THE MYSTERIES OF PENDOWAR HALL: INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR SYRIE JAMES

 

At My Jane Austen Book Club, we celebrate not just Jane Austen, but the timeless appeal of classic literature and the authors who bring that spirit to life in fresh, compelling ways. My guest today, Syrie James, is no stranger to our readers — her brilliant The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen and The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë have captivated many of us. Now, with The Mysteries of Pendowar Hall, the first book in her new Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire series, Syrie masterfully channels the Gothic essence of the Brontës while delivering a thrilling historical romance and mystery. It’s a pleasure to welcome her back to discuss her latest novel, her love for classic literature, and the connections between Austen, Brontë, and the elements of storytelling that continue to intrigue us today.

TALKING JANE AUSTEN WITH ... AUTHOR CAROLINE MALCOM-BOULTON!

 

A Unique Crossover

Caroline Malcom-Boulton is the author of The Three Witches of Milton,  a unique crossover novella which unites and explores elements from three of my absolute best favourite classic novels:  Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.

 Playing with quotes from these three inspirational novels and their iconic screenplays, Caroline Malcom-Boulton blends the English classics together, infusing them with an original plot, all so that we might explore the intriguing relationship of similarities between their characters and themes.

I invited  lovely Caroline to join me at My Jane Austen Book Club to talk Jane Austen and also to tell us more about her new release. 

HERE’S MY INTERVIEW

JANE AUSTEN AND CHARLOTTE BRONTE - PARALLEL LIVES

Picture from Austenprose

Jane Austen, famous for her books Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility (to name a few), and fellow English writer, Charlotte Bronte, known for having penned the classics Jane Eyre, Villette among others, belong to the elite of great female writers of all time.  However, they have more than just that in common. 

A Century Apart

Jane Austen was born in the Georgian era,on 16 December, 1775, while Charlotte Bronte was a Victorian, born eighty years later, on 21 April, 1855.  While they lived a century apart, both were born at a time when women had few rights. If they were not married, they depended on their fathers or brothers to support them financially.  They lived in an age in which middle class women were only accepted to work as companions or as governesses.  Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte both defied their time – they wrote, got published and later on were recognized for their genius.