Tag: austen

Literary visits: Chatsworth House

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Hello!

I spent such a wholesome Saturday visiting one of the most beautiful country houses: Chatsworth House, used as Pemberly in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. I mean, look at it!

Chatsworth House

My friends and I paid for the house and garden ticket, which was £32. This includes house entry (you do have to book for a specific time) and unlimited time in the gardens. The house inside is gorgeous, if you’re into stately homes you would love this, just look at one of the bookshelves 😍 Of course the library was my favourite room, seeing all of the books, and I could envision myself sat there with a pot of tea for hours on end.

Pride and Prejudice is my favourite Jane Austen novel, and I actually re-read it earlier this year. I adore the unravelling of both Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy and their prejudices against each other as individuals and the societies and communities they come from. Austen artfully encapsulates how pride can affect everyone.

Lizzie Bennet is a strong female character who has strongnopinions and isn’t afraid to voice them, whether it be about marriage, society, or her own family dynamics. Her integrity is both her strength and flaws, but watching her unpick her own judgements and understand that the world and people around her have more depth than she realises is sublime. Austen’s prose beautifully unfolds through the slow burn romance between Lizzie and Mr. Darcy, and it’s so much sweeter when it all comes together. I love that Darcy falls fast and hard for Lizzie but has no clue how to tell her, so he basically says that even though she’s poor, he is willing to overlook this because he loves her. Oh Darcy! Im not surprised she rejected you after that proposal 😅

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

After having read Sense and Sensibility earlier this year, you can tell that Austen’s prose, plot and character development has improved. The dialogue is witty and sharp. She critiques the society around her through the characters and offers the reader life long lessons of what it means to be loved, to self develop and grow and how, if we don’t do this, our prejudices will be our downfall.

There are so many beautiful quotes from the story, but I’ve somehow managed to narrow it down to my top 3″

  • “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will no longer be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
  • “Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”
  • “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”
Mr. Darcy bust

This has always been a 5 star read for me, and each time I have re-read this, i fall more in love with the prose, characters, and messages. I always unearth something new in every read. This is why I love re-reading, because each time you glean something new from it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

xo

Book review: Sense and Sensibility

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2025 is the year I have dedicated to reading and re-reading classics. I started the year with Pride and Prejudice because…well do I really have to explain myself 😅

But, whilst I’ve watched tv and film adaptations of Austen’s works, I’ve never actually read them!

So, as part of Canterbury Classics Instagram challenge for 2025, I will be reading ALL of Austen’s novels.

March’s read was Sense and Sensibility. Did I pick this up in April and finish it it May? Yes. But hear me out! Work was busy and I had about 5 books on the go…

How pretty is this cover 😍 I love the Chiltern covers. I think I’m going to collect as many as I can. TK MAXX is definitely the place to go for these! I paid £8 for this copy, and they retail for about £20. Absolute bargain.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

What does it mean to be sensible?

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this and the way it unfolded. I’ll be honest, it took me some time to get into it, and I was confused by the family dynamics initially. It holds very similar themes to Pride and Prejudice: bad boy love interest, to marry for love or to marry for money and plucky strong female leads.

Marianne. I actually adored her. I can understand why some people might get annoyed at her and her reactions to things, but I loved her character. Open to all of her emotions and feeling them deeply. She knew what she wanted and she wasn’t afraid to go after Willoughby. She is reshaped and redefined by her heartbreak and illness, which makes her a better person and ends up with Colonel Brandon. Hello! The better option of man, in my opinion. She definitely got the better man. I can understand why some people might get annoyed at her and certain characteristics and over dramatic nature, but she is true to her age and who she is.

Elinor bless her. Always in complete control of her emotions, a complete juxtaposition to her younger sister in pretty much every way. She’s never able to openly discuss her wants and desires, but she is the ultimate big sister: kind, trustworthy and compassionate. I do think she deserved better than Edward. He was not a well developed character, or man, that deserved her. Honestly, I kind of wanted her to end up with Colonel Brandon…

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

The bond between the sisters is the core of this novel, I found, not the romantic love. The way they consistently stick up for one another even when they’re fighting. They are both fighing their ‘sensibilities’ and rationale within society trying to make sense of it all. A true sister bond.

Having read this after Pride and Prejudice, I can tell that this was published first:

  • It doesn’t have the same depth of plot or character development (specifically with the men).
  • The pacing isnt great. There are long chunks of the novel where not much really happens, just various visits to family and London.
  • I felt like the ending was rushed.

However, it carries the classic Austen commentary on society and social constructs. She delves into themes or inner turmoil, morality and what it means to have sense and be sensible in a world hindered the growth of women. Austen allows the reader to become immersed in this world through the characters and understand how different people can interact and react to the same situations.

An enjoyable read, if albeit a long one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

xo

Waiting for my Heathcliffe

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Hello!

I hope you’re all having a lovely day!

I have had the best day today😁 I travelled along to Haworth in West Yorkshire to visit the Brontë Parsonage to have a wander and a gander.

It’s so beautiful😍❤

I am a Jane Austen girl at heart, but the depth of characters and raw emotion you feel when reading Brontë novels is inspiring. It’s no wonder that Austen and the Brontë sisters are constantly compared – on the surface they’re similar, women writers talking about love and romance – but once you get into the stories they differ wildly.

It’s no secret that that Brontë sisters, especially Charlotte, disliked Austen and her literature. They felt she didn’t write about real women, real passion, or anything of real, solid substance. I disagree, but when you read them side by side it’s not hard to see the differences. The Brontë sisters romantic plots are darker and their men wilder – Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are perfect examples, while Austen focuses more on satire, social realism and class through romance. Could you imagine Mr Darcy roaming Derbyshire stricken with grief like Heathcliffe does on the Yorkshire moors?

Jane Eyre takes a lot from Charlotte Brontë’s own life – the death of her sisters, her schooling and her anguish at these. They say write what you know, and Charlotte certainly does this. The theme of wanting to belong runs throughout the novel and we see Jane try and find her place and her worth from the classes of Lowood to the halls of Thornfield. She must find herself without jeopardising who she is and what she stands for. Rochester is not her happy ending nor the man who saves her. He is the man she chooses, and who is her equal.

I hate that people say you’re either a Brontë fan or an Austen fan, they offer very different things through their literature. So just because you favour one over the other doesn’t mean you can’t still love and enjoy the other. I know I’m still waiting on my version of Heathcliffe/Darcy😊

xo

Introduction to me?

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Hello everyone! Hope you’re all well😊

I was recently told by a friend of mine that my blogs aren’t personable enough. So while I develop my writing style, I thought why not do a #meetthebookstgrammer blog with some added q’s ( I probably should’ve started with this one tbh).

So here goes!

  • Where are you from?

Manchester, England.

  • When did you start blogging?

March 2017.

  • Would you rather be an author or publisher?

Publisher. But I’d love to have the confidence to dabble in serious writing.

  • Do you prefer standalone books or series?

Series usually, but there are great standalones that I adore. Can I say both???

  • Authors who inspire you?

Urgh. So many. But J.K Rowling and Jane Austen always aaaand Toni Morrison and Khaled Hosseni.

  • Where in the world do you want to travel to the most?

New York. But I want to see the World tbh, just need the time and the money.

  • Favourite book to film adaptation?

Not a film, but Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. The show sticks closely to the novels and the writing/plots that makes them great, but they also change things up still keeping in line with the characters and stories. I just feel like books to film adaptations are pretty much always a let down because there’s so much to cram into a short space of time.

**EDIT**

Gone Girl! Man that was a great book to film adaptation. They did slightly downplay the psychotic nature of the main female protagonist I felt, but kudos on capturing the destructive nature of the book on screen.

  • Least favourite book to movie adaptation?

Ooh there’s a few🙃. Eragon. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The Hobbit. The Golden Compass (Northern Lights). I could name so many more.

As much as I adore the books, the HP films were a little let down compared to the amazing writing of Rowling. Although I have to say Prisoner of Azkaban (for me) is the best HP book to film adaptation. It stuck to the magic of Rowling’s writing and really brought to life the story. Alfonso why you no do all 8🙁

Having said that about the series as a whole, they can stand alone from the books which I do think is a great thing. They allow more people to come into the Potterverse even if they’re not the biggest readers.

  • Cats or dogs?

Cats, but I do love dogs too.

  • If you were stuck on a desert island, which 3 books would you take with you?

Urm…err…hmm…well maybe…ahh…the…gah…help!

  • Favourite quote?

Most of you probably have the same problem as I do, in that I can’t pick just one! But one that’s stuck with me over the years is:

“Though she be but little, she is fierce” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare.

Good ol’ Wills!

So that’s me pretty much! I’d love to see your answers to these questions or just the general #meetthebookstagrammer q’s😊

xo

200 years of Austen❤

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Hello 🙂 This is just my little tribute to the brilliant writing of Jane Austen.

Today (or 2 days ago by the time this is posted😶) marks 200 years since one of the most influential women writers died. She, her novels, and characters have managed to stay in the public eye for 200 years. She even got put on the back on the £10 note😊🎉

Gosh, where do you even start with Austen? Her characters? Her mesmerising writing? Her scathing critique of social situations, and society? I’m not even sure to be honest. She’s spawned prequels and sequels, fan fiction, a web series, stage productions, podcasts, and multiple tv and film adaptations. Phew! Did I get everything? It’s like we can’t get enough of her, even 200 years later, constantly being drawn in and enticed by her witty language and bold protagonists. What’s brilliant is that her stories and themes still hold relevance today. Everybody still wants their Mr Darcy, or Colonol Brandon (I’m a hard-core Mr Darcy lover, particularly Matthew McFayden in the 2005 movie😍).

I read an interesting article today about how Austen is lost on teenagers because they can’t understand it. That the deep meanings, intricacies, and themes of her novels go over their heads. I’ve gotta say I completely disagree with this. It’s not that teenagers don’t understand it’s that most teaching methods won’t allow them to gain the understanding and nodules of from her novels. What makes Austen so relevant and brilliant is how accessible her writing is, whether that’s through her novels or the maaaany adaptations and interpretations (Bridget Jones ftw although I am partial to the Bollywood version of P&P😂).

Smart, funny, witty, passionate, and fiery, Lizzie Bennett is probably the most well known Austen heroine, and my favourite. But she’s not without her faults. Her pride and naivety get in the way of her judgement of both Wickham and Darcy. Its not until she’s forced to realise her mistakes that she re-evaluate all she knows and allows herself to become open to change. So beautifully written, Austen isn’t afraid to make her characters flawed, nd that’s what makes them human. No character in an Austen novel is perfect. Perfection for Austen is superficial only. No-one, no matter how much they claim, can attain that level of perfection because reality dictates it as unattainable. It’s down to this and Austen’s frankness of society that’s allowed her work to transcend over the past 200 years.

For me there’s an Austen novel and heroine for everyone. You just have to find it. So thank you Jane. Thank you for writing 6 of the greatest novels in the English language. But not only that. Thank you for being one of the pioneering women writers in a time where it was frowned upon. Thank you for showing and proving that some of the greatest stories come from those who are oppressed and that all they need is one chance to get their story out there.

xo

Calling: all romantics

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Hello there my fellow romantics 🙂

I feel like that word gets a lot of flak nowadays, ‘romantic.’ You tell people that you’re a romantic and they give you that pitying sort of look and words to the effect of oh, bless you. You’re so naive and idealistic. The real world doesn’t work like that.

Oh boo to you.  

So I may have watched a few too many films set in New York or London where people meet and instantly fall head over heels in love (Serendipity, I’m looking straight at you), or read books full of brilliant heroines and dashing heroes. 

But sue me. I can’t help it. Escapism, naivety, innocence, call it what you will, I say it’s a kind of hope. From the first time I read Pride & Prejudice I was hooked. Not because of the romance between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, but of the way Austen doesn’t allow it to be the be all and end all for her characters. It’s something to be incorporated into a life to make it stronger, not to define it or make someone weaker. Austen’s characters, the intensity with how she writes them, and the life she pours into each one of them and her plots make them so relatable. So I guess I could blame Jane Austen for my so called ‘unrealistic expectations.’

So give me more romance. Give me all of the corny, cliche, idealistic stories. I’ll gladly take them. I’m not saying I’m an optimist (if anything I’m a realist), but in this world of cynics and pessimists we could all do with a bit more love to shine a light through the despair of it all ❤

xo