Described as a novel, aunt Fay writes to her 18 year old niece 'Alice', who is studying English Lit, about Jane Austen.

Weldon covers the social history, the biography and the books. Alice starts to write a novel, completes it and gets it published (The Wife's Revenge. Weldon has written a short story with this title herself).

I'm not sure I would have been convinced to read Austen by this book I have to say, though I was late to dear Jane (she had to wait til my 40s) so I didn't fall in love with any of the heroes as most female teenage readers did, and never seem to have fallen out of love with them; they were too young for me. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy her novels. Persuasion followed by Emma and P&P being my favourites. Emma Thompson siphoned off the least interesting bits of Sense and Sensibility (ouch, don't throw), I've still to finish Mansfield Park, and don't remember Northanger Abbey. ( )

have read before but having recently read Pride and Prejudice though I would dip back into it.

Worth doing so.
20 years ago had read a lot of Weldon fiction but then for what ever reason moved away from her.

Big Ship

18 October 2018 ( )

It's amazing, how much this book matters to me. I don't like Fay Weldon's fiction, much, nor her drama, but every time I visit my childhood home, I pick this up, and *oh* so much of what I believe about the world was informed by this. So much of what I believe about writing and literature and women and just everything was informed by this.

It's not flawless -- far from it -- Weldon's assertion that one was meant to type as one writes is clearly batshit, as is some of her geography for the City of Invention (it's very very very Anglo-centric and mid-20th-century), but I keep discovering new things to think about, whenever I dip back in. ( )

A series of letters to a fictional niece, who is struggling to read Jane Austen, is the hook on which Fay Weldon hangs this collection of fifteen essays (for want of a better word) about Jane Austen, her life, her novels, and the era in which she lived. This subject is the basis for thoughts about writing, what it means to be an author, and how people approach the art of writing a book; and how readers consider and enjoy books. The author also offers snippets of advice about life and love to her 18 year old niece.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It’s very eloquently written, and easy to take in. I learned about aspects of Jane Austen’s life, and discovered new perspectives from which to read her books. It is certainly not necessary to like – or even to have read – Jane Austen to enjoy this book, but I would imagine that if you have never picked up an Austen novel, this would make you want to.

As you might expect, Weldon is forthright, honest and intelligent. She is also often amusing, and made me think – and also made me want to reread Emma very soon!

I would certainly recommend this enjoyable collection of letters, whether or not you are a fan of Jane Austen. ( )

What a creative way to write about writing! Kudos to Fay Weldon. I read this when I was struggling through a particularly difficult semester while getting my own English lit degree. I loved studying literature, by the way, but there was plenty about it that I didn't love--Tristram Shandy comes to mind. Weren't any of you FORCED to read Pride and Prejudice in tenth grade--and don't you remember that you found it so booooring because you didn't know it was supposed to be funny? Remember?

What a delight! What a find. I only hope that someday I can be such an aunt to such a niece. ( )