July 2023 in Books

A lot of us have been reading books by Jane Austen or about Jane Austen last month as part of Jane Austen July. I completed 4 out of the 7 challenges.

Steal Like An Artist

Let’s get the non Jane Austen July books out of the way first. I read Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon, partly because I liked Show Your Work, partly because I want to see if the author uses Shakespeare as an example. It is a motivating little non-fiction book that’s part of a series. It’s Austin Kleon’s autobiographical tips and advice for anyone doing creative work. Even before I finished it, I already started thinking about side projects to do alone and with friends. It’s all rather exciting. One thing to bear in mind, it’s not only about ‘stealing’ artfully. Most of the book is on general tips about doing creative work.

Whispers Under Ground

Whispers Under Ground is the third book in the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. This time wizard apprentice police Constable Peter Grant from London Metropolitan Police has to deal with a murder in the London Underground that led to, among many things, an impressive and hilarious police chase in the vast and revolting London Sewage system.

I mentioned before that the combination of magic and an urban setting is quite unique and refreshing for a fantasy series. Another feature is emerging as now I come to book 3 – sympathy and concern for the ‘abnormal’ or the minority people group. Last time it was the jazz vampires, this time the Quiet People in the underground settlement. The easiest way to solve the problem is to get rid of them. They are SO unlike us and there’ll be no legal consequence – they don’t exist on paper. But Peter Grant thinks differently. He doesn’t behave like a hero, he’s mostly quite clueless and useless. But he makes a difference for the vulnerable and voiceless. And that makes him quite a different kind of hero.

Mansfield Park

Now things that I read for Jane Austen July. I completed four out of seven challenges with a theatre twist to the challenges. Challenge 1 is to read one of Jane Austen’s main six novels. As planned, I read Mansfield Park. I chose it because the characters put on a play in the novel and the casting of the play is significant to the storyline of the novel. The play is called Lovers’ Vows, which I also read this month. I’ll talk about it a bit later.

I wasn’t a big fan of Fanny Price when I read Mansfield Park last time. But I know a lot of you love Fanny so I thought I’d read it again and see what I missed seeing in her that you clearly saw. In my opinion, she’s Jane Austen’s most gentle, modest, blameless and correct heroine. She’s always considerate, she’s never selfish, she’s always thinking of how to cause the least trouble for others, how to draw the least attention to herself and how to take up the least space.

But that also means she hardly ever speaks unless spoken to, she’s an observer of all the drama going on, she’s more like us the readers than the protagonist of the novel. This comes across especially clearly in the scene when the young people take a walk in Mr Rushworth’s ground and when they rehearse for Lovers’ Vows. When Edmund was clearly disillusioned about Mary Crawford, Fanny doesn’t directly challenge him, she waits and watches and hopes for the best.

She’s so gentle and so unlike any other heroines, she almost doesn’t feel like a protagonist from Jane Austen’s pen. If you think of all the heroines, Emma, Eleanor and Marianne, Lizzy Bennet, Catherine Morland and Anne Eliot, they are a lot more spirited than Fanny, and Anne is probably the most like her. But interestingly, though Fanny is not my favourite, Anne is. There are a lot of similarities between Fanny and Anne, starting from the fact that both of them are a bit of an outsider to the family they live with. One of the biggest differences tho, is that Anne takes charge and has a quiet confidence that Fanny has yet to develop. I guess Anne could be an older and more mature version of Fanny.

Among the rest of the characters, Henry Crawford grabbed my attention. He starts off as a playboy that lives to flirt and break women’s hearts and I see his change over the novel. His private conversation with his sister Mary is like the asides in Shakespeare’s plays. When he speaks to his sister, we know he’s speaking from the heart. So I believe his affection and appreciation for Fanny was genuine,

“Yes, Mary,” said he, drawing her arm within his, and walking along the sweep as if not knowing where he was: “I could not get away sooner; Fanny looked so lovely! I am quite determined, Mary. My mind is entirely made up. Will it astonish you? No: you must be aware that I am quite determined to marry Fanny Price.”

The surprise was now complete; for, in spite of whatever his consciousness might suggest, a suspicion of his having any such views had never entered his sister’s imagination; and she looked so truly the astonishment she felt, that he was obliged to repeat what he had said, and more fully and more solemnly. The conviction of his determination once admitted, it was not unwelcome. There was even pleasure with the surprise. Mary was in a state of mind to rejoice in a connexion with the Bertram family, and to be not displeased with her brother’s marrying a little beneath him.

“Yes, Mary,” was Henry’s concluding assurance. “I am fairly caught. You know with what idle designs I began; but this is the end of them. I have, I flatter myself, made no inconsiderable progress in her affections; but my own are entirely fixed.”

So what happened at the end was entirely unexpected. But Fanny got what she wanted so I’m happy for her.

The History of England by Jane Austen

Challenge 2 is to read something by Jane Austen that is not one of her main six novels. I read

THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND, FROM THE REIGN OF HENRY THE 4TH TO THE DEATH OF CHARLES THE 1ST, BY A PARTIAL, PREJUDICED, AND IGNORANT HISTORIAN.

The History of England was written when Jane Austen was 15. It was illustrated with coloured portraits by her sister Cassandra. I’m gutted that I didn’t buy the booklet from the Jane Austen Centre in Bath when I visited last time. But I found the second best thing for you. You can read the entire text, and see images of Jane Austen’s original notebook, with her handwriting and Cassandra’s drawings in the British Library online gallery.

It’s overall delightful and very funny! This is her account of the first monarch:

Henry the 4th ascended the throne of England much to his own satisfaction in the year 1399, after having prevailed on his cousin and predecessor Richard the 2nd, to resign it to him, and to retire for the rest of his life to Pomfret Castle, where he happened to be murdered. It is to be supposed that Henry was married, since he had certainly four sons, but it is not in my power to inform the Reader who was his wife. Be this as it may, he did not live for ever, but falling ill, his son the Prince of Wales came and took away the crown; whereupon the King made a long speech, for which I must refer the Reader to Shakespear’s Plays, and the Prince made a still longer. Things being thus settled between them the King died…

She seems to have a very clear and strong opinion about the monarchs, especially Mary Queen of Scots:

… my principal reason for undertaking the History of England being to Prove the innocence of the Queen of Scotland, which I flatter myself with having effectually done, and to abuse Elizabeth, tho’ I am rather fearful of having fallen short in the latter part of my scheme.

I’m not sure she HAS fallen short in abusing Queen Elizabeth the First. She’s absolutely brutal! Jane Austen calls her “that disgrace to humanity, that pest of society, Elizabeth”!

The Genius of Jane Austen

Challenge 3 is to read a non-fiction work about Jane Austen or her time. The Genius of Jane Austen by Paula Byrne is definitely the main course on this month’s menu. It’s a non-fiction book about the influence of drama and theatre on Jane Austen and her works.

Part One is about the input, what the popular plays, subject matters and trends were, who the famous actors were at the time, and what Jane Austen watched and how she absorbed plays and theatre since she was young.

Part two is about the output, and how her writing styles and stories were influenced. It includes chapter 4 Early Works, where the influences are explicit and direct. Chapter 5 From Play to Novel talks about how Jane Austen experimented with plays and epistolary novels herself but moved on from them. Then there’s a chapter each on four of her main novels, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma. It concludes with Why She is a Hit in Hollywood. I just finished reading chapter 8, which is on Lovers’ Vows and the complex relationship between the characters in Lovers’ Vows and the characters in Mansfield Park. It’s super interesting and it makes me admire Jane Austen more. The novels are so much cleverer than they look on the surface level, if you dig into them.

The Blue Jar Story Book

Challenge 5 is to read a book by a contemporary of Jane Austen. I read The Blue Jar Story Book which is a collection of children’s stories by various authors who lived around the same time as Jane Austen. The Blue Jar Story Book includes The Blue Jar and The Basket Woman by Maria Edgeworth. Both are moral lessons for children. The Blue Jar is a brutal lesson about ignorance, disobedience, vanity and the disastrous result of the three combined. Or you can see The Blue Jar as a young girl’s love for beauty smothered by her practical and unsympathetic parents who have not a shred of romantic notion. The Basket Woman is an unrealistic lesson that good conduct will be rewarded, therefore be good.

However, The Sea Voyage by Charles Lamb and The Changling by Mary Lamb are worthy of reading.

The Sea Voyage by Charles Lamb is a story of a six-year-old girl from an aristocratic background, who boards a ship without any female attendants and spends her journey across the sea with a crew of unpolished but kind sailors. Among them, one young man takes special care of her, watches the sea and the sky, whales and dolphins with her, tells her stories, and calms her fears.

I heard a lot about Charles Lamb and know him as a gentle soul, who went through great sorrow and suffering in life. This lovely little story crystallises his sweet gentleness and quiet sorrow into sparkling beauty.

When in foul weather I have been terrified at the motion of the vessel, as it rocked backwards and forwards, he would still my fears, and tell me that I used to be rocked so once in a cradle, and that the sea was God’s bed and the ship our cradle, and we were as safe in that great motion as when we felt that lesser one in our little wooden sleeping-places. When the wind was up, and sang through the sails, and disturbed me with its violent clamours, he would call it music, and bid me hark to the sea-organ, and with that name he quieted my tender apprehensions. The ending is very sad.

Charles Lamb narrates tragedy in a shockingly matter-of-fact voice. It’s a stamp-size sketch of a person, but an excellent story nonetheless!

The Changling by Mary Lamb is about the switching of two baby girls, one a heiress, and one a nobody. The astonishing thing is that the story is narrated in first person by the fake heiress and more astonishingly, like in Mansfield Park, she puts on a play that echoes reality and reveals her true identity.

Lovers’ Vows

Under challenge 5, I also read Lovers’ Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald. The play that’s made famous and immortal by Jane Austen in Mansfield Park. I feel like every copy of Mansfield Park should have Lovers’ Vows as an appendix. It’s definitely one of the best surprises this month.

Lovers’ Vows starts with a woman Agatha, who was poor, starving and sick, got thrown out of a countryside inn. She was too proud and embarrassed to beg, but a young soldier walking past had pity on her. Lo and behold, it was her son! Fredrick had been a soldier abroad, and learnt for the first time that his mother was seduced and abandoned by a wealthy man when she was young and pregnant. He left his mother in the care of a kind couple and went to beg for money while coming across the Baron. In desperation, Fredrick threatened the Baron with his sword and he was locked up. The Baron had a daughter who was a spirited young woman trying to sort out her romantic relationship. This daughter Amelia was played by Mary Crawford in Mansfield Park and the man whom Amelia loved, a clergyman called Anhalt, was played by Edmund Bertram. Now I understand why Fanny Price was in such fascination and heartache, rehearsing this scene with both of them. By the way, I can totally imagine Edmund playing Anhalt.

At the end of the day, Lovers’ Vows is a moral lesson, about good and bad, repentance and forgiveness. But it’s not preachy, it feels natural, authentic and endearing. It’s much better, on a whole different level, if you compare it to The Blue Jar or The Basket Woman. The play is short and sweet. I finished it in one sitting, it’s a lot easier to read and more entertaining than I expected. I thought all plays are hard work like Shakespeare. Clearly not! I’ll be very happy to read more plays from Jane Austen’s time.

For the rest of the challenges, I didn’t watch any screen adaptation or modern retelling. I might watch some in August since I’m carrying on with books from Jane Austen July for a bit longer anyway. It’ll be nice to watch some films after reading The Genius of Jane Austen with all the new things I learnt.

As usual, my planning for Jane Austen July was too ambitious. I didn’t have time to read more from What Matters in Jane Austen. Lady Distain Reads recommended reading ‘A Note on Jane Austen’ by C. S. Lewis and ‘Jane Austen and the Moralists’ by Gilbert Ryle side by side. I didn’t have time for either. I might carry on with Jane Austen July into August and finish reading all of these. I want to re-watch the film version of Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Persuasion. I definitely will continue reading The Genius of Jane Austen in August.

Cover photo by Paolo Chiabrando on Unsplash.