs. Allen, who wishes she had some acquaintance in Bath… Mr. Tilney, who knows to what use ladies put nine-shillings-a-yard muslin.

And, really, what a lovely existence, in that first half of the book! The worst problems are rain and a bit of boredom, but Mrs. Radcliffe can always cure that. We have country dances and country walks, carriages and cravats, flirtation and quizzes — and no work at all. Ah, yes — that’s the life I want. (Does that mean I’m lazy?)

I confess, I don’t care for the second half of the book nearly as well. Sunshiny, dynamic Bath turns into dark, dreary Northanger Abbey, and most of the comic characters are gone. Tilney lectures Catherine a lot, and the ending is one of Austen’s “I’ll tell you what happened, but I won’t give it to you in a scene” resolutions, like in Mansfield Park, which I always find less than satisfying.

But for me, nothing can equal the first half of the book. I want to be in Bath with the Tilneys and Thorpes and Allens, reading Gothic novels with Catherine and promenading in the Pump Room, with the comic spirit of Sheridan and the Eighteenth Century wits infusing everyone around me.

So…how about you? What do you think of Northanger Abbey?

(And remember, on Tuesday, January 1, we’re going to discuss the BBC TV adaptation of Northanger Abbey — so be sure to stop by!)

Cara
Cara King, author of My Lady Gamester, the story of a heroine who is so industrious that she makes me want to take a nap…then again, you all know how lazy I am…

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Sense and Sensibility – Celebrating Jane Austen

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This week, in anticipation of Jane Austen’s birthday, we are each discussing one of her books. I chose Sense and Sensibility. At the end of the week, courtesy of Amanda, we’ll be giving away a copy of Jane Austen’s World to one lucky commenter. (Bertie’s rules apply)

Jane was born Dec 16, 1775, and Sense and Sensibility was her first published book. She wrote the first draft, called Elinor and Marianne, when she was nineteen years old but the book we read today was first published in 1811.

from Wikipedia: Although the plot favors the value of sense over that of sensibility, the greatest emphasis is placed on the moral complexity of human affairs and on the need for enlarged and subtle thought and feeling in response to it.

It has been a few years since I’ve read any Jane Austen (being the worst-read of all the Riskies), so I came to Sense and Sensibility with fresh eyes. I discovered a few things:

1. Sense and Sensibility is primarily a love story. A Romance. No matter the other themes of the book, romance is central. From the beginning we root for Elinor and Marianne to find love and have a happily ever after.

2. How masterfully Austen parallels Elinor’s love story with Marianne’s. They both fall in love with men they cannot have. They both have knowledge of the women the men must marry. What Marianne suffers openly and dramatically, Elinor conceals.

3. How deftly Austen can convey character-and with such wit and wisdom! It seems to take her a mere brush stroke. For example, of John Dashwood, Elinor and Marianne’s half-brother, comes this: “He had just compuction enough for having done nothing for his sisters himself, to be exceedingly anious that everybody else should do a great deal...” I’m in awe of her skill.


4. The Marianne of the book is much less appealing than how she was portrayed by Kate Winslet in the Sense and Sensibility movie. Marianne is convinced that acting upon her own feelings at all times is the way to go; therefore, she is often rude and thoughtless and ill-mannered, even if her heart is in the right place toward her sister. Marianne is selfish in this way, to feel her emotions may be expressed at the expense of others.

5. It occurs to me that, in the end, Marianne learns to be unselfish, to think of others rather than herself. In the end, she understands that Willoughby needed something she was unable to give him, so she could forgive him. I think she might have learned some of this unselfishness from Col. Brandon, who seems always to think of her needs over his own. And, of course, from her sister, who is unselfishness personified.

6. Compared to most romance novels today, Austen’s writing is denser, wordier, and its revelations seem to be slipped in when you least expect them. There is a lot of what we would call “Telling,” but her prose still shines. You have to read it at a savoring pace, which was perfectly fine with me!

7. In Sense and Sensibility, Austen’s subplot takes center stage and the main romance is almost in the background. I see this book as Elinor’s story (although I’m sure that others could argue differently) and Elinor’s love story is a quiet one compared to the drama of Marianne’s love story. I can see 19th century readers turning the page to see what happens to Marianne, but in the end, it is Elinor’s happy ending that resonates. At least for me.

8. Emma Thompson did a wonderful job of condensing the book into a movie. The book is, of course, richer and more detailed, especially of the minor characters, but Emma caught the spirit of the book.

Those are my random thoughts about Sense and Sensibility. What do you all think? What do you like about this story? What don’t you like about it, if anything?


Come back every day this week for more discussion on Austen’s books. If you want to know what we’ll be up to in the future, sign up for our newsletter at http://www.blogger.com/riskies@yahoo.comand put “newsletter” in the subject field. And don’t forget! The Vanishing Viscountess is available now on eharlequin and will be in stores Jan 1.

Posted in Risky Regencies | Tagged | 32 Replies

The Riskies Welcome Back Anna Campbell!

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The Riskies are pleased to welcome Anna Campbell back to our drawing room! She is celebrating the release of her second book with Avon, UNTOUCHED…


1) It’s wonderful to welcome you back to Risky Regencies. What have you been up to since the last time we chatted?

Amanda and Riskies, thank you so much for asking me back to chat. I had a fabuloso time last time I hung out (I hope you note the authentic Regency language here!). I’m looking forward to another fun day and to giving away a signed copy of the green monster to someone who leaves a comment.

Life since we last chatted has been absolutely nutsoid. Ah, more Jane Austen influence sneaks into my prose! I’ve written my third “Regency noir” for Avon which will come out in October 2008. Just handed that in on 1st November. I’ve also had a big overseas trip. I had a month in the UK doing research. I soak up landscape and atmosphere and hang around stately homes and drive all the guides wild because I want to know EVERYTHING! I then went on to a week in New York followed by a week in Dallas for RWA Nationals where I got to meet some of my favorite Riskies in person. Although we didn’t get time to chat at length – something we’ll have to remedy in San Francisco next year. I’ve also joined a blog of Golden Heart finalists from 2006. There are 20 of us. When we started six months ago, four of us were published. Now we’re up to 11 which is a fantastic achievement. So generally these days, you can find me hanging out at Romance Bandits www.romancebandits.blogspot.com when I’m not trying to figure out a new way to torment my poor characters.

2) Your first book, Claiming the Courtesan, caused quite a stir! Were you expecting anything like that?

Ah, the famous hoo-ha, not to be confused with Jennifer Crusie’s equally famous glittery hoo-ha! Frankly, the scandal took me by complete surprise. When I wrote CTC, I was unpublished and I just assumed the book would go under the bed with all my other unpublished manuscripts. Then when I sold, I assumed nobody would pay any attention to my debut book at all! The longevity of the controversy astonished me. But then it was a true controversy – CTC divided people radically down the middle into lovers and haters.


3) The new book, Untouched, also has an unusual and intriguing set-up–a new widow kidnapped off the street and told she must seduce the “mad”, reclusive hero under pain of torture and death! Can you tell us more about this story? What was your inspiration?

Honestly, Amanda, I have NO idea where these off the wall ideas come from. Apart from out of my off the wall mind I’m not sure if you’d remember from last time we spoke (wouldn’t blame you if you don’t!) but CLAIMING THE COURTESAN came to me absolutely out of nowhere after I’d decided I was going to try and make a career in Regency romantic comedy. Anyway, I thought I’d never come up with a premise as inherently sexy as CTC again, basically because I never had before. So feeling very sorry for myself, I was lying in the bath and this idea popped into my mind of this woman strapped to a table and told she had to ‘amuse’ a madman or die. Hmm, fairly sexy, I thought. Especially as the ‘madman’ was going to be a gorgeous hero. UNTOUCHED is VERY gothic, even more so than CTC. There were a stack of influences from fairytales like Beauty and the Beast to the 19th century literary obsession with madness to old Victoria Holts I read as a teenager.

4) You might not think it from this unpromising beginning to True Love, but Grace and Matthew really felt like they “fit” together, they were meant to be. At least I, Amanda, felt like they did! How did you come up with these two?

Thank you, Amanda. That was a lovely compliment. I really try and make sure my hero and heroine have qualities in common that aren’t immediately apparent so there’s a soul connection as well as the immediate physical attraction. Sadly, there’s been a lot of serious illness in my family in recent years and I started thinking about heroism that moves beyond the obvious. You know, the sort of heroism that suffers and endures and requires endless, unspectacular courage. That’s the sort of heroism both Grace and Matthew demonstrate. So even though their outer circumstances are quite different, at a base level, they really have faced similar trials and emerged stronger for their suffering.


5) What are some of your favorite research sources for this 1820s period?

I love this decadent period before Victoria took the throne but after the Regency proper, although obviously for sales reasons, the books are marketed as Regency historicals. I first became interested in these years when I read the marvelous romances Loretta Chase set in the same era, although obviously LC’s books and mine have a completely different feel. The more nonfiction I read about the time, the more interested I became. It’s exactly the background for Regency noirs! For UNTOUCHED, I did a lot of research into the treatment of madness in the 19th century (and goodness, would some of that curl your hair with horror!). A book I used a lot was Roy Porter’s MADMEN which was published in the UK under the much more evocative title of ‘Mind-Forg’d Manacles’.


6) So–what about that avocado farm? 🙂

Snort! I grew up on an avocado farm on the south coast of Queensland in Australia. A very beautiful spot, by the way. I can still spot any avocado variety at 20 paces. Strangely, not a skill that has yet earned me any money! Some interesting facts about avocadoes – our collie dog absolutely loved them and used to bump against the branches until the avocadoes dropped off. He’d worked out when they fell, they started to ripen (he was a VERY clever dog). He’d then come back when they were ripe and eat them so delicately that only the thinnest, most perfect skin was left and a completely bare seed. Neat, huh? Foxes like to eat avocadoes too! And we had terrible trouble with crows because they used to peck the fruit on the trees to see if it was ripe and if it wasn’t, they’d just move onto the next fruit. Of course, that damaged fruit was then unsuitable for sending to market. Crows were not popular with the family!


7) We’re starting our “Austen Week” tomorrow, leading up to The Birthday on December 16th. What’s your own favorite Austen novel?

Amanda, what a fantastic question. I adore Jane Austen. Actually I’ve yet to meet a romance writer who doesn’t love Jane and recognize her and the marvelous Brontes as the geniuses who are the source of our wonderful genre. My favorite JA is PERSUASION. There’s so much heart and feeling in that story. Although I waver because I love PRIDE AND PREJUDICE with all it sparkle and wit and has there ever been a better romance hero than Mr. Darcy? I think not! Speaking of the Jane Austen birthday, the Riskies have inspired me to have my own celebration on the 10th December over at my regular blog Romance Bandits. I’ll celebrate all things Jane and give away an ARC of THE LOST MEMOIRS OF JANE AUSTEN by Syrie James. Pop by if you get a chance! And I’d love to come and play with you guys during your Austen week too! You can’t have too much Jane, can you?

(Definitely not enough Jane–and Persuasion is my favorite, too! –Amanda)


8) What’s next for you?

I just handed in my third Avon historical romance TEMPT THE DEVIL which at present is scheduled for October, 2008. It’s another dark and sensual story that I’m calling a Regency noir AFFAIR TO REMEMBER. Although I suspect I’m the only person who will get the connection. It’s another courtesan story although the hero and heroine are older and more cynical than Kylemore or Verity. My pitch when I told my editor about it was that these two people have seen everything and done everything and yet felt nothing. Falling in love is the greatest risk they can take. My fourth book will probably be closer to the feeling of UNTOUCHED than TTD. I’m going to start serious work on that after Christmas. I’ve got a great idea for more tortured characters 😉

Comment on the post to win a copy of Untouched (aka The Green Monster)! And to keep track of all the upcoming interviews and giveaways, sign up for the Riskies newsletter at riskies@yahoo.com…

Posted in Risky Regencies | Tagged | 72 Replies
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