The Real Jane Austen

Still the rain keeps on, easing off this afternoon, even allowing the sun to shine long enough for a quick - very quick - cup of tea outside!

I've been reading some of the letters that Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra. We recently rented a DVD called 'Jane Austen's Life', which took the viewer to the houses and towns that she lived in during her comparatively short life - she died in 1817 at the age of 41. In the film her letters to her sister are mentioned and I thought it would be fun to find them.

While rooting about in Oxfam a couple of weeks ago I noticed that on one shelf one of the books, a wide soft-back, had been turned on its edge as the shelf wasn't wide enough to hold it normally, the spine therefore being invisible. I was about to pass it by, but went back and pulled it out - 'My Dear Cassandra', by Jane Austen!  

It turns out that Jane was a cheeky monkey when writing to her sister - it's easy to imagine the two of them having a good laugh. In one letter she's describing a dance at Hurstbourne. She must have had too much wine, she writes, or 'how to account for the shaking of my hand today'! She goes on to talk about some of the other guests - '. . . . . Mrs Blount appeared exactly as she did in September, with the same broad face, diamond bandeau, white shoes, pink husband and fat neck . . . '! I'm going to enjoy it!

Quote of the day:

Brendan Behan - "The most important things to do in the world are to get something to eat, something to drink and somebody to love you."