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Wooing Mr Wickham: Stories Inspired by Jane Austen's Heroes and Villains
An anthology of the winning entries in Chawton House Library's Jane Austen Short Story Award 2010. Following on from the success of the inaugural competition set up in 2009 to celebrate the bicentenary of Jane Austen's arrival at Chawton, and published by Honno as Dancing with Mr Darcy. Chawton was the home and working estate of Jane Austen's brother Edward, where Jane moved in 1809. With the security of a permanent home, she was able to pick up her pen again after ten years of being unable to write following the death of her father. All of her novels were either written or published while she lived at Chawton.
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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About the author
Michèle Roberts
89 books111 followersMichèle Brigitte Roberts is the author of fifteen novels, including Ignorance which was nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction and Daughters of the House which won the W.H. Smith Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Her memoir Paper Houses was BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in June 2007. She has also published poetry and short stories, most recently collected in Mud: Stories of Sex and Love. Half-English and half-French, Roberts lives in London and in the Mayenne, France. She is Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 18, 2021
Wooing Mr Wickham is an anthology of contemporary writing in which some up and coming authors imagine stories in relation to Jane Austen and her novels. A parody of a parody of a parody, a lot of the writing seems completely uninspired. Most of the stories can only be read in relation to how well or poorly they imitate Jane Austen, and show little life on their own. The stories which work the best are the ones which take the concepts or thoughts Austen wrote from and transfix it into a new context. The best one in the collection is Jocelyn Watson's Poske, which really makes you feel the life and flavour of India.
That was the only story I enjoyed, and for that I give the collection two stars.
That was the only story I enjoyed, and for that I give the collection two stars.
December 19, 2011
I must confess that I pounced on this book as soon as I saw it on the new books shelf in the library.
I’m not often drawn to Jane Austen spin-offs, sequels and reworkings, but this one was irresistable.
It’s an anthology of the winning entries in Chawton House Library’s Jane Austen Short Story Award for 2010.
What wonderful credentials!
And the anthology from the inaugural award in 2009 – Dancing with Mr Darcy – was wonderful.
I had high hopes.
The brief was wonderful:
“We are looking for short stories of 2,000-2,500 words in length. This year the theme is ‘the heroes and villains in Jane Austen’s novels’. You can draw inspiration from any character or characters, male or female, whom you perceive to be heroic or villainous. Stories can have a historical or a contemporary setting – anything goes as long as it is well written and you state on the entry form how your idea originated.”
So many possibilities! How could you not be inspired? The twenty writers selected for this anthology certainly were!
Mr Wickham was exceedingly popular.
The winning story – The Pleasures of the Other by Paul Brownsey – found him in Wales, trying to recover his runaway wife from the Ladies of Llangollen. So clever, and so funny.
Judith Earnshaw sent him to war in Afghanistan, and Sulaxania Hippesley brought him back to life as a newly wed in contemporary India. Both stories worked wonderfully well.
And then there was Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
“Elizabeth was a good girl, intelligent and pretty, and I loved every minute of her visits – such feist and fury and forthrightness! The days she spent here as a guest were bright and lively. She will never know that I was on the point of offering her a position in my house. She will never know how rarely such an offer is made. But the girl gave her heart in error. She put her heart in a place reserved for another and manipulated her position as a guest in my world to do it.”
Katie by Susan Piper revisits her in old age, and casts new light on what might of made her, why she did what she did. A story that made me catch my breath and think again.
So many characters inspired a wonderful range of stories. I can’t mention them all. But I must mention my favourites.
Both were inspired by Persuasion.
Blue Lias by Sarah Barr sets a story inspired by Anne Elliot in contemporary Lyme Regis. It’s beautifully told, moving, and a wonderful tribute to an Austen heroine.
And then there’s In The Way of Happiness by MaryBeth Ihle. Two people are brought together by a shared love of Persuasion in an air raid shelter. And their own stories echo that book quite beautifully.
And just one more:
“Men are at play in a field. It is a sodden field, foul. They are wearing military uniforms. English and German, but their weapons are stewn on the ground, unused, at least for now. For once theirs is not a game to the death; they are kicking a football. It is Christmas, so eventually presents change hands. Nothing is new, the men give what they have carried with them from home. My father hands over his sygnet ring. The Englishman opposite him offers him a small green book. My father reads the words “Pride and Prejudice” … “
That gift sustains a German woman living through another war.
And Jane Austen 1945 by Elizabeth Lenckos strikes exactly the right note to end this collection.
Not every story hits the same heights, but the quality is wonderful, and that all of the authors were inspired I have no doubt.
They have made me want to re-read all of Jane Austen’s novels.
I’m in the middle of Northanger Abbey, and I think Persuasion must be next … Or maybe Pride and Prejudice …
I’m not often drawn to Jane Austen spin-offs, sequels and reworkings, but this one was irresistable.
It’s an anthology of the winning entries in Chawton House Library’s Jane Austen Short Story Award for 2010.
What wonderful credentials!
And the anthology from the inaugural award in 2009 – Dancing with Mr Darcy – was wonderful.
I had high hopes.
The brief was wonderful:
“We are looking for short stories of 2,000-2,500 words in length. This year the theme is ‘the heroes and villains in Jane Austen’s novels’. You can draw inspiration from any character or characters, male or female, whom you perceive to be heroic or villainous. Stories can have a historical or a contemporary setting – anything goes as long as it is well written and you state on the entry form how your idea originated.”
So many possibilities! How could you not be inspired? The twenty writers selected for this anthology certainly were!
Mr Wickham was exceedingly popular.
The winning story – The Pleasures of the Other by Paul Brownsey – found him in Wales, trying to recover his runaway wife from the Ladies of Llangollen. So clever, and so funny.
Judith Earnshaw sent him to war in Afghanistan, and Sulaxania Hippesley brought him back to life as a newly wed in contemporary India. Both stories worked wonderfully well.
And then there was Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
“Elizabeth was a good girl, intelligent and pretty, and I loved every minute of her visits – such feist and fury and forthrightness! The days she spent here as a guest were bright and lively. She will never know that I was on the point of offering her a position in my house. She will never know how rarely such an offer is made. But the girl gave her heart in error. She put her heart in a place reserved for another and manipulated her position as a guest in my world to do it.”
Katie by Susan Piper revisits her in old age, and casts new light on what might of made her, why she did what she did. A story that made me catch my breath and think again.
So many characters inspired a wonderful range of stories. I can’t mention them all. But I must mention my favourites.
Both were inspired by Persuasion.
Blue Lias by Sarah Barr sets a story inspired by Anne Elliot in contemporary Lyme Regis. It’s beautifully told, moving, and a wonderful tribute to an Austen heroine.
And then there’s In The Way of Happiness by MaryBeth Ihle. Two people are brought together by a shared love of Persuasion in an air raid shelter. And their own stories echo that book quite beautifully.
And just one more:
“Men are at play in a field. It is a sodden field, foul. They are wearing military uniforms. English and German, but their weapons are stewn on the ground, unused, at least for now. For once theirs is not a game to the death; they are kicking a football. It is Christmas, so eventually presents change hands. Nothing is new, the men give what they have carried with them from home. My father hands over his sygnet ring. The Englishman opposite him offers him a small green book. My father reads the words “Pride and Prejudice” … “
That gift sustains a German woman living through another war.
And Jane Austen 1945 by Elizabeth Lenckos strikes exactly the right note to end this collection.
Not every story hits the same heights, but the quality is wonderful, and that all of the authors were inspired I have no doubt.
They have made me want to re-read all of Jane Austen’s novels.
I’m in the middle of Northanger Abbey, and I think Persuasion must be next … Or maybe Pride and Prejudice …
January 18, 2012
Overall I vastly preferred this Jane Austen Short Story Award anthology to the last one. Yes, there were still some I wasn't keen on, after all it would be rather unlikely to read a collection of 20 stories and love them all, but for the most part the bar seems to have been set much higher this time!
As usual, I didn't agree with the chosen winner and runners-up. The two runners-up were okay but nothing special in my opinion, and the first place story 'The Pleasures of the Other' I didn't really like, especially as there isn't any actual evidence that the Ladies of Llangollen were lesbians, they may have just been good friends. And the story was about Lydia running away to them and them telling Wickham that she was a lesbian all along, which just doesn't seem plausible.
My personal favourites included 'Henry Tilney Attempts to Cure His Wife'. I admit I didn't like it to start with, but it grew on me and I loved its denouement! Then there was 'Empty Hands', a story about an old lady in a home with Alzheimers, waiting for Mr Darcy. It was sweet and reminded me of one of my favourite films. 'Persuaded', based on 'Persuasion' as you may have guessed, although very loosely, is set in a very modern setting and was really sweet. I also loved 'Katie', about Lady Catherine de Bourgh on her deathbed finally showing a more human side and actually admitting that she liked Lizzie.
I also quite enjoyed 'A Most Desirable Connection' - a period piece but with new characters.
'In the Way of Happiness' was also quite sweet, and 'Fairy-tale Ending' interesting. I liked the general ideas behind the last two stories, but in reality 'Harriet and the Gypsies' was perhaps a tad too gruesome for my taste, and 'Jane Austen, 1945' really rather traumatic.
I look forward to this year's collection!
3.5 stars
As usual, I didn't agree with the chosen winner and runners-up. The two runners-up were okay but nothing special in my opinion, and the first place story 'The Pleasures of the Other' I didn't really like, especially as there isn't any actual evidence that the Ladies of Llangollen were lesbians, they may have just been good friends. And the story was about Lydia running away to them and them telling Wickham that she was a lesbian all along, which just doesn't seem plausible.
My personal favourites included 'Henry Tilney Attempts to Cure His Wife'. I admit I didn't like it to start with, but it grew on me and I loved its denouement! Then there was 'Empty Hands', a story about an old lady in a home with Alzheimers, waiting for Mr Darcy. It was sweet and reminded me of one of my favourite films. 'Persuaded', based on 'Persuasion' as you may have guessed, although very loosely, is set in a very modern setting and was really sweet. I also loved 'Katie', about Lady Catherine de Bourgh on her deathbed finally showing a more human side and actually admitting that she liked Lizzie.
I also quite enjoyed 'A Most Desirable Connection' - a period piece but with new characters.
'In the Way of Happiness' was also quite sweet, and 'Fairy-tale Ending' interesting. I liked the general ideas behind the last two stories, but in reality 'Harriet and the Gypsies' was perhaps a tad too gruesome for my taste, and 'Jane Austen, 1945' really rather traumatic.
I look forward to this year's collection!
3.5 stars
January 22, 2018
I read the story In the Way of Happiness by a friend, Marybeth Ihle. I knew I would love it going in as I have a major soft spot for WW2 stories, Persuasion, and rekindled hope. It surely did not disappoint. A really lovely story that I would love to read more of.
March 28, 2012
I happened across this book just when I was pursuing Jane Austen derivatives and had to buy it. It is a worthy collection of short stories, with a lot more breadth in style and choice of characters than I would have thought. Naturally there were some I didn't much like, but many were quite entertaining--Lucky Wickham, a blog from Afghanistan, JW's Redemption, and my favorite Henry Tilney Attempts to Cure His Wife (of imagining her life in everything she reads)--that one was the prize, I think. Funny and it made a serious point about the importance of readers as well as authors. Of the serious-themed ones I like Jane Austen, 1945 (which was a kind of anti-Shanghai Girls), and Empty Hands (a story that gets into the mind of an elderly woman with Alzheimer's).
October 11, 2012
A collection of short stories inspired by Jane Austen's writings. A quick read and not without entertainment value. I guess the most interesting aspect was that most of them had a contemporary setting or were set in different cultures from the source of inspiration. However, most of the stories are weak and mostly serve to illustrate how demanding a medium the short story really is. The stories collected here are the winners of a story-writing competition, and I couldn't help wondering whether it was the taste of the jury or whether the other entries were really all even weaker. Had they been school tasks, I'd given two or three of them a B/B+, the majority a C and three or four a D.
February 15, 2015
Some very enjoyable short stories. Many of the links to Jane Austen were tenuous, but this didn't bother me at all as the quality of the writing was so good.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews