Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley

It’s been a while since I posted here, to state the obvious. I was unexpectedly diverted by other things in December, but chiefly with creating videos for Vlogmas over on my YouTube channel. It was very fun making so many videos in such a short amount of time. It was also quite time consuming. Now that I’ve had a rest over the holidays, and eased up on my YouTube posting schedule — I’ll just be posting one to two videos per week from here on out — I can get back to working on these longer form reviews, which I have missed doing.

One of the books I started the year off with is Lucy Worsley’s wonderful, Jane Austen at Home (2017). I don’t read very much non-fiction. Novels are the books I predominantly gravitate towards. I also happen to be quite a slow reader, so I often don’t pick up chunkier books even if they are on topics I’m interested in because of how long they will take me to finish. But one of my resolutions this year is to not let little things like page count discourage me from reading a book I’m interested in. I’m looking for quality over quantity in my reading this year. And that’s quality of reading experience, not necessarily the quality of the book. The two may not always coincide. 

Anyway, I am so happy I finally picked this one up. Lucy Worsley’s writing is conversational without being too simplistic, and reading this book was an absolute joy. I learned so much about Jane Austen, the spaces she inhabited, as well as odd little tidbits about the time in which she lived. 

As so often happens when I read non-fiction, it is these odd bits that got my attention and that I am still thinking about when I am washing the dishes, getting my dog bundled up for a cold walk, or doing any of the other daily tasks that make me thankful I am a reader so I have something to think about other than my life or the state of the world. Here is one such morsel of information that made me stop in my tracks when I came across it.

Recent scholarship, however, has emphasised that Georgian ‘accomplishments’ weren’t just for the ladies. Jane’s brother Frank was obsessed, as were many Georgian gentlemen, with turning out small wooden items on a lathe: he ‘is so delighted with the employment, that he is at it all day long’. And Jane herself would in later life treasure the gift of a footstool embroidered by a nephew. […] The fact was that young men of the leisured classes needed hobbies simply to pass the time. (57)

The part about the embroidery, while interesting is not what grabbed my attention. Embroidery is not a messy hobby. It can be done inside while socialising with family or guests. Woodworking is another thing entirely. Somehow, I cannot picture Mr. Darcy engaged in woodworking. Edward Ferrars is more easy to imagine in this scene, I grant you, but what would he be wearing? And where, pray, would he be working? It’s certainly not something that could be done in the drawing room. A lathe would leave quite the mess of shavings. Would there be a room in the house designated for woodworking, as there might be a room reserved for sewing? Again, I cannot picture a gentleman choosing to work on a hobby that required him to be in a draughty and uncomfortable barn or other outbuilding. There are just so many questions. 

And I’m still thinking about the footwear situation. When Jane and her family were living in Steventon, Hampshire, the weather would greatly restrict her mobility. A freeze would have made the ground solid enough to walk on, providing Jane with increased independence in winter (125). This is something that had not occurred to me. I would have thought the winter would have been the most uncomfortable time to be walking about in the countryside, and I imagine it would be when temperatures were above freezing and the lanes and fields would be muddy. I found this next part quite interesting, because it seemed to contradict the information I learned from Hilary Davidson about men and women wearing more rugged footwear with a proper sole to dances, and carrying their dancing slippers along to be changed into upon arrival.*

Nice young ladies generally wore useless footwear, and even Lizzy Bennet’s travelling shoes were not suitable ’to encounter the remains of a white frost’. (125)

Initially, I thought this ran contrary to my previous knowledge, but it has since occurred to me that Worsley is speaking specifically about the suitability of ladies footwear for walking in the countryside. One can well imagine that the same pair of shoes or light boots one might show up to a dance in that would only be required to get from the carriage to the door would not be suitable for traipsing down country lanes or across country. The passage continues…

Jane was usually sensibly shod, saying of her shoes, that ‘at any rate they shall all have flat heels’. She and Cassandra were sometimes seen in the lanes of Steventon wearing pattens, wooden clogs or overshoes held on over normal shoes by an iron ring. (125)

Worsley describes pattens as “ungainly”. Wooden overshoes held on by an iron ring that “chimed out loudly against the hard ground”? I would hazard a guess that they were unsightly too. Good for Jane and Cassandra for having more sense than fashion. I would love to say that I would be just as practical in their place, but a neighbour once said I had “more fashion than sense”, which was a little too on the nose.

Jane and her sister Cassandra were away from home, and each other, quite often which has provided a lot of information about Jane that we would not otherwise have. Jane returned to Steventon from one such visit to find that in her absence her father had decided the family would move to Bath. The wheels were already in motion, providing Jane with no say in the matter. Move to Bath they did, and Jane had to leave most of her books behind, which, when I read that part my heart broke for her. Having to leave the countryside she loved for a city she didn’t know is bad enough, but not being able to bring your cherished book collection along is unimaginable. Of course, there were lending libraries and other such places in Bath that Jane could make use of, but it is certainly not the same as having your own books that you can read and reread whenever you like. Now the really shocking bit, that actually made me gasp, is that the family showed up in Bath with their belongings and then started looking for a place to rent. What what what? I feel anxious just thinking about that. I can only imagine what Jane must have felt. Daunted, I expect.

There were so many interesting parts in this book and as I was borrowing the book from the library I could not just mark the passages to return to them later. Instead, I ended up writing down page numbers and making vague notes to myself. Page 214 — swimming, 216 — mysterious gentleman at seaside, 224-25 — Jane breaking engagement to Harris Biggs-Wither next day! don’t blame her, that name!, 255 — Henry sounds like Mrs John Dashwood — how could he not have recognised himself in that character?! The list in my reading journal goes on and on like this for an additional four pages.

I left Jane Austen at Home feeling both satisfied and full of a longing to know more about this fascinating woman whose books I’ve been reading since I was in my early teens. Now that a little over a week has passed since I finished this book, I feel this book may have raised more questions for me than it answered. Perhaps, that is the sign of a good work of non-fiction — one that keeps the reader interested in its subject to not only want to read to the end, but to keep on reading in the subject after the book is done. 

My wishlist is now stocked with books I really must read immediately — as if it wasn’t already. But now I have a list solely dedicated to Austen-related books, both fiction and non-fiction. I’ve already started reading Miss Austen by Gill Hornby, and I’m excited to get stuck into this series. I read Godmersham Park when it first came out, but I don’t think I knew enough about Austen or her family at the time to fully appreciate that book.

If you are reading this and have any recommendations for Austen-related books or books on the Georgian period, please do comment down below, or drop me a line.

*I have not read any of Hilary Davidson’s books, yet. She talks about footwear in this interview with Izzy Meakin on the What the Austen podcast.

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Marcia Willett Wednesday: Happy Birthday Marcia!

Marcia Willett was born on 6 August 1945. Working as a ballet dancer and teacher earlier in her life, she was 50 years old when her first novel, Those Who Serve (1995), was published. Over her writing career she wrote 31 novels, and an additional four under the pseudonym Willa Marsh. Sadly, she died on 30 June 2022 at 76 years old. The novella, Christmas at the Keep (2022), and the short story collection, Christmas at the Keep and Other Stories (2024), were both published posthumously. 

Though she was born in Somerset, she spent her time as a writer living in Devon, capturing the West Country of the UK so beautifully. I dream of visiting the haunts of my favourite characters, and exploring the countryside that Willett has brought to life. A little car, sturdy shoes, sandwiches, a few biscuits, and the ever present flask of hot coffee are all essential features of a Marcia Willett day. Bonus points if you have a dog riding in the back seat, ready to hop out as soon as you’ve parked in a lay-by.

I found my way to Willett when I did an Internet search for writers similar to Rosamunde Pilcher. It was a few years ago, and I had just finished reading The Shell Seekers (1987), the last of her four long novels that I had left to read, and was feeling at a loss. The search turned up an article from a library website, that I am almost certain was in Australia, but I have since gone back to try to find the article and I have come up empty. That library had a list of authors that they claimed were similar to Rosamunde Pilcher. Well, I’ve had mixed success with that list as far as comparisons go, but through it I found Maeve Binchy, Elizabeth Buchan, Penelope Lively, and of course, Marcia Willett. My library had Second Time Around (1997) available, and after reading the first page in bed on 2 May 2022, I knew I was in good hands. Shortly after, I started the hashtag #MarciaWillettWednesday over on Instagram. It was with more excitement than sense, however, as I failed to consider how small my personal Marcia Willett collection was at the time. I am slowly growing my collection and I hope at some point I will be back to posting at least a monthly Marcia Willett post on Wednesdays.

I always hesitate to compare Marcia Willett with Rosamunde Pilcher, because I think they both have their own strengths and their writing is certainly not interchangeable. Pilcher’s earlier books are more straightforward romances and her last four long books are much stronger and more complex. In contrast, I have found Willett’s earlier books are some of her best. I’ve read 26 of her books so far, and a number of them I have already reread. Sometimes it’s because I have needed a Marcia fix and only had access to so many titles through my library or my own collection. Second Time Around I have read twice because I wanted to capture that first moment of discovering her writing again. When I went back for thirds it was to discover that my library had junked their copy. The cover was a little bent. Clearly, it had been checked out and loved. In a library that allows its patrons five book requests per month, something has got to give, and that means old paperbacks get tossed. Yes, tossed. If the book is not in pristine condition, it will not make it to their annual library sale. Such a waste! But one person’s book treasure is another person’s trash, I guess.

When making a Willett recommendation, I always tell people to start with her Chadwick Family Chronicles. The first three Looking Forward (1998), Holding On (1999), and Winning Through (2000) are evidence of Willett at her best. They follow the Chadwick family from the summer of 1957 through to the spring of 1998. Looking Forward begins when three children, Fliss, Mole, and Suzanna, arrive at Staverton Station in Devon. Their parents and elder brother have been killed in Mau Mau and the children have come to England to live with their grandmother at her home, The Keep. The books centre around this South Devon generational home of the Chadwicks, a family who made their money in china clay, and follows the lives of the family, their friends, and the people employed to help in the running of the home, who become more like family as the years go on and the older generation of servants are given refuge at The Keep.

One of the things I appreciate about these books and about Willett’s books generally is that faith is present in many of her characters’ lives. I think prayer and a belief is handled with a soft touch, and is no less effective for it. In the Chadwick series, Theo’s quiet faith influences every part of his life, perhaps especially in his relationship with his sister-in-law, Freddy, who has failed to find comfort in Theo’s spiritual counselling in the past. Now, he knows the best he can do for her is to love her.

He did the only thing that ever helped him to come to a difficult decision: he emptied his mind and prayed silently for help. It came swiftly. He saw clearly how the time might not only be too early but also and just as fatally—too late; that in continuing to wait for the right moment, this love they shared might disintegrate, go bad on them, even die. He knew a brief confident certainty but Freddy was already turning away. 

“I shall come,” [Theo] said—and she turned back to him, radiant with delight and surprise.

The books in this series each cover the four seasons, though not in the same year, and so we see life at The Keep over time in all its different phases. I love this festive scene from Looking Forward.

The old grey church was ablaze with candlelight and, when they came out, a cold white moon hung in a starry sky. Their breath smoked in the freezing air and the frost crunched beneath their feet.

As the car pulled into the courtyard, the front door opened and the light from the hall streamed down the steps and across the grass. Freddy stood waiting for them, tall and slim in her high-necked blouse and long velvet skirt, with a shawl about her shoulders.

‘The children are in bed at last, stockings hung up,' she said, 'waiting for Father Christmas. Fox has made up the fire and Ellen has just brewed some hot coffee. Come in and get warm. And a very Happy Christmas to us all.'

They stood for a moment, listening to the Christmas bells ringing out across the quiet countryside, smiling at one another, and then they all went inside and closed the door behind them.

I take particular pleasure in the way Willett describes the natural world. Dogs often feature in her books, and their humans take them for walks in the countryside. As a human who needs her daily walk even more than her dog appears to, I get great enjoyment out of walking vicariously through the West Country alongside Willett’s characters. 

I love this passage from Postcards from the Past (2013).

There are two moons tonight. The round white shining disc, brittle and sharp-edged as glass, stares down at its reflection lying on its back in the black water of the lake. Nothing stirs. No whisper of wind ruffles the surface. At the lake's edge the wild cherry tree leans like an elegant ghost, its delicate bare branches silver with ice, yearning towards the past warmth of summer days. Tall stands of dogwood, their bright wands of colour blotted into monochrome by the cold brilliant light, guard the northern shore of the lake and cast spiked shadows across the frosty grass.

This passage from Winning Through (2000) is a perfect example of one of Willett’s characters taking a walk with a readily available dog, and finding the answers to life’s questions while appreciating their surroundings.

Later that evening, as Fliss walked on the hill behind The Keep with Rex, Susanna’s question echoed in her head. “And do you still love him?’ Long shadows, indigo and purple, were stretching across the hill and two rooks flapped homeward with a steady, rhythmical beating of wings. The sun sank gently into an armada of curded, cushiony clouds, towering up from the west, and suddenly, as she watched, molten, brilliant, dazzling gold streamed along their fluffy, fluted edges, flooding and drenching them in colour. Fliss, who had seized Caroline’s padded jacket from the peg by the back door, slid her arms into the sleeves, and sighed with pleasure. She had watched the sunset from this hill on countless occasions but the endlessly changing pageant, season by season, year by year, never ceased to enthral her. This was her place, this ancient hill fortress where her ancestor had built The Keep from the granite of the old fort; this was where she belonged. 

While the Chadwick Family Chronicles is the only series among her books, many of her books contain reoccurring characters. So if you read one of the following titles I am about to recommend, and enjoy it enough to pick up another, you might consider reading her books in chronological order by publication date. If you tend to forget specific things like character names shortly after reading a book, then feel free to disregard this advice and carry on your merry way. Hattie’s Mill (1996) and The Children’s Hour (2003) both left a big impression on me. I would also recommend Thea’s Parrot (1995), The Courtyard (1995), The Dipper (1996), and A Week in Winter (2001). All of which, I think, are particularly strong. But as I say, I have not yet read all of her books. I have 11 of her 35 novels left to read. I anticipate there are more favourites just waiting to be discovered among them.

The more I learn about Marcia Willett, the more impressed I am by her. Not just as a writer, but as a person. She really was a lot like her most likeable characters, with quiet faith, a love of the outdoors, dogs, and people. A very inspiring person, indeed. Happy Birthday, dear Marcia.

Additional resources:

Marcia Willett’s website

A Companion to the Novels by Marcia Willett

This is a wonderful website created by Marcia’s husband, Rodney, with photos of their research trips, family trees of Marcia’s characters, and background on Marcia and her writing. Rodney’s death preceded Marcia’s, and so the website does not contain information on her books beyond 2015.

Marcia Willett’s complete bibliography*

Novels:

Those Who Serve (US title: First Friends) (1995)

Thea’s Parrot (US title: A Friend of the Family) (1995)

The Courtyard (1995), US paperback

The Dipper (1996)

Hattie’s Mill (1996)

Starting Over (1997)

Second Time Around (1997), US paperback

Looking Forward (Chadwick Family Chronicles 1) (1998)

Holding On (Chadwick Family Chronicles 2) (1999)

Winning Through (Chadwick Family Chronicles 3) (2000)

A Week in Winter (2001)

Forgotten Laughter (US title: A Summer in the Country) (2002)

The Children’s Hour (2003)

The Birdcage (2004)

The Golden Cup (2005)

Echoes of the Dance (2006)

Memories of the Storm (2007)

The Way We Were (2008)

The Prodigal Wife (Chadwick Family Chronicles 4) (2009)

The Summer House (2010)

The Christmas Angel (US title: Christmas in Cornwall) (2011)

The Sea Garden (2012)

Postcards from the Past (2013)

Indian Summer (2014), US hardback

Summer on the River (2015)

The Songbird (2016)

Seven Days in Summer (2017)

Homecomings (2018)

Reflections (2019)

The Garden House (2020)

Starry, Starry Night (2021), UK hardback

Collections/Novellas:

Christmas at the Keep (2022)

Christmas at the Keep and Other Stories (2024)

Writing as Willa Marsh

Novels:

Amy Wingate’s Journal (1996)

Facing the Music (1997)

Sisters Under the Skin (1998)

The Quick and the Dead (1999)

*All of the books I have not linked are out of print at the time of this post. In the cases where I have linked multiple editions, the most inexpensive copy available at Blackwell’s is the one that appears first.

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One last photo, because ideally you should have a cup of coffee in hand and a loyal dog by your side to fully enjoy one of Marcia Willett’s books.