Knit to This
Miss Austen
Heads up Jane Austen fans! And ahoy, admirers of the excellent Keeley Hawes, who lights up The Durrells in Corfu and everything else she’s in. The two circles of this Venn diagram are sitting right on top of each other in the new Masterpiece series Miss Austen.
Based on the novel by Gill Hornby, Miss Austen presents a hypothesis about a real-life literary mystery: the burning of Jane Austen’s letters by her sister Cassandra, who survived her. What was in those letters? Why did Cassie burn such treasures?
While I’m as curious as the next person about what was in them, I’ve always sort of understood why you might want to burn intimate letters from a writer as incisive and sassy as Jane Austen. There was probably quite a bit of family messiness and frank sisterly opinion in those letters. Hornby imagines a more painful reason: a sister’s betrayal or at least, failure of empathy.
I’ve watched Miss Austen twice now, once for general enjoyment and curiosity about the story, and a second time for the pleasure of how brilliantly the actors and director handled the portrayals of the sisters and their circle as young women at the beginning of their lives, and then decades later, minus Jane of course, after everything had happened. You don’t doubt for a minute that you are seeing the same person at two different times of life; it’s uncanny.
There are echoes of story lines in Austen’s novels, which after all were based on what she knew: how genteel but not rich young women made their way—or didn’t, in a world in which their circumstances might have been comfortable but their futures were uncertain and completely out of their control.
Keeley Hawes does not disappoint, and Synnøve Karlsen is luminous as young Cassandra. Grab your knitting and settle in for a watch on your local PBS station, PBS Passport, or wherever you get Masterpiece things where you are.
I completely agree Kay, this is an excellent watch. The book is also well worth reading
Now I want to rewatch it. I was confused about who was who.
Thank you for this. It’s sooooo good! And Patsy Feeran as Jane is mesmerizing.
I agree – it’s a great watch that I’m looking forward to watching (and knitting to) again!
Also: See “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” in theaters now. A bad title for a wonderful film, more rom than com, but mostly it is bookish, about writing and reading. The first scene is inside Shakespeare snd Co in Paris!!
I’m glad you liked it. I was excited to discover it but read a bad review. I will definitely watch it now.
Just saw it and loved it. Really nailed the hesitant Austen romance and updated it beautifully.
Thanks for the viewing tip, I love anything by or about Jane Austen and will be adding this to my viewing list. Passport has such a treasure trove of programming, yet another huge reason to support my local public media station.
It would be interesting to see a Venn diagram of those who knit and those who love Jane Austen….
There might be tiny slivers on the edges lol! But I’m guessing a huge overlap.
Sounds like a great viewing! I think I will have to Libby “Persuasion.” I loved most of her books but could not get into that one. Maybe this series will catapault me toward it thanks to what you say about Keeley Hawes.
You might ease into it with the Amanda Root – Ciaran Hinds movie version, then the novel.
Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austin story, and the Amanda Root-Ciaran Hinds movie version is fabulous!
Same! Persuasion takes the danger to the heroine further than P & P or S & S, you feel she is in such peril! Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds were wonderful and they are my favorite but I also truly enjoyed the more recent version with Dakota Johnson.
Yes, PERSUASION, is my favorite Austen novel. I love this movie version of PERSUAION. I need the DVD now, because I only have a tape version.
Yes! This was the film that got me into Austen.
Thank you for this. It is reminding me that I need to subscribe/support PBS again. They need our support, as does all independent journalism! If you do, it would make Jane proud.
On my list – Keeley Hawes makes anything watchable! Now wondering if I wrote actual letters to my sisters, would they burn them…
It was excellent, including the always excellent Keeley Hawes. Offered an interesting look at women’s lives and choices. How dependent they were often on male relatives.
As long as viewers realize that the ‘letters’ etc in the series and book are entirely fictional …
See you at the Morgan’s Jane Austen show opening June 6th!
Love this! Acting was so good! Thoroughly enjoyed. Would love to know what was in those letters tho.
I love everything Austen – thanks Kay for the recommendation!
I thoroughly enjoyed Miss Austen—great cast—and will gladly watch it again.
AND, watch the interview of Gill Hornby on PBS Book Club. Fascinating.
I, too, watched once then twice of each episode. I need to read the book. I wasn’t always sure about all of the characters, since a lot of the story was told in flashbacks. The series was well acted. It might make you want to return to the Regency Era in England.
BBC just running a *really* good series – “Jane Austen – Rise of a Genius”, presumably over with you in America in due course (not sure if you can get this yet? But if not, it’s worth the wait)