When Mrs. Palfrey, a genteel, elderly widow, arrives with her possessions at the formerly elegant Claremont Hotel in London, she expects “something quite different.” Planning to stay at least a month, possibly permanently, she prefers her independence in this aging London hotel to living in Scotland near her daughter, who prefers to ignore her. A variety of elderly eccentrics call the Claremont home, and though the residents put up a good front, their loneliness and boredom are obvious. When she falls while walking one day, Mrs. Palfrey is rescued by Ludovic Meyer, a struggling young writer. As the two develop a close relationship, Mrs. Palfrey reminisces about her married life, teaching Ludo about the many kinds of love and all its pleasures, and he, having failed in past relationships, begins to understand what love means, blossoming under her attention. This 1975 novel is a sweetly romantic comic masterpiece in which old age is shown as a stage in life, one in which rewards and happiness are more important than the inevitable conclusion. (One of my Favorites for 2008)
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Emma Woodhouse, “handsome, clever, and rich,” is the 21-year-old daughter of the elderly owner of Hartfield, the largest estate in Highbury. Though only a couple of hours away from London by carriage, Highbury regards itself as an isolated and virtually self-contained community, with the Woodhouse family the center of social life and at the top of its social ladder. Emma, doting on her hypochondriac father, whom she represents to the outside world, has grown up without a mother’s softening influence, and at twenty-one, she is bright, willful, and not a little spoiled. Austen shines in her depiction of Emma and her upperclass friends, gently satirizing their weaknesses but leaving room for them to learn from their mistakes-if only they can learn to recognize the ironies in their lives. Though Emma may be, in some ways, Austen’s least charming heroine, she is certainly vibrant and, with her annoying faults, a most realistic one.
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Though Lady Susan is considered part of Jane Austen’s “juvenilia,” having been written ca. 1805, it was not published till well after Jane Austen’s death and is still not counted among her “six novels.” In fact, this seventh novel, though not as thoughtful or thought-provoking as the “famous six,” is one of her wittiest and most spirited. Written in epistolary style, it is the story of Lady Susan, a beautiful, recent widow with no conscience, a woman who is determined to do exactly what she wants to do, to charm and/or seduce any man who appeals to her, and to secure a proper marriage for her teenage daughter, whom she considers both unintelligent and lacking in charm.
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In this somewhat atypical Jane Austen novel, Austen abandons her precise characterization and carefully constructed plots, usually designed to illustrate specific ethical and social dilemmas, and presents a much broader, more complex picture of early nineteenth century life. Though the polite behavior of the middle and upper classes is always a focus of Austen, and this novel is no exception, she is more analytical of society as a whole here, casting a critical eye on moral issues which allow the upper class to perpetuate itself. Fanny Price, the main character, is the daughter of a genteel woman who married for love but soon found herself in poverty. When Fanny’s aunt and uncle, the wealthy owners of Mansfield Park, invite Fanny alone, of all the children, to live with them, Fanny enters a new world, where she is educated, clothed, and housed, but always regarded as an “outsider.”
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Anne Elliot, age twenty-seven as the book opens, is an older than usual heroine for Austen. As a very young woman, she had been deeply in love with Frederick Wentworth, a handsome young naval officer of no fortune and uncertain prospects who loved her deeply. The two became engaged, but Lady Russell, acting on behalf of Anne’s deceased mother, persuaded Anne to break off her engagement, convincing her that Wentworth could never be happy within their elegant family or make her happy, since she would be an outcast from the family and from the society she had always known. Anne has forever regretted the fact that she allowed herself to be persuaded, and for the past eight years has not been attracted to anyone else, turning down a marriage proposal which had been regarded as ideal. When Sir Walter Elliot, in dire financial straits, decides to lease Kellynch to Admiral Croft and remove the family to Bath, Anne has no idea that this will bring Frederick Wentworth back into her life. Wentworth is the brother-in-law of Admiral Croft, who has moved into Kellynch.
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