COMING SOON TO MASTERPIECE: MISS AUSTEN – A MUST-WATCH FOR JANEITES

 

Dear Austen friends,

I’m absolutely delighted to bring you some news that I think will set every Janeite’s heart fluttering — Miss Austen, the long-awaited mini-series based on Gill Hornby’s best-selling novel, is finally arriving on your screens! Mark your calendars: this four-part drama premieres Sunday, May 4, 2025, at 9/8c on MASTERPIECE on PBS.

Long-time followers of My Jane Austen Book Club will remember when we first featured Miss Austen the novel, a beautifully imagined re-telling of the mystery behind why Cassandra Austen destroyed so many of Jane’s letters. You can read my original review here. I even had the joy of interviewing  Gill Hornby in 2022 when her equally enchanting Godmersham Park was released — you can find that interview here!

WHAT IS IT ABOUT PERIOD DRAMA? COUNTING DOWN TO THE NEW PERSUASION

 

(by guest blogger Lizzie Nelson)

Along with everybody else, I have been counting the days until the new Persuasion is released. Good or bad, I will lap it up.

I often wonder what it is about period dramas that captivate me so. Why are they so incredibly fulfilling? At 56, I am past the age of seeing myself as a Jane Austen heroine; unaware of her compelling yet understated beauty, quick witted, independent,resigned to spinsterhood and then finding love.I am married and jolly content, I am in my own happy ending and have not the slightest yearning for excitement and romance… I think.

TALKING JANE AUSTEN AND SANDITON WITH AUTHOR KATE RIORDAN

Have you seen ITV Sanditon?  Have you rewatched it countless times on ITV Hub and started longing for series two? We have a cure for your withdrawal symptoms:  a novelisation of Andrew Davies' script, which will gratify your wish to discover  more about the characters and the story you love.

If you are you still watching it - in Australia or South Africa,  for instance - you maybe want to wait on to avoid spoilers or ... maybe not. 
If you are in the States, you must be patient because Sanditon is coming soon: it will premiere on PBS Masterpiece on 12 January  2020!

Kate Riordan is the brilliant historical fiction writer who accepted to work on Andrew Davies' (and Justin Young's!) script and to follow in Jane Austen's footsteps to tell the rest of the story.

Kate kindly accepted to answer a few questions and be my guest at My Jane Austen Book Club today and I want to thank her very much indeed for a great interview.  Read on!

THE WORLD OF SANDITON: BOOK REVIEW & GIVEAWAY

This post offers you the chance to win an ebook copy of the book described, The World of Sanditon, The Official Companion to the ITV series.Thanks to Orion Books for providing a free copy to give away.  Scroll down and take your chances to win. The giveaway contest ends on 12th November and it is open internationally. Good luck! 

The World of Sanditon, the official companion to the ITV series, published by Orion Books,  delves behind the scenes giving you the inside scoop on Andrew Davies’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s last, unfinished work.

The book allows you to go behind the scenes with the cast and crew, exploring the world that Austen created and offering fascinating insights about a period and the real – life heartbreak behind her final story.

The book will be a gorgeous addition to your Austen or period drama shelf: good-sized, beautifully designed, loads of pictures and the best information on every Regency and Sanditon related subject you can imagine.

You will also have access to location guides, interviews with the cast, beautiful photography from the series and in-depth historical information by esteemed author Sara Sheridan.

THE WORLD OF SANDITON: INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR SARA SHERIDAN.

JANE AUSTEN’S SANDITON

When Jane Austen was chronically ill with a mysterious disease in early 1817, she turned her thoughts to a happier subject. She started work on a witty and delightful novel set in a seaside town, Sanditon.  She never finished it. She just left us 11 chapters, about 60 pages.

Sanditon tells the story of Tom Parker, who is obsessed with turning the sleepy seaside village of Sanditon into a fashionable health resort. He enlists the backing of local bigwig Lady Denham. Through a mishap, Tom makes the acquaintance of the Heywoods and invites their eldest daughter, Charlotte for an extended stay at Sanditon.

MOVIES THAT JANE AUSTEN FANS MIGHT ENJOY

by guest blogger Allison Foster

If you are an Austen fan and you crave more “Austen” then I am here to recommend a couple other movies you might enjoy. While nothing can replace our favorites like Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility I have found a couple movies in the past which have not disappointed. You have to be a certain type of individual to like these kinds of movies: the English made or dramatic movies which move a little slower and add a lot of extra detail. This is what I love and crave and if you are of the same mind then I want to recommend what I consider a beautifully made movie that any Austen fan would love.

NORTH AND SOUTH 

That movie is called North and South, written by Elizabeth Gaskell in 1855. It was a made for television movie in 2004 by the BBC. I had not seen this movie until a couple of years ago when I started watching other BBC shows and ran across this one. It was considered an industrial novel when it was written; it was written about relations between employers and workers of that time period.