A week ago I had the chance to spend the day in New York City at The Morgan Library and Museum to take in their current Jane Austen exhibit entitled, A Woman's Wit: Jane Austen's Life and Legacy. The very cool thing about the exhibit was that the museum featured some of the original letters she had written to her sister, Cassandra. Before her death, it is thought that Jane Austen asked her sister to keep the very personal comments in her letters private, and, much to the dismay of Austen lovers around the world, Cassandra burned many of those prized pieces of correspondence. Of the existing letters, Cassandra played editor, took a pair of scissors to the pages and cut out the passages that revealed too much.It was fascinating.
On my train ride home, I remembered that I had Beth Pattillo's book, Jane Austen Ruined My Life near the top of my to-be-read pile. I picked it up as soon as I got home and read it as quickly as I could. Having just spent a day with some of Jane's correspondence in person, it felt timely to read a book whose premise supposed some of those lost letters actually survived.
Here's a blurb from BookPage:
English professor and Austen expert Emma Grant is heartbroken after her divorce when an intriguing communication lures her to England and a possible cache of Jane Austen's unpublished letters. Her desire to inspect them is complicated by her renewed acquaintance with fellow professor Adam Clark, and the series of Austen-related assignments that the guardian of the letters gives to Emma. Yet through these tasks Emma learns about herself and her attitudes toward love and marriage. While the growing romance between the heroine and Adam is sweet, sweeter is the new sense of self that Emma gains.The book is a treasure hunt through Austen's old haunts and is fun and a delight to read. I highly recommend accompanying Emma on her journey!
xoxo,
bex
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