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Jane Austen's body of work delivers a nuanced understanding of life—especially as a woman, family dynamics, insights into the historical context of the period, and the social norms between men and women. For the last two decades, I have been fascinated by Austen’s diverse and massive fan following, scholars, and writers, and I love discovering why her words and characters still resonate with so many these two hundred years later. Once a month in 2024, I feature one Austen fan to offer their insights.
In 2017, Claudine di Muzio, of the Austenesque blog Just Jane 1813, recommended I read a Mansfield Park reimagining titled A Contrary Wind by Lona Manning--which I loved. Loved! What if Fanny Price became tired of being called the ungrateful, poor relation? Manning gave a new voice to Fanny Price. Fanny remained characteristic to whom we know in canon but given a new environment, her lot took a turn. Manning was just the kind of writer I was looking to recruit to reveal Tom Bertram's untold story in my multi-author anthology Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen's Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues. I love how she allowed Tom to tell his tale of having loved and lost in "Address of a Frenchwoman." From there, Manning wrote other memorable short stories in my subsequent anthologies Rational Creatures and Yuletide.
On this 207th year since Jane Austen's death (July 18, 1817), I am grateful for Manning's insightful thoughts and remembrance on why we continue to read and or write about Austen.
By Lona Manning
"Why do I read and/or write about Jane Austen?" Well, one thing is clear: we Janeites think
Austen is unique and matchless, and we’re a little bemused when others don’t agree. I’ll never
forget the time I went to a book discussion on Emma sponsored by my local library. I had
assumed the only appropriate question might be: “Which part of Emma is the most brilliant?” but to my astonishment most of the women there declared that Emma was tedious and silly, and they didn’t like it! Well, we can’t convert everyone!
How to explain the feeling of contentment and quiet delight that washes over you when you settle down with an Austen novel and a cup of tea? When you open the book and hear her cool, elegant voice telling us that “The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex,” or “No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine.” I must place the beauties of Austen’s language at the top of my reasons why I read and re-read her novels.
There’s more, though. Austen gives us a timeless moral universe. I know some have argued that Austen’s world is too genteel, that her characters seem unaware of the poverty and injustice of Regency England. I think, rather, that her lessons are focused inward, not outward on the wider world. They have to do with how we treat the people in our lives. When I was young, I had Austen to thank for reminding me that we need to be patient and forbearing towards the Misses Bates in our lives (whether or not I always live up to that). I took to heart the message woven into each of her marriage-plot novels: good marriages are based upon mutual respect. “Respect,” not “love,” is the word Mr. Bennet uses when he speaks to Lizzie about marrying the proud Mr. Darcy: “My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life.”
I think many Janeites can say, with me, that “Jane Austen changed my life.” In my case, I would have been content to be a lifelong Austen lover and nothing more, but eight years ago, when I was living in China and teaching English, a Mansfield Park story started writing itself in my head. It just happened like that, out of the blue. Go away, I told the voices in my head. I’m busy!
I’ve got lesson plans to do! I’m not a fiction writer!
But the voices wouldn’t go away, so I gave in and started writing the story. That first novel, A Contrary Wind, turned into a trilogy. After I published A Contrary Wind, I discovered the global Austenesque sisterhood (a sisterhood which includes some distinguished gentlemen.) I had the surprise and pleasure of being invited to contribute some short stories to Christina Boyd’s "Quill Collective" anthologies. I got to inhabit the mind of Tom Bertram of Mansfield Park, and the point of view of Mrs. Clay of Persuasion. I was given the opportunity to contribute a story about Anne De Bourgh for the Yuletide anthology to benefit Chawton House.
Like many Austen fans, my love for Austen led me to learn more about the era in which she lived. One way I’ve opened a window onto the past is by reading some of the novels written in Austen’s time, novels which have long been forgotten. I’ve learned about the typical themes, plots and tropes which were popular back then, and I’ve come to appreciate even more how Austen was a brilliant innovator. I’ve been sharing reviews and synopses of these forgotten novels at my blog, “Clutching My Pearls” and I’ll be speaking about my research at the next Jane Austen Society of North America Annual General Meeting (JASNA AGM) this October.
In Austen’s day, the novel was not a respected literary form. People worried that novels gave
girls unrealistic ideas about life, and Austen has fun with this trope in Northanger Abbey. But
she also famously defended novels as a literary form “in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humor, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language.”
In addition to her own effusions of wit and humor in her best-chosen language, Austen used
her knowledge of human nature to create a gallery of characters that we Janeites talk about as
though they were living, breathing, people. When we re-read her novels, study her life and
times, or read Austenesque fiction, we are happily lingering in the world Austen created. May
your own journey in Austen’s world bring you many rewards and discoveries, as it has for me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lona Manning is a writer, researcher, and speaker who has published three novels based on Mansfield Park. Her articles about Jane Austen and her times have appeared in Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine and in Persuasions, the journal of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Visit Lona's blog, "Clutching My Pearls."
Lona, why am I not surprised you penned such an eloquent, insightful essay on Austen's significance? Thank you for expressing so well the reasons many of us love Austen's works!