The Bedside... compiles just about everything you want to know about Jane Austen and then some. There are detailed summaries of all of her novels, her incomplete works, and her juvenilia. It also includes some peculiarities of Regency England (such as a ha-ha, which is a ditch to keep livestock off the lawn and gardens of a manor house. I got to see a ha-ha when I went to Wales.). Need to know the difference between a curricle and a barouche? This book gives an entire rundown of all the types of carriages in Jane's world. [Note: a curricle is a sporty 2 seater carriage that is driven with 2 horses - sort of a Regency version of a Miata (all the wealthier single young men - Mr. Darcy, Henry Tilney, etc. - drive this). A barouche is like a Rolls Royce - luxurious, roomy, and very expensive (Lady Catherine de Bourgh's favorite means of travel).] If you have a curiosity about the food (white soup, for example, is made of veal stock with almonds and cream - very expensive ingredients) of Jane's day, it's here. This includes the "meals" - breakfast and dinner (no lunch until after Jane's death) - and what and how the food was served (2 courses). There is a splendid essay on the clothing of the Regency period with JASNA's costuming expert Baronda Bradley (someone I know! We're both members of the JASNA - North Texas chapter).
The book is partitioned into several chapters and subsections of related material of short(ish) essays and analyses. It is very well written - lots of information with lots of humor. These editors know their Jane, definitely. What's nice about this compilation is that you don't have to read the whole thing at once. I dipped into sections of interest every so often - and read leisurely. It took a couple of months to read the entire thing. It was a joy.
This book is a MUST for Janites.
No comments:
Post a Comment