Jane Austen Society
of North America
Wisconsin Region
The Wire, Volume 25, Number 1
Spring 2012
“I have got some pleasant news for you, which I am eager to communicate.”
Spring Gala
Saturday, April 28, 10:30 a.m.
by Liz Cooper
The Wisconsin Region is
debating Poor Law reform.
honored and privileged to welWhen they negotiate how much
come JASNA Traveling Lecturmoney will be given to Mrs.
er Dr. Sheryl Craig to our
Dashwood and her daughters,
Spring Gala on Saturday, April
John and Fanny Dashwood re28 at 10:30 a.m. at Milwauenact the debates in the House
kee’s stunning Wisconsin Club.
of Commons and ultimately
Joining Sheryl will be our own
come to the same conclusion.
Vicky Hinshaw. Both speakers
Austen’s geographic placement
were hits at the 2011 Fort
of her admirable characters on
The Milwaukee Club
Worth AGM.
estates in southwest England
Back by popular demand is our venue, the Wisreflects the generous response to poverty that Prime
consin Club. The elegant mansion of Alexander
Minister William Pitt advocated and which BritMitchell was built in 1848 and restored in Italianate
ain’s rural landowners in Sir John Middleton’s
style. The mansion is full of
Devonshire and Colonel
architectural detail and VicBrandon’s Dorset voluntaritorian charm. In 1876 artly adopted. The no-newists from Europe were comtaxes position that radical
missioned to adorn the inteWhigs who were opposed to
rior with elaborate hand
Pitt advocated is echoed in
carved mahogany woodthe conversations and acwork, stained glass, plaster
tions of Austen’s miserly
and inlaid tile. Members
and detestable characters.
loved wandering through
Dr. Sheryl Craig teachthe mansion last year and
es English at the University
Vicky Hinshaw
Sheryl Craig
asked for a repeat engageof Central Missouri. She
ment this year.
has written articles for Jane
Sheryl Craig’s talk is titled, “Wealth has Much
Austen’s Regency World magazine and film reto do With It”: The Economics of Sense and Sensiviews for the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, was the
bility. While Jane Austen was writing her first draft
JASNA International Visitor to Chawton in 2008,
of Sense and Sensibility in 1795, Parliament was
and currently serves as the Editor of JASNA
1
News. She will represent the crucial second voice,
Money, on an academic panel presenting “Sex,
Money and Power in Jane Austen’s Novels” at the
AGM in New York City in 2012.
Vicky Hinshaw will present her well-received
Ft. Worth AGM session, “The Sensible Regency
Wedding.” Her illustrated talk will cover the intricacies of the marriage process in the time of Jane
Austen as well as the social, economic and political
implications of marriage. Vicky has spent five
years researching this subject so we are all in for a
treat.
Sheryl Craig’s Traveling Lecture is funded in
part by a grant from the Jane Austen Society of
North America.
Pat Latkin will also bring a select, handpicked
selection of books for sale, including a bag of great
$1 mystery finds.
Please join us on April 28 for a wonderful day
of JASNA spirit, companionship, stimulating talks
and fun!
Reservations must be made by April 11.
Menu selections are: Grilled Caesar Salad, garlic lemon chicken served on crisp romaine hearts
with fresh parmesan, garlic croutons, cherry tomatoes, and classic anchovy garlic dressing. Served
with fresh baked rolls. $20.
Classic French Dip, thin shaved roast sirloin of
beef piled high on a French baguette with melted
Gruyere then served with natural au jus for dipping
and finished with a side of wedge fried potatoes.
$20.
Wine Country Vegetarian Salad, Romaine, Arugula and spinach tossed with grilled asparagus,
zucchini, red bell pepper, Portobello mushrooms
and spring onions accented with avocado slices,
grape tomatoes, Monterey jack cheese and Sonoma
Valley Pinot Noir vinaigrette. Served with fresh
baked rolls. $20.
Directions to the Milwaukee Club are on the
reservation form.
Save the date:
2012 JASNA Annual General Meeting
October 5-7
An Executive Board
Meeting was held before the December
Birthday Luncheon
and I am pleased to
announce some new
Wisconsin officers.
Marylee Richmond is
the new Vice President
-Milwaukee while
Cynthia Kartman is
taking over the New Members Chair. Jane Kivlin is
the new Milwaukee Book Discussion Coordinator.
There are still opportunities to become more involved so please consider helping out with an upcoming event. Welcome to our new members
Stefanie Dowell of Kenosha, Carolyn Heatwole of
Port Washington, Melissa Kern of Middleton,
Deron J. Kling of Germantown, and Alison Laev of
Mequon, Stacey Stanley of Kenosha, and Deborah
Deer Wells of Muskego.
In February I was part of a panel discussion on
next year’s AGM theme, “Sex, Money, and Power”
in Chicago. My task was to talk about power in
Austen’s novels. Chicago had a great turnout of
around 90 members in Greek Town and everyone
seemed to enjoy the program. It might be something for us to consider replicating next fall.
This is our first newsletter delivered for the
most part digitally. It will be necessary for you to
print the Spring Gala reservation form and mail it
to Marylee Richmond no later than April 12. You
can feel good about helping us go green! Besides
the environmental concerns, each paper newsletter
costs the Region about $350, not counting the time
it takes to get a mailing ready for 150 members.
Please let me know if
you have any questions
or concerns about this
new method of delivery. Please note it is
more important than
ever to notify Judy
Beine of any email
changes.
I look forward to
seeing many of you on
April 28 for the Spring
Gala!
2
Liz Cooper in India!
Chicago Region Spring Gala
Saturday, May 05, 2012, 09:00am - 03:00pm
From the JASNA-Chicago website, http://www.jasnachicago.org:
Chawton Comes to Chicago!
British actor Elizabeth Garvie, patron of Jane Austen House Museum in Chawton, performs "Jane Austen
Delights." Speakers include Lindsay Ashford of Chawton House Library, author of The Mysterious Death of
Miss Austen and editor of Wooing Mr. Wickham; Sandy Lerner, Chawton House Library Founder and author, under nom de plume Ava Farmer, of a sequel to Pride and Prejudice, Second Impressions; and Steve
Lawrence, CEO of Chawton House Library, who reports on Chawton House.
Luncheon entertainment by Karen Doornebos, Victoria Hinshaw and Debra Ann Miller. Emporium by
Jeanne Steen of Figaro Parisian Interiors and Jane Austen Books by Amy Patterson.
This event is open to GCR members and their guests.
Members: $65, Guests: $75
Registration Deadline: April 25, 2012
Menu choices must be submitted with your registration.
Choose one Starter and one Entrée only.
Starter: Roasted Tomato Basil Bisque or Mixed Field Greens, Roasted Grape Tomatoes, Gorgonzola Herb
Vinaigrette Dressing
Entrée: Lemon Thyme Chicken Breast or Roasted Garlic, Spinach and Cheese Ravioli, Parmesan Cream
Sauce
Dessert: Lemon Tart with White Chocolate Drizzle
Location Crystal Ballroom, Millenium Knickerbocker
Hotel, 163 E. Walton Place, Chicago
Valet Parking at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel:
$27
Registration:
http://www.jasnachicago.org/events/
icalrepeat.detail/2012/05/05/2/-/spring-gala
3
ers to the charms of Jane Austen and those longtime Janeites. The writers in this volume explain
their own relationship with Austen and together are
a kind of invitation for us, whether we’re Janeites
or not, to understand why we are so in her thrall”
—Chicago Tribune
September 25, 2012: In an unprecedented move, we scheduled a fourth
book in preparation for the NY AGM,
Sex in Georgian England, by A.D.
Harvey. From Amazon: “this book
shows how the 18th century constructed the stereotype of female purity and passivity which was to be inherited by the Victorians.” Time and location will
be determined later this year.
Madison Book Group
The Madison Book Group of JASNA-Wisconsin
will be reading the following books in the 20112012 year. All meetings are at 2:00 p.m.
Lady Susan: Member
of the Pantheon?
By Joan Strasbaugh
On Sunday, May 6, 2012, we will
meet at Julie DeWitt’s house. 2024
Chamberlain Avenue, Madison. Liz
Cooper will lead the discussion on
Searching for Jane Austen by U.W.Madison professor Emily Auerbach.
"This 'search' for Jane Austen finds
the playfulness and irreverence of her
early writings present, to varying degrees, in all of
the novels, but also finds a daring and powerful artist polishing her craft. Novel by novel, Auerbach
overturns patronizing concepts about Austen's tiny
canvas and limited view."—Booklist.
That’s the question the Madison
book group discussed at its February 12 meeting at Coral Bishop’s.
The tea and treats were lovely! Jane
Austen’s novella (or novel?),
thought be written when she was
only 19, is a surprisingly adult and
witty look at hanky-panky among
the upper crust.
The anti-heroine, Lady Susan, is a manipulator
extraordinaire who’ll stop at nothing to marry off
her oppressed daughter. Told entirely in letters until
the final chapter, the book brilliantly portrays a
wicked widow/temptress struggling to increase her
fortunes and charm inappropriate suitors at the
same time. The back and forth inherent in the letter
format beautifully underscores the sharp contrasts
between characters, adding to the book’s sharp humor.
Here’s how one of her conquests, Reginald De
Courcy, described her in a letter to his sister.
“What a woman she must be! I long to see her,
and shall certainly accept your kind invitation, that
I may form some idea of those bewitching powers
which can do so much –engaging at the same time,
and in the same house, the affections of two men,
Milwaukee Book Group
The Milwaukee Book Group of JASNA-Wisconsin
will be reading the following books in the 20112012 year.
On May 8, 2012, 7:00 p.m., we will
meet at the home of Marsha Lambert,
6715 North Braeburn Lane, Glendale. We will discuss A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Great
Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen, compiled by Susannah Carson. “A collection for both newcom-
43
who were neither of them at liberty to bestow them
– and all this without the charm of youth!”
Although written in 1793 – 94, Lady Susan
seems to have been completed in 1805, indicated by
a watermark. The only one of Austen’s novels to
survive in manuscript form could have been written
out for the amusement of her niece, Fanny Knight,
or perhaps in preparation for publication. At least
one scholar thinks Austen was eager to sell the book
following the death of her father that same year.
It wasn’t until 1871 that Lady Susan was published, thanks to her nephew James Edward AustenLeigh. One of the reasons the book might not have
seen the light of day during her lifetime was that the
letter format, or epistolary, style had gone out of
fashion.
An epistolary novel is
told through the medium of
letters written by one or more
of the characters. One of the
earliest forms of the novel to
be developed, it originated
with Samuel Richardson’s
Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded
(1740), the story of a servant
girl’s victorious
struggle
against
her master’s attempts to seduce
her. The book was a best seller
at the time and even parodied
by Henry Fielding in the 1741
novel, Shamela. The epistolary
novel’s reliance on subjective
points of view is said to make it
the forerunner of the modern
psychological novel. Other examples familiar to Austen and her readers include
Richardson’s Clarissa (1748) and Fanny Burney’s
Evelina (1778).
But even more influential may be the scandalous epistolary novel by Choderlos de Laclos, Les
Liaisons Dangereuses (1782), or Dangerous Liaisons, as it’s known to moviegoers, or Valmont, to
Colin Firth fans. Did Eliza de Feuillide, Austen’s
newly widowed cousin, introduce the book to her –
or did she actually inspire the novel’s main character? Eliza is on record as referring to herself as the
“greatest rake imaginable,” according to Austen
scholar Juliet McMaster.
Here’s what Austen
biographer Claire Tomalin
has to say about Lady Susan and it’s similarity to
Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
“Both stories, while maintaining a strictly moral
framework, subvert it by
giving the evil characters
all the enterprise and
charm. Lady Susan is bad mother who is also a dazzling female Don Juan; she uses her charm very
much as Madame de Merteuil does, to manipulate,
betray and abuse her victims, whether lovers,
friends or family. For both women, power is pleasure.”
For an insightful analysis of the two personalities, read Marion Stuenkel’s below.
To return to our original question: Lady Susan,
member of the pantheon? A few said yes!
Lady Susan and Dangerous
Liaisons: Digging Deeper
By Marion Stuenkel
5
Jane Austen’s Lady Susan and Choderlos de Laclos’ Dangerous Liaisons
delineate character faults so
astutely that reading them
can be excruciating if you
are dealing with someone
like Lady Susan or the Marquise de Merteuil in real
life. The familiar Jane Austen devotees’ question,
“Which character do you
most identify with or feel
you resemble?” is a conversational question leading to
insightful discussion of
character, behaviors, values
and actions. “Do you know someone like Lady Susan?” kindles fear in the hearts of those who do;
everyday nightmarish unnecessary dramas are elicited. After I first read Lady Susan in 1999 I wrote,
“Jane Austen, as psychotherapist, was an acute observer of her fellow man. Her observations were
almost scientific in their clarity and categorical separation, but her nomenclature was more archetypal
requiring a reading of her work, like reading Jung
required knowledge of myths. The Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual defines Lady Susan as DSM-IV
301.83, Borderline Personality Disorder. If I am
forgetful of a clinical feature I think about Lady
Susan and immediately remember the forgotten criteria.” People with characters like Lady Susan’s are
so good at finding the cracks and fissures in relationships and breaking them apart like ice water
seeping in and cracking apart boulders that I doubted my own senses regarding the Lady Susan in my
life and the one in Jane Austen’s novel. This time,
2012, I Googled Lady Susan and BPD and found
“Healing through Literature” by Leslie Hill on
Christine Shih published in the Vanderbilt School
of Nursing magazine. Shih gives presentations on
the topic of Lady Susan as a “Borderline” emphasizing Lady Susan’s treatment of her child as the
worst trait of her character defects.
everything. One may criticize it, but one must nevertheless do as others do. And in the end superfluities deprive one of necessities.” These quotes illustrate societal flaws. Both Austen and de Laclos
shone their literary lights on systemic and individual character disorders. Neither Lady Susan nor
Dangerous Liaisons was light reading but in the
end I felt at least somebody understands.
Box Hill Picnic
July 14, 2012
Retzer Nature Center,
Waukesha
by Marylee Richmond
Please mark your calendars for the annual Box Hill Picnic
to be held July 14, 2012 at the picturesque Retzer Nature
Center in the Town of Waukesha. The Nature Center is
conveniently located off of Hwy T about 10 minutes south
of I-94. A large room with a beautiful view and kitchen
facilities will be at our disposal as well as the nature trails
and exhibits and small gift shop. Although part of the
Waukesha County Park System, a park sticker is not required. More information to be provided.
The Marquise
de Merteuil, I
think, is an
Anti-Social
Personality
Disorder, a
Ted Bundy
like character. I did not
Google that
connection. I
was exhaust- Glenn Close as the Marquise de
Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons.
ed when I
finished Dangerous Liaisons. Reading that book I had the same
uncomfortable sensation that sometimes overtook
me as a child watching the Indianapolis 500, when
I found myself anticipating a crash, almost wishing
for one, and horrified at the result when it occurred.
De Laclos penetrated his society. He had a grasp of
how people debase culture when they have too
much time and no understood responsibilities. I
liked many of the quotes: on page 67, “But I see
tolerance as only a dangerous weakness, when it
leads us to treat the wicked man and the good in a
like fashion.” On page 252, “Luxury has overtaken
6
January 2012 Milwaukee Book
Group discussion
JASNA-Wisconsin
Author News
by Kathleen O’Brien
JASNA - Wisconsin Member
Wins Chawton House
Jane Austen Short Story Award
The first Milwaukee Book Group discussion for
2012 was on January 14th at the Milwaukee Public
Library. The "book" was actually two books by
Emily Eden--The Semi-Attached Couple and The
Semi-Detached House. Emily Eden lived from 1797
-1869, and Jane Austen was her favorite author. We
could see reflections of Jane in the two stories, with
the matchmaking heroine of The Semi-Detached
House reminding us a little of a nicer Emma. We
had delightful refreshments and Diana Burns even
produced a model house for the table. The meeting
was surprisingly well-attended, considering some
rare wintry weather.
I brought along Regency World magazines, and
several of them were borrowed. I guess we just
needed more publicity! I will continue to bring
them to all of our events.
Here's another book we might all enjoy: Rachel
M. Brownstein's Why Jane Austen? In spite of the
fact that it is great fun, as well as being erudite, I'm
having trouble finishing it because it is jam-packed
with stuff--personal reminiscences, comments on
the films, discussions of the zombie books and all
manner of different things. It reminds me of those
talks where the presenter will "unpack" something
for us. I hate that expression, preferring to do my
own unpacking. However, there are a lot of interesting things here, and I suspect it's a book I would
like to reread.
We are thrilled to announce
that our own Holly Dale
Bern of Mequon was one of
the winners of the 2011 Jane
Austen Short Story Competition, sponsored by Chawton House Library. The competition celebrates the life
and work of Jane Austen by
inspiring and encouraging
new writers. Holly’s story,
"People of the Book," appears in the winners’ anthology, Wooing Mr Wickham, which is available
from Honno Press and Amazon. JASNA-Chicago
member Elisabeth Lenckos, whom many of us
know, also won with her story “Jane Austen: 1945.”
“Inspired by Jane Austen's heroes and villains,
this contemporary short-story anthology has been
selected by Michele Roberts from the Jane Austen
Short Story Competition 2011 run by Chawton
House. 'When a young lady is to be a heroine...
Something must and will happen to throw a hero in
her way.' Or, if she is unlucky, maybe a villain with
a treacherous heart... Whether a Darcy or a Wickham, an Elizabeth Bennet or a Miss Dashwood,
there is something within these twenty contemporary and original stories for all Austen readers and
fans. From Wikram Jayanath's exploits in Mumbai
to the antics of a vicar's book obsessed wife, there
are heroes and villains to suit all tastes.”—Amazon
Congratulations, Holly & Elisabeth!
New Editions
Cynthia Kartman, Jane Kivlin, Marylee Richmond,
and Kathy O’Brien at the Milwaukee Book Club
Meeting in January.
7
JASNA-Wisconsin member Vicky Hinshaw reports
that her first novel, BirthRights, co-written with
Milwaukeean Reva Shovers and published by Pocket Books in 1983, has been reissued as an e-book. It
is available on Kindle
(Amazon), Nook
(Barnes&Noble) and from
the internet publishing site
Smashwords.
Before Vicky followed
her muse to fiction set in
Jane Austen’s era, she and
Reva researched the families
whose fortunes were made
by brewing beer in Milwaukee. Two of those major
brewers – Joseph Schlitz and
Valentin Blatz – enhanced their chances of success
by marrying the widows of already-operating
breweries. Seemed like a good plot device, particularly since Captain Frederick Pabst also married
into the brewing community, in his case the
daughter of the Best brewery proprietor.
Adam Koenig, protagonist of the novel BirthRights, works for a Milwaukee brewery, and when
his boss dies, he eventually marries the widow and
goes on to found a dynasty in Milwaukee. But his
true love remains Kate Englund, and their enduring relationship creates generations of conflict.
To read an excerpt from the novel and more information about the history of Milwaukee brewing,
go to the blog: http://summitwahl.blogspot.com
Summit Wahl on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SummitWahl/247206485356923
Summit Wahl on Twitter: @SummitWahl
A treat for fans of the
delightful Mr. & Mrs.
Darcy Mysteries by
JASNA (former WI)
member Carrie Bebris:
an unabridged audio
version of The Deception at Lyme has just
released, published by
Recorded Books. It is
available on CD, Playaway, cassette, and digital download directly from
Recorded Books, and also as a digital download
from Audible.com.
It has also been released
in Italian as Inganno e persuasione, o: La sventurata di
Lyme (“Deception and Persuasion: The ill-fated of
Lyme”), for those of you who
would like to read it in the
language of amore.
JASNA-Wisconsin member
Kim Wilson tells us that her
book Tea with Jane Austen
has been released in German
as Jane Austen Bittet zum
Tee (“Jane Austen Invites
(You) to Tea”)
and in Russian
as Чай с Джейн Остин
(“Tea with Jane Austen”),
which she plans to read just
as soon as she’s fluent.
Milwaukee Rep to do S&S next year
December 11 – January 13
“From the author of Pride and Prejudice comes this
heartwarming, humorous tale of two sisters struggling to move past a family disaster. Sensible, reserved Elinor and passionate, impulsive Marianne
find the road to true love beset with dashing suitors
and well-meaning relatives, devoted friends and devious rivals, and scandalous secrets and unexpected
twists in a period-perfect adaptation that captures all
of the deliciousness, flirtation, and folly of Austen’s
well-loved novel.” “Hopeless romantics will devour
every last scone and sigh in this heart-tugging Re8 gency-era adventure” – San Jose Mercury News
Five Reasons Why
I Love Jane Austen
by Cindy Jones
Reprinted by permission of the author from
the original at Austenauthors.net
As an author responsible for my book’s promotion,
I speak to book clubs, literary guilds, and library
groups about my book, the creative process, and the
journey to publication. After such a talk last week
where I had gone on for 40 minutes, sacrificing my
husband and children for a laugh, baring my rejection history for a little sympathy, and explaining
how my creative technique evolved from watching
Gilligan’s Island as a child, someone raised their
hand. (I’m embarrassed to admit this). The gentle
reader asked, “What is your book about?”
I told her.
And then I went home and wrote on my note cards:
TELL THEM WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT.
Along these same lines, I realized I had gone on
and on about Jane Austen, but I’d never bothered to
say what I love about her, why I devoted five years
of my literary life and a book to her. As a result,
I’ve made new note cards for future book talks and
next time, immediately following the elevator
pitch* (the 90 second synopsis of my book), I’ll
explain exactly why I care about Jane Austen. Here
are five reasons:
1. She takes no prisoners. Each of The Six is
lavished with excellent villains and when they meet
their sorry fates it is with the most gratifying turn
of the screw. No quick and painless dispatch but a
terribly satisfying and personalized hell. One of
my favorites villains is Mrs. Norris whose fate is to
spend her old age witnessing her niece’s disgrace.
Imagine the torture of living in close quarters with
a ruined Maria Bertram. The whining!
2. Her dry wit cracks me up! In her letters to
Cassandra, she says things like, “I shall not tell you
anything more of William Digweed’s china, as your
silence on the subject makes you unworthy of it.”
And, “You express so little anxiety about my being
murdered under Ash Park Copse … that I have a
great mind not to tell you whether I was or not.”
Her language is so precise, her insights sharp, and
her wit so quick. I foster no illusions about my
own place at the sharp end of her pen.
3. Jane Austen is an underdog. She did not attend the Iowa Writers Workshop or the Bread Loaf
Writer’s Conference. She was poor and homeless,
dependent upon her brother’s charity. With almost
no formal education, she read her way through her
father’s library and wrote three novels by age 23.
She achieved supernova success with absolutely no
advantages and articulated the question that resonates as powerfully today as it did in her time: what
chance do the heart and mind have in a world dominated by money? If she were alive now, I’m afraid
she’d be stalked by paparazzi and featured on the
cover of super market tabloids that I’d have to scan
while pretending to look the other way.
4. She didn’t marry Harris Bigg-Wither. I consider Jane Austen the Champion of Bookish Women. She believed that intelligent women should be
able to marry for love, writing to her niece,
“nothing can be compared to the misery of being
bound without Love …” She didn’t love BiggWithers and rather than marry him and be assured
of food and shelter for life, she remained true to her
principles. She walked the talk.
9 5. My heroine is unknowable. The burned letters and the posthumous rebranding of Aunt Jane
left a blank slate upon which we can project our
personal hopes and dreams. When someone disparaged my writing project, telling me Jane Austen
was over, I considered what I would do if I had to
re-direct my literary devotion to say, Charlotte
Bronte or Edith Wharton. I couldn’t do it. Charlotte’s mean, and Edith? Not gonna happen. Jane
Austen speaks to me from between the lines of her
prose and we agree on almost everything.
More Notes from the AGM:
Deirdre Le Faye’s Insights on
Sense and Sensibility
by Sara Bowen
JASNA members who attended
the Milwaukee AGM will remember Austen scholar Deirdre
LeFaye’s fascinating video
comments on Austen, “The
Green Apple.” LeFaye addressed the Fort Worth AGM
by video at the Sunday brunch
and brought plenty of entertainDeirdre Le Faye,
ing insights.
I’ve got my act together now! If you live within an
hour of Dallas, invite me to your book talk.
(authorcindyjones@gmail.com) If you are not
nearby, send me an email and let me know your
group is reading my book. I’ll send you bookmarks
and a TOP SECRET paper I’ve written just for
book clubs to explain what I was thinking when I
wrote that ending, as well as a few other tidbits.
editor of Austen’s
letters & numerous
Did Austen take her characters books on Austen.
from life? LeFaye agrees with
Jocelyn Harris that Austen had a stunning memory,
but LeFaye says one needs to give Austen credit for
her imagination. She certainly had a wide acquaintance, particularly from her visits to Kent and London, but one needs to look at Austen’s Juvenilia to
realize how naturally inventive she was. During the
writing period of the Juvenilia, she had very few
females her age within 10 miles of Steventon and
yet, she created a number of memorable female
characters. (LeFaye thinks the Austens sent their
daughters off to female boarding schools for a brief
period so they could get some sense of “what girls
do,” having grown up in a household filled with the
Austen sons and the boys the Rev. Austen tutored.
She thinks the tomboy Catherine Morland reflects
this.)
*Cindy Jones is the author of My Jane Austen Summer, the story of a young woman who thinks she
may have realized her dream of living in a novel
when she is invited to participate in a Jane Austen
Literary Festival. Her problems follow her to England where she must change her ways or face the
fate of so many of Jane Austen’s secondary characters, destined to repeat the same mistakes over and
over again.
"A Year with
Jane Austen"
calendars
have been
selling briskly, literally
around the
world. Here,
Atlanta
JASNA
member Rita Lacerda Watts shares calendars with
her friends in her hometown of Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil.
Calendars are available for purchase at a reduced
price of $10.00. Email liz.p.cooper@gmail.com
10
Why doesn’t Sense and Sensibility appeal to
many Austen readers? LeFaye’s fascinating
“Green Apple” theory of her talk’s title is that
Sense and Sensibility is Austen’s reworking of her
juvenile piece Love and Freindship, and its flaws
are the green parts of the unripe apple of L & F that
she didn’t revise into a mature ripened whole. Just
as a remade dress doesn’t quite work as well as one
newly-created, to use LeFaye’s metaphor, so the
problems with Sense and Sensibility mirror its genesis in Love and Freindship. Some of LeFaye’s evidence for this:
L & F is an epistolary exchange between two
females, and male characters are shadow figures.
In LeFaye’s view, as Austen fleshed out L & F at
her family’s urging, she couldn’t quite get away
from her original structure enough to flesh out the
males enough to make us comfortable with the romantic resolution.
There are too many coincidences in S & S, reminding us of the coincidences in the Juvenilia.
Would Mrs. Jennings really have taken up with her
distant cousins, the Steele sisters? Isn’t the
Willoughby – Eliza Williams subplot a bit much?
The characters do things that really are out of
character in ways we don’t see in later Austen novels. Would the circumspect Edward Ferrars really
have worn Lucy’s hair ring when visiting the Dashwoods? Would the snob Robert Ferrars really have
married Lucy Steele?
Downton Abbey—Soap
in Period Costume?
Does LeFaye like Sense and Sensibility? She
finds it the most natural and truthfully awkward of
Austen’s novels – much more natural than the tooperfect fairy tale Pride and Prejudice. She thinks
Elinor will be quite happy bullying the passive Edward, just as she bullied her entire family. She suggests that Eliza Williams will become a milliner to
support her child, as that would be a common result
in the time. And she suggests that if you view Sense
and Sensibility as Italian opera, Mrs. Ferrars and
Mrs. Jennings could perform a marvelous comic
duet.
By Kathleen O’Brien
Editor’s note: We asked some of our members to
tell us what they thought of Downton Abbey.
Does it live up to the hype? Is it a quality drama
or a soap in period clothing? A guilty pleasure or
an unadulterated pleasure? We welcome reviews
of movies/shows/books by our readers—send us
your opinions!
What’s LeFaye’s favorite Austen sequel? The
1949 Pemberley Shades by D.A. Bonovia-Hunt.
(Author’s note: excellent choice)
What’s going to happen to General Tilney after
Eleanor gets married? He’ll marry Lady Susan!
11
The very comment presupposes that there is something wrong with soaps. Good grief, I watched two
soaps for many years until their demise. What was
the appeal, besides being able to do something else
while they were on? Good acting, and longevity of
at least some of the actors, so you felt they were
people you actually knew. Now, sometimes they
were recreated in strange ways that made you lose
faith in them, but it did showcase their acting ability. Sometimes an evil character reformed, and
then slipped, leaving you wondering, or at least
considering motivational issues. The fashions depicted were wonderful, and the weddings fabulous.
In earlier days the rich lived in delightful mansions
and still had bad manners or even evil intent. Fun,
yes, but some social issues were still worked into
the stories—health problems, some of them even
realistic, issues of race and prejudice against gays,
as well as all kinds of other things, such as loyalty
and truthfulness.
Sound like Downton Abbey? Of course Downton has the advantage of being British, and British
in the days when that meant something. A couple
of Britcoms that I really like are—reruns, now—of
Are You Being Served? and Keeping up Appearances. Part of the charm is being able to figure out
someone’s social class so easily. Okay, those were
guilty pleasures, but the word “menswear” still
cracks me up.
I think Downton Abbey is a cut above all of
those, but I still have a funny feeling about all
those Masterpiece Classics that are supposed to be
so great. Dickens, for example, was a great social
reformer, but how much of that do you see on the
TV programs? In fact, how about all the Jane Austen adaptations? None of any of these are anywhere
near as good as the books, but it’s pleasant to see
them nonetheless.
I did read Julian Fellowes’s books, and enjoyed them. I’m looking forward to the next season
of Downton Abbey. I can use more guilty pleasures,
I guess.
The “Library Passage” in
Worthing Under Threat of
Closure
by Deb Barnum
The following arti cle is reproduced with
perm ission from Deb Barnum’s excellent
blog, which can be found at http://
janeausteninvermont.wordpress.com
Deb is the JASNA-Vermont Regional Coordinator.
I have just heard from a friend of mine, Chris
Sandrawich, membership secretary of the Jane
Austen Society Midlands Branch, and his concern about the threat to the “Library Passage” in
Worthing. This path is termed a “twitten” – an
old Sussex dialect word said to be a corruption of
“betwixt and between.”
Editor’s note: We would like to apologize for inadvertently appearing to cast aspersions on soap
operas with our leading questions. We admit to a
great liking ourselves for the grittier types of
soaps such as Twin Peaks, Battlestar Gallactica,
and Justified, and also that we will watch absolutely anything as long as it has British accents.
The Library Passage, or twitten, at Worthing.
The BBC has made a hilarious two-part send-up of
Downton Abbey for its Comic Relief Night, featuring many British stars, including Jennifer Saunders
and Joanna Lumley of Absolutely Fabulous. Watch
Uptown Downstairs Abbey (“The story of a house
divided . . . by stairs.”) on YouTube:
part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=r5dMlXentLw&feature=relmfu
part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=p3YYo_5rxFE&feature=relmfu
Jane Austen stayed in Worthing in the fall of
1805 after the death of her father, and there met
Edward Ogle, Worthing’s leading citizen. Austen
was there with her mother, friend Martha Lloyd,
and sister Cassandra [and why we have no letters!], and they would have used this “twitten” as
a short-cut by-way to both the sea-front and the
Library.
The importance of Austen’s stay in
Worthing and her meeting Mr. Ogle? – the town
is very likely the model for Sanditon, and Mr.
12
Ogle the inspiration for
Tom Parker.
The former Library
is now a bus station and
the bus company wants
to close this passage off
for what they say are
safety reasons – this connection to Jane Austen is
at risk of disappearing.
The house in Warwick
Street where Jane Austen
stayed was called Stanford’s Cottage – it is now
a Pizza Express, but proudly displays a plaque on
the wall commemorating Austen’s stay.
Mr. Sandrawich visited Worthing last year on
a tour with his Midlands group – he has written an
essay on this tour which will be published in their
journal Transactions this year – and I append here,
with his permission, an extract from his article on
this twitten: [and I append a map here in the event
you haven't a clue where Worthing actually is...]:
used for a path or an alleyway. It is still in common use in both East and West Sussex, and oddly
enough in Hampstead Garden Suburb. As tussen,
steggen or steeg in the Netherlands has a similar
meaning it would be all too easy to assume that
source as the derivation. Such pathways between
buildings have other names around the world, but
elsewhere in England twittens are called variously,
twitchells (north-west Essex, east Hertfordshire
and Nottingham), chares (north-east England, especially Newcastle), ginnels - which can also be
spelt jennels or gennels – (Manchester, Oldham,
Sheffield and south Yorkshire), opes (Plymouth),
jiggers or entry (Liverpool), gitties or jitty
(Derbyshire and Leicestershire), snickleways or
snicket (York), shuts (Shropshire) and are called
vennels in Scotland; but it is not known what our
Jane called them, but it is very likely she may have
called the “Library Passage” shown on the right a
twitten as Jane used it with her family to get from
Stanford Cottage to Stafford’s Library, as well as
the sea front. This fine example of a Worthing
twitten is just off Warwick Street, and only a lady’s baseball (see Northanger Abbey) throw from
Stanford Cottage. Janet Clarke informed me that
this twitten is currently under threat from a bus
company, Stagecoach, who owns the land and
wish to “stop it up” permanently. This twitten now
runs from Warwick Street into the bus depot. Of
course, anything being an ancient historic “right of
way” for the ordinary people of England and
Wales does not put off Companies from making
such proposals whenever it suits the moment. Look
at it again, while you have the chance, and if this
twitten through your half-closed eyes and with
some imagination resembles a footpath through
dense woodland; then, there you have it.
********************
Mr. Sandrawich is looking to muster support
from all of us who have an interest in Jane Austen,
asking us to voice our concern for the loss of this
pathway, so What can we do?
Here is the text of the letter that the Midlands
Branch has sent to Janet Clarke of Worthing, who
is spearheading this effort to halt the closure:
*******************
So, what of Worthing the place? It is clear that
the town is struggling through the doldrums given
the number of estate agents’ signs over empty shop
fronts, but it is pleasant enough to stroll through,
and you can always find something of interest. For
example, the history of English is varied and fascinating and along with so many new words we have
some that are very old, and still in use. Worthing
has an interesting old Sussex dialect word, twitten ,
said to be a corruption of ‘betwixt and between’
although the on-line Oxford Dictionary suggests it
is an early 19th Century word (unbelievably!) perhaps related to Low German twiete ‘alley, lane’,
The Jane Austen Society Midlands
A Worthing twitten, and right-of-way, known as
“Library Passage”
We understand that you are seeking support to
13
prevent the present owners of the land including the
‘Library Passage’ from permanently stopping it up
and at one stroke preventing future use as a shortcut and right of way, and also removing an historical connection between Worthing and Jane Austen.
As you know, in 1805, at the time of the Trafalgar and Nelson’s famous victory Jane Austen and
her family stayed at Stanford’s Cottage, adjacent to
this twitten, and would certainly have used this
short-cut known as the ‘Library Passage’ to gain
direct access to both the sea-front and the library.
The library in those days was the focal point of social gatherings to meet, discuss and converse as
well as to see and be seen and take refreshments
whilst perhaps reading papers, magazines and
books. In their months staying in Worthing Jane
Austen and her family probably used this route on a
daily basis.
This very library has changed its use and now
forms part of the administrative buildings for the
bus depot, where the twitten ends.
Sir Walter Scott is famous for his fulsome
praise of Jane Austen but Anthony Trollope also
praised her work and wrote, “Miss Austen was surely a great novelist. What she did, she did perfectly.
Her work, as far as it goes, is faultless.” and many
other examples in praise of her genius can be found
placing Jane Austen at the forefront of great British
novelists.
The connection between Worthing and Jane
Austen has only comparatively recently come to
light and our Society visited Worthing in October
last year, and we were very interested to see the
twitten known as the ‘Library Passage’ and to understand its connection with Jane Austen’s stay. We
feel sure that our Society’s visit to Worthing will be
only one of many, as other Societies all around the
world learn of this Austen connection, and any Jane
Austen fan would be very pleased to see the twitten,
she must certainly have used, remain open and unaltered and would be equally dismayed to see it lost
forever.
We, the Committee of The Jane Austen Society
Midlands, fully support the view that the twitten
known as ‘Library Passage’ should remain open and
its connection with Jane Austen made more widely
known.
Yours sincerely, Chris Sandrawich, Membership Secretary Jennifer Walton, Chairman.
Written submissions had to be in before March
28th and the actual hearing is on April 25th at the
Chatsworth Hotel in Worthing.
Here is the email for Janet Clarke where you can
send an email letter re: the Worthing issue - thank
you for your support in this, they will appreciate
it...
jclarke1805@yahoo.co.uk
A look at “The Look of Love”
By Jo Manning
The LOOK OF LOVE exhibition can be seen
through June, 2012, in Birmingham, Alabama, at
the Birmingham Museum of Art. I was fortunate
enough to be there for the opening and the first few
days of the show, which runs until the end of June.
For more information and a list of special events,
go to the museum’s web site:
http://www.artsbma.org/
The exhibition, with its
accompanying catalog,
sets the standard for research on this unique
portrait miniature-cumjewelry; until now, these
objects have been little
known in either the art or
jewelry worlds.
14
Before discussing this
spectacular exhibit, here
is my backstory. I often
tell people that one never Jo Manning, Author of My
knows, after one’s book
Lady Scandalous,
is published and sent out Simon & Schuster, 2009
into the marketplace,
sider myself an expert on the subject. No, they
who will see it, who
said, we’d like you to write some stories, vignettes,
will be affected by
inspired by the eyes in their collection. I thought
it, and what reperthis was a brilliant idea, frankly, because each of
cussions it will genthe eyes had a story – an unknown story for the
erate. My Lady
most part, to be sure, as sitters and artists were
Scandalous, my bimostly unidentified – and the eyes do speak to the
ography of Grace
viewer. I gave my imagination full rein and wrote
Dalrymple Elliott, a
five stories for their consideration. To my
notorious courtesan
knowledge, this is another first; I know of no ficof the late 18th-early
tion in the catalogs of art shows. Essays on the art
19th centuries, was
and history, yes, those are standard, but bits of ficsold in bookstores
tion…nope!
and museum gift
I have to confess that the stories came very
shops.
easily, which does not always happen to a writer.
At the Bass Museum of Art’s gift shop in MiBut the eyes drew me in, and I chose the most eloami Beach, Florida, it was seen by Dr. David Skier,
quent, in my opinion, and wrote away. My goal
an eye surgeon from Birmingham, who thought his
was to illuminate how these objects of love and afwife would enjoy it. One of the things he noticed in
fection came about, what they meant in a society
the book was a sidebar on Lover’s Eyes -- eye minwith mores quite unlike our own, who the artists
iatures – with a photo of a ring in the “collection of
might be and why they painted them, what the symthe author.”
bolism involved meant to people in that era, and,
This was of great interest to Dr. Skier because
yes, the aura they held of clandestine love tokens
he and his wife Nan had quietly been collecting
was very appealing to me, as a writer of historical
these beautiful objects for many years and had acromance.
cumulated some 70+ of them. (They now own 100+
The stories are: “Pippa & William”; “Ursula
of these miniatures.) Assuming that I had a collecEngleheart Prepares Tea For Her Artist Husband
tion of these objects, they wrote to my publisher,
George…”; “I Mourn Your Loss, My Beloved…”;
Simon & Schuster, asking for my contact infor“My Mother, Mariah Norcross”; and “The Grey
mation. The publisher referred them to my agent,
Eye in Great-Aunt Lavinia’s Jewelry Box”.
Jenny Bent of the Bent Agency, and she contacted
me. I responded promptly with the news that I
Pippa and William are star-crossed lovers [not to be
owned just the one ring; I’d become interested in
confused with Pippa Middleton and Prince Wilthem after seeing the eye miniatures in the collecliam :)] who meet as children, fall in love, but cantion of my writing colleague Candice Hern, who
not marry because of
owned several lovely brooches. I was also endynastic “rules” govtranced by the story of how they came about and
erning marriage; Ursula
their subsequent
Engleheart is the story
history.
of a prolific painter of
The Skiers beminiatures (an estimatcame friends, and
ed 5,000 of them in his
when I was asked to
lifetime) who paints
contribute to the
eyes for clandestine
catalog for an exhilovers but doesn’t sign
bition of their colthem to avoid trouble
lection called The
with his patrons, their parents; I Mourn Your Loss
Look of Love, I said
tells a sad tale of two of the many young men who
I would be happy to
perished in the Napoleonic Wars and how all that
do so, but that I did
remains of one of them is the lover’s eye he gave to
not in any way conhis fiancée; My Mother, Mariah Norcross is anothDavid and Nan Skier
15
er bereavement story that also illustrates the perils
of epidemics in that Georgian era and its horrific
costs to families; and, finally, the last story, of what
was found in Great-Aunt Lavinia’s Jewelry Box by
careless heirs, speculates on the possible unfortunate fate of many an eye miniature.
The exhibition, and the beautifully illustrated
208 page catalog – a proper coffee-table book! –
have each garnered wonderful publicity. The catalog will probably become a collector’s item as well
as an important research source on the
subject of eye miniatures; the essays by
Dr. Graham
Boettcher, the curator,
and Elle Shushan, a
dealer in portrait miniatures, are outstanding, detailed, and most
readable.
The exhibit is exquisite, mounted with extreme
delicacy and care by the professionals at the Birmingham Museum of Art, and the oohs and ahhs of
those visiting the jewel
of a room in which it is
housed brings joy to everyone who’s been involved in its creation and
implementation, but
most of all to Nan and Dr
David Skier, who collected these gorgeous
pieces that combine art/
history/and jewelry in
such a unique manner.
Plans are underway to
bring the exhibit to other cities; the catalog can be
ordered through Amazon, where it has been Number One in its category – Art & Antiques.
The coverage has been overwhelming: The
New York Times, Vanity Fair magazine, and many
more. The exhibition may travel to other museums
in the future. In the
meantime, if you
have the opportunity
to go to Birmingham,
you will not be disappointed.
The Wire
Published thrice yearly by JASNA-Wisconsin
Editor: Kim Wilson
Please send articles, letters, and clippings to
Kim Wilson, 506 Oxford Road,
Waukesha, WI 53186 - 262-549-4122 or
kjwilson@wi.rr.com
Board of JASNA-Wisconsin
Regional Coordinator
Liz Philosophos Cooper
608-238-9272, liz.p.cooper@gmail.com
Vice President-Milwaukee
Marylee Richmond
262-392-3464, marestails@wi.rr.com
Vice President-Madison
Ann Gordon-Walker
608-238-2167, gordonwalker@wisc.edu
New Members Chair
Cynthia Kartman
414-332-9757, kartmania@wi.rr.com
Treasurer
Coral Bishop
608-238-7473, coral.bishop@att.net
Recording Secretary
Victoria Hinshaw
414-289-9413, vickybh@wi.rr.com
Membership Coordinator
Judy Beine
414-421-3490, jbeine@wi.rr.com
Wire Editor
Kim Wilson (see above)
Historian
Kathleen O’Brien
414-425-1309, kathleen5360@tds.nt
Hospitality Chair
Diana Burns
414-421-4418, dmburns@wi.rr.com
Milwaukee Book Discussion Coordinator
Jane Kivlin
(262) 789-1282, jkivlin@alum.bu.edu
Webmaster
Vicki Lovely
608-836-6312, vtl@chorus.net
http://www.jasnawi.org
16
JASNA Spring Gala 2012 RESERVATION FORM
Please reserve _______ places for the Spring Gala Saturday, April 28, 2012
Entree choices:
_______ Grilled Caesar Salad, garlic lemon chicken served on crisp romaine hearts with
fresh Parmesan, garlic croutons, cherry tomatoes, and classic anchovy garlic dressing.
Served with fresh baked rolls. $20.
_________ Classic French Dip, thin shaved roast sirloin of beef piled high on a French ba-
guette with melted Gruyere then served with natural au jus for dipping and finished with a
side of wedge fried potatoes. $20.
_________ Wine Country Vegetarian Salad, romaine, arugula and spinach tossed with grilled
asparagus, zucchini, red bell pepper, portobello mushrooms and spring onions accented with
avocado slices, grape tomatoes, Monterey jack cheese and Sonoma Valley Pinot Noir vinaigrette. Served with fresh baked rolls. $20.
Please make checks out to JASNA WI
Total $_________
Member’s Name _________________________________________
Phone______________________ Email______________________
Guest __________________________________________________
RESERVATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY APRIL 12!
Mail to: Marylee Richmond S62 W35573 Bur Oak Lane Eagle, WI 53119
Questions? Liz Cooper 608-238-9272
Directions to Wisconsin Club: (Parking in back of Club)
900 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53233 | Phone: 414.271.7510
From the North: From I-43 South, take the 11th Street/Highland Avenue exit, continue on 11th Street to
Wisconsin Ave., turn turn left on Wisconsin Ave. to 10th Street, turn Left onto 10th Street to the Club
Entrance. From the West: Take I-794 Eastbound to the James Lovell Street/St. Paul Ramp, turn Left onto West
Wisconsin Avenue, turn Right onto 10th Street to the Club Entrance.
From the South: From I-43 North, take the Michigan/10th Street exit, continue onto North 10th Street to the
Club Entrance.
17