AUSTENESQUE NEWS

1. Emma and Mr Elton  together again

 Romola Garai ( Emma 2009) and Blake Ritson (Mr Elton 2009, Edmund Mansfield Park 2007) will be in the cast of a new BBC period drama , The Crimson Petal and the White, set in the Victorian Era and based on the best selling novel by Miche Faber (2002).

In the cast also Chris O'Dowd (IT Crowd, The Boat That Rocked), Gillian Anderson (The X Files, Bleak House), Richard E Grant (Withnail And I, Gosford Park), Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Charles II), Amanda Hale (Murderland, Bright Star) and Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, The League Of Gentlemen) . They have  begun filming on BBC Two's bold four-part adaptation of Faber's international best seller book produced by Origin Pictures.

This provocative and riveting tale tells the story of Sugar (Romola Garai), an alluring, intelligent young prostitute who yearns for a better life away from the brothel she is attached to – run by the contemptible Mrs Castaway (Gillian Anderson).

Highly sought after and sexually adept, Sugar finds her only comfort in the secret novel she is writing in which a murderous prostitute takes revenge on her clients. However, things change for her when she meets wealthy businessman William Rackham (Chris O'Dowd).

Sugar is a thrilling antidote to William's life, saddled with a pious brother, Henry Rackham (Mark Gatiss), and fragile wife, Agnes Rackham (Amanda Hale). Agnes regularly endures visits from the invasive physician Doctor Curlew (Richard E Grant), leaving her unable to perform her wifely duties.

William ensconces Sugar as his mistress and she soon grows accustomed to her new life. Yet, unbeknownst to William, Sugar begins to hatch a plan which sets a series of events in motion that will change their lives for ever.

The supporting cast also includes Tom Georgeson (Bleak House), Liz White (Life On Mars),  and Bertie Carvel (Sherlock).

2. Jane Austen's favorite author, Samuel Richardson

According to Jane Austen's nephew, James-Edward Austen-Leigh, her knowledge of Samuel Richardson “was such as no one is likely again to acquire . . . Every circumstance narrated in Sir Charles Grandison, all that was said or done in the cedar parlour, was familiar to her; and the wedding days of [characters like] Lady L. and Lady G. were as well remembered as if they had been living friends.”

To know more about the connection between Austen and Richardson , read this extremely interesting  and informative guestblog at Austenprose in which Lynn Shepherd ( the author of  Austen inspired mystery "Murder at Mansfield Park" but also a distinguished Samuel Richardson scholar with a new book Clarissa’s Painter: Portraiture, Illustration, and Representation in the Novels of Samuel Richardson, published by the venerable Oxford University Press) analyzes the influence of Richardson's work on Jane Austen. CLICK HERE AND READ

3. How did Jane Austen spend her summer days (August)  in 1814?

Reading, writing, replying to letters, correcting manuscripts and giving suggestions to her niece Anna who wanted to become a writer like her!

August 10, 1814.

MY DEAR ANNA,

I am quite ashamed to find that I have never answered some question of yours in a former note. I kept it on purpose to refer to it at a proper time and then forgot it. I like the name "Which is the Heroine" very well, and I daresay shall grow to like it very much in time; but "Enthusiasm" was something so very superior that my common title must appear to disadvantage. I am not sensible of any blunders about Dawlish; the library was pitiful and wretched twelve years ago and not likely to have anybody's publications. There is no such title as Desborough either among dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, or barons. These were your inquiries. I will now thank you for your envelope received this morning. Your Aunt Cass is as well pleased with St. Julian as ever, and I am delighted with the idea of seeing Progillian again. ( GO ON READING...)

4. Bath - Jane Austen Festival : A RECORD!

Last year on September 23rd at Jane Austen Festival 2009 they attempted the Guinness World Record during the Regency Promenade. Everyone had to be dressed in full Regency costume. They got the record with 409 people! Will they beat their own record next September?  This year the Festival will be hold from 17th to 25th September. Are you ready for the Regency Promenade? Have a look at this clip from last year!