Book nook -The Paula Byrne Book Club 🕮
Jane Austen championed many causes within her
work, a woman’s fight for control of her life, her love, and stability, to name
only a few. However, while tackling these issues within her work, she also took
on a defence of the novel itself. The theme runs throughout Northanger
Abbey, and the author intervenes in the story to express the importance of
the medium. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are so many quotes from Jane
on the importance of reading. None seems more apt in the subject of this post
than this particular gem:
‘A fondness for reading, properly
directed, must be an education in itself’.
If there was one thing we might like to keep
from lock-down, it was the ability to use to technology to reach across the miles.
While scrolling through my Austen based social media, I discovered all my loves
combined, a Jane Austen themed book group! However, this group was run from the
U.S, but social media reaches across the miles, and so I was able to join my
fellow Janeites from across the pond! The Paula Byrne Book Club is run
by Felicia, via a D.M group on twitter, for like-minded Janeites (and fans of
Sanditon!).
As a fellow Janeite, I will not leave you behind, so grab a cup of something warm
and a slice of cake, and join me on the window-seat to catch up with...🍵🥮
The Paula Byrne Book Club…
Felicia (Founder
of the Paula Byrne book club)
Can you
remember the moment you decided to start The Paula Byrne Book Club & what
was the inspiration behind it?
A couple members of the book club, before it was started,
came up with the idea of reading Paula’s books while we were waiting for season
3 of Sanditon to come out. I offered to organize and run it. The first book we
read was The Real Jane Austen and the book club was started in January of 2023.
When did you
first encounter Jane Austen?
I am pretty
sure I read Pride and Prejudice as a teenager in school, but I don’t think it
made much of an impression on me at the time (ironic, isn’t it?)
I then watched
the Ang Lee directed adaptation of Sense and Sensibility in 1995 and loved it. I
watched the 1995 Persuasion not long after that and was officially in love with
Jane Austen. I have read all
of her completed works at least several times, maybe even five times each.
What is the most surprising thing you've learnt from the books you've read & discussed so far?
It is amazing
how well Austen knew people. Her characters are so well drawn that they can be
recognized now, around 200 years later! Her humor is also timeless. She was the
master at writing parody that it is hardly noticeable when you read her work,
but then you realize that’s why you enjoy reading her so much.
If Jane were alive today, what do you think she would be writing.
She would be
writing shows like The Office and Arrested Development. She would be just like
Phoebe Waller-Bridge and write biting, hilarious stuff.
If you were an Austen character, who would you be?
This is tough.
I see myself in lots of Austen characters. Honestly, out
of all Austen characters, not just the heroines, I would say I would be Mrs.
Jennings. I love getting the scoop (gossip) on everyone!
Quick fire
questions,
My favourite Austen…
Book: Persuasion
Hero: Mr. Knightley
Heroine: Anne Elliot and Elizabeth Bennet
Adaptation:1995 Pride and Prejudice
Quote: “A little sea-bathing would set me up forever.”
Mrs Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.
Sarah (member
of The Paula Byrne Book Club)
How
did you hear about The Paula Byrne Book Club?
I follow Felicia and she put a message on the TL.
When
did you first encounter Jane Austen?
I knew of Austen before I saw/read her work. I grew
up in Hampshire and when I was little, we learnt notable things about where we
lived and one of the things, I remember is a writer call Jane Austen.
Never studied/read Austen at school so it wasn’t until 1995 TV adaptation of
Pride & Prejudice that I first saw a work. I then bought a boxset of
her finished novels and worked my way through reading them.
What is the most surprising thing you’ve learnt from the books you’ve
read & discussed so far?
Not surprising but interesting to me was how
creative and supportive the Austen family were. They would put on
theatricals and wrote and most important they encouraged Jane rather than
putting society restraints on her. They supported and protected her from
society even after her death (destroying some letters and words from the
epitaph ‘and the extraordinary endowments of her mind’).
If Jane were alive today, what do you think she would be writing?
I think Jane would be writing from what she saw and
experienced still. I don’t think she would be afraid to write about
anything especially things she had an opinion on and wanted to share. I
love how clever she was of subtly putting things in her novels.
If you were an Austen character, who would you be?
Anne Elliot with a little bit of Miss Bates from
time to time.
Quick Fire
My favourite Austen…
Book: Persuasion.
Hero: I‘d say Mr Colbourne but he’s not a Jane Austen written character, so I’ll go Colonel Brandon or Mr Darcy.
Heroine: Lizzie Bennet.
Adaptation: Complete novels = 1995 Pride & Prejudice. Love what was done with Sanditon too.
Quote: It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.
Elanor (Member of The Paula Byrne Book Club)
How did you hear about The Paula Byrne Book Club?
From talking to Felicia on the TL and DMs.
When did you first encounter Jane Austen?
I think it was around 1996 watching TV adaptations. I read the books a
couple of years later.
If you were an Austen character, who would you be?
Elizabeth Bennet.
Quick fire questions, My favourite Austen...
Book. Probably Pride and Prejudice, it's a comfort read and the one I have returned to
the most.
Hero. This one is hard! I love different aspects of Wentworth, Darcy and Knightley but if I had to pick just one then Darcy.
Heroine. It's always been Elizabeth Bennet but I do also hold Anne Elliot dear too.
Adaptation. 1995 Pride and Prejudice (and now also Sanditon if that counts being an
interpretation of her unfinished work?!)
Quote. So many, but these two are good:
"Angry people are not always wise"
and
"Do not let the behaviour of others destroy your inner peace"
What is the most surprising thing you've learnt from the books you've read & discussed so far?
If Jane were alive today, what do you think she would be writing.
‘If a book is well written, I always find it too short.’
This seems apt for the books chosen by the club, so luckily for us,
there is always another excellent selection just around the corner. I know I speak
for the group when I say that, I am already looking forward to the next chapter!
Yours, the Literary Lass. X
