In Jane Austen's England, you'll find all of the places that were of importance to Jane Austen: where she lived, visited family and friends, went on holiday, and more. The book also includes film locations used in the recent television and cinema adaptations.
For die-hard Austen fans - or 'Janeites' - it's the perfect companion for planning and enjoying a Jane Austen pilgrimage. But even if you aren't a dedicated fan, and simply just love the English culture and countryside, this book is for you. Get to know more about the life and works of one of England's 'national treasures' as Jane Austen's England guides you to some of the most beautiful and surprising places in the country.
A lovely, well-illustrated *guidebook* of England, featuring locations familiar to Austen & family, as well as places used in past film adaptations. Sadly, it doesn't include the most recent EMMA, but I had thoughts of adding these locations on a Post-It inside my back cover. Quint does cover Wilton House, which EMMA used--you'll recognize the "Double Cube Room" from an interior scene at Donwell Abbey. Any Jane-o-phile who's read a bio or two will already be familiar with the names and incidents Quint mentions from Austen's life, so it's fun to read about sights and settings that still exist. Film buffs will also enjoy the asides about how modern locations were transformed for filming purposes.
Will be useful when I get the opportunity to explore the English countryside. Confession: I am a bit of a Janenite. The difficulty for me is separating the Jane Austen (author) points of interest, of which few significant places still exist and are available for touring since she attained notiriety long after her death, and the places made famous in the movies of her books. Loved the many quotes from her books that led you to towns & neighborhoods, and the lovely photos of these historic landmarks.
This book was incredibly impressive to me! The author is a journalist and professional photographer who, as an avid Jane Austen fan, visited and compiled information on every possible location that Jane lived or visited PLUS every filming location used in the film and mini series adaptions of every work by or pertaining to Jane's life and characters. It is such a comprehensive guide, and yet it is not overwhelming. She breaks up the information with stories and historical context, pertinent excerpts from the novels, and quotations from Jane's own personal correspondence. I also loved the detailed directions and booking info.
Gained information that will be very helpful if I travel to England and see many sites Jane Austen went to or places films have been done based on her books.
250 jaar geleden werd een vrouw geboren, die vandaag de dag nog steeds een grote bekendheid heeft. En voor de lezers onder ons, is ze de oermoeder van de feelgood. We hebben het hier over Jane Austen, bekend van onder andere Sense and Sensibility. Een van de bekendste Nederlandse Janeite (fan van Jane Austen) is Karin Quint. Zij is ook bekend als auteur van de feelgoodserie Landgoed Rosaville. Daarnaast schreef ze een paar reisgidsen waaronder ‘Het Engeland van Jane Austen’.
De gids is opgedeeld in verschillende hoofdstukken, die allemaal een ander deel behandelen. Zo gaat het eerste deel over Jane Austen zelf en waar en hoe ze opgroeide, de andere hoofdstukken behandelen andere gebieden van Engeland. Karin combineert haar schrijverstalent met feiten over het leven van Jane afgewisseld met bezoekersinformatie en tips. Door deze combinatie wordt het geen saaie, feitelijke gids, maar is het voor Janeites of andere geïnteresseerden ook leuk om te lezen.
De gids is voorzien van vele foto’s, waarvan een groot deel is gemaakt door Karin zelf. Naast de hoofdstukken over de verschillende locaties zijn er ook hoofdstukken met filmlocaties, praktische reistips, maar ook complete routes die je zelf kunt volgen en die je langs verschillende hoogtepunten voeren. Kortom, een erg interessante en leuke reisgids, voor Janeites en andere geïnteresseerden.
Een complete en veelzijdige gids over het Engeland van Jane Austen, die je meeneemt naar de belangrijke plekken uit haar leven en langs de prachtige filmlocaties van series en films.
This is basically the book I was looking for - where are all the spots in England that Jane Austen lived, walked, visited, was inspired by, and where were all the movies filmed?
Everything is described well with the opening times and websites listed, plenty of photos, some maps, and all laid out in a clean, easy-to-read fashion. There's a handy list at the back with all of the places.
Perfect for a hardcore Jane Austen fan. Thank you, Karen Quint, for organizing this well-researched book! I can't wait to visit!
Excellent account of the places to visit and see in England for Janeties on the Austen trail. Good references, material explained and maps. I especially liked the links with the books and the links with the film and TV productions of Jane's books over the years. This is the ultimate handbook for any Jane Austen fan who is out and about. Roll on the end of Covid and lifting of travel and visiting restrictions in England.
There's a lot of interesting information in this book beyond the travel sites.
Jane Austen came from a smart family. A great uncle on her mother's side was master for fifty years of Balliol, one of the oldest colleges in Oxford. He was one of Jane's favorite relatives.
Two of her brothers did amazingly well in the navy, one becoming a rear admiral, the other Admiral of the Fleet, the highest rank attainable.
The Austens also allowed one of their kids to be adopted by a childless couple and he seemed to have a wonderful life, doing the Grand Tour of Europe for several years. The grand house he inherited may have inspired some of the houses in the books.
There's also a lot of information about Jane's activities that might not exactly come up in the same way in a conventional biography.
When her books were getting close to publication, she used to live in London and correct proof copies. While waiting for the next printng, she chose to spend her time at museums, plays and shopping.
It's also surprising, for a writer, the number of places she went to attend balls. Or maybe not so surprising. Probably she saw these as ripe occasions for close observation of human behavior that she could use in her novels.
Turns out she could be a bit harsh as well. She replied to a letter of her sister's asking how she could have danced four times with such a stupid person (p. 151).
Crazy editing error on p. 158. In the middle of one of those wall of text paragraphs, you read two sentences and then find them repeated all over again.
Also amusing is the situation with the Prince Regent, the future George IV. Jane didn't like this debauched royal at all, but he liked her work! What's an author to do? He even had his people write her that she could dedicate her next work to him. Jane thought to pass on this option, but oh no, the publisher insisted. So she wrote a tersest dedication possible, but even this the publisher found unacceptable, and substituted a long, flowery one.
Then she had to deal with the prince's librarian who kept suggesting ideas for her next book, always requesting a character based on the librarian himself.
This book covers all six of the novels, and most of the modern movies and series based on them, plus the biographical movies like Becoming Jane and Miss Austen Regrets. Sometimes there's a bit too much detail. Are we really going to visit a place because Austen's cousin or in-law's spouse went there? Doubtful.
But this is really an incredible, magisterial work that covers everything anyone could ask for, and beautifully so. There are even extensive appendices that list family trees, further reading, itineraries and lists of locations for each of the films and series, even some locations not otherwise mentioned in the book. There is even a thoughtful end flap to the back cover, very useful as an ever-present bookmark when carrying the book on the go.
Een reisgids maar dan leuker. Als niet-Janeite (fanatieke Austen-fan) kan ik zeggen dat het waar is wat ze op de achterflap beweren, het is ook een leuk boek voor de ‘alleen maar’ anglofiel. Je hoeft geen hardcore fan te zijn die Austen pelgrimages wil maken.
De gids heeft een handig formaat, een duidelijke layout, een index en bevat bovendien mooie foto’s en overzichtelijke kaarten.
Je ziet direct dat Quint een echte Janeite is, ze weet het kleinste detail uit de boeken en het echte leven van Jane. Alsook uit de recente series en films die ondertussen zijn verschenen. Ik was bijvoorbeeld al eens in Lyme Regis maar had geen idee dat daar een Jane Austen tuin was (zonder het gestolen Jane borstbeeld). En Darcy’s vijver, daar wil ik ook wel eens naartoe.
Quint geeft tips voor dingen om te bezichtigen, bezoeken, ontdekken. Bij haar tips staan ook adressen en openingsuren. Ze laat je weten waar je kan slapen, waar je goed kan eten en ze is zelfs eerlijk over waar het niet zo boeiend is.
Mijn reizen naar Engeland gaan nooit meer hetzelfde zijn en ik weet nu al dat we nog een keer of honderd terug zullen moeten gaan want er valt nog veel moois te ontdekken.
I got this English translation through the kickstarter campaign, and I'm so glad I did! It's beautiful, well made, and I can't wait to have an excuse to travel and actually use it.