A Walk with Jane Austen
Read A Walk with Jane Austen Online
Authors: Lori Smith
A Walk with Jane Austen
“A young woman goes looking for Austen in all the places Austen once lived and many of the places she wrote about. The Austen she finds is a woman of family and of quiet but sustaining faith. Austen shares these things and many others with author Lori Smith whose book gives the reader the great pleasure of time spent with both. A lovely, intimate read.”
—K
AREN
J
OY
F
OWLER,
best-selling author of
The Jane Austen
Book Club
“Sensitively written and carefully paced, this memoir takes the reader on a tour of the authors experiences while journeying around England in the footsteps of Jane Austen. Lori Smith moves seamlessly from romantic daydreams, through a close questioning of her relationship with God, to battles with her mental and physical health. The book reads as an intimate and honest memoir and has enough to satisfy the non-Christian (like myself) if they choose to look beyond the somewhat unexpected (in a mainstream book at least) pairing of Jane Austen and Christianity. Above all else, this is a book about searching—for love, meaning, peace with oneself, health, a good night's sleep, and a decent cup of coffee that wasn't made with that freeze-dried instant powder—and these are experiences that anyone of any faith can relate to…. A welcoming read. Lyrical and questioning.…perfecdy pitched.”
—E
MMA
C
AMPBELL
W
EBSTER,
actress, author of
Lost in Austen
and founder
oflostinaustenblogspot.com
“In this engaging, deeply personal and well-researched travelogue, Smith (a PWcontributor) journeys to England to soak in the places of Jane Austens life and writings…. This is an unusual look at Jane Austen. Readers will learn plenty of biographical details—about Austens small and intimate circle of family and friends, her candid letters to her sister, her possible loves and losses, her never-married status, her religious feelings, and her untimely death at the age of 41. But it is the authors passionate connection to ‘Jane’—the affinity she feels and her imaginings of Austens inner life—that bring Austen to life in ways no conventional biographer could. Smiths voice swings authentically between her own raw, aching vulnerability as a single Christian woman battling a debilitating and mysterious chronic illness and the surges of faith she finds in the grace of a loving God. And yes, Smith even meets a potential Darcy at the start of her journey This deliriously uncertain romantic tension holds the book together as Smith weaves her own thoughts, historical research, and fitting references to Austens novels into a satisfying whole.”
—
PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY
starred review
“With wit, charm, and rare honesty—of which I have to believe Jane Austen would have thoroughly approved—Lori Smith weaves her personal life experiences throughout her journey into the life that was Jane s. Infused with faith, romance, loss, and a search for self,
A Walk with Jane Austen
makes for that rare book that keeps popping into ones thoughts and beckoning one back.”
—T
AMARA
L
EIGH,
author
of Perfecting Kate
and
Splitting Harriet
“With deep and sometimes heartwrenching honesty, Lori Smith weaves her story and Jane's together into a wholly unique narrative. In the midst of a craze for treating Austens novels as little more than glorified bodice-rippers, Lori brings to bear her perspective as a single Christian woman who can identify in many ways with Austens own beliefs and experiences, exploring truths and ideas that others gloss over. The resulting book stands out like a beacon.”
—G
INA
R. D
ALFONZO,
editor of The Point Weblog and writer for BreakPoint Radio
for mom and dad
This guide will help you track (and trek through) the places Lori visited on her pilgrimage in the footsteps of Jane Austen—where Jane lived and loved.
St. John's College:
Jane's father, George, and brothers James and Henry attended St. Johns; it was founded by a distant relative of Jane's mother.
www.sjc.ox.ac.uk
.
Christ Church Cathedral:
Both George and James Austen were ordained to the deaconate here,
www.chch.ox.ac.uk
.
Wycliffe Hall:
Where Lori attended summer school.
www.wyclifFehall.org.uk
.
Alton Abbey:
Where Lori stayed. Dom Nicholas is an expert on Jane Austen and leads occasional Austen retreats,
www.starcourse.org
/abbey.
Steventon:
Village where Jane grew up.
St. Nicholas, Steventon:
George Austen was rector here.
www.dutton.force9.co.uk
/nwsadhs/stevchur.htm.
Ashe:
Village where Jane's friend Anne Lefroy lived.
Jane Austen's House Museum:
Also known as “Chawton Cottage,” this is the house Jane lived in with her mother and sister on her brother
Edward's estate. She wrote or edited all the books here.
www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk
.
Chawton House Library:
This was Edward's house in Chawton, now a library for the study of early English women writers. Tours of the house are offered,
www.chawtonhouse.org
.
Hidden Britain Tours:
Offers Jane Austen tours of Hampshire.
Box Hill:
Setting for the picnic in Emma, now a National Trust property with hiking trails. Roughly an hour from London,
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
.
British Library:
Has Jane's writing desk and glasses on display, along with a manuscript copy of
Persuasion
,
www.bl.uk
.
National Portrait Gallery:
Contains the pencil and watercolor sketch of Jane by her sister, Cassandra,
www.npg.org.uk
.
Covent Garden:
Jane's brother Henry's banking business and home were for a while at 10 Henrietta Street.
Godmersham Park:
Edward's estate.
Goodnestone Park:
Edward's in-laws’ estate; he lived close by at Rowling for a while after his marriage, and Jane and Cassandra visited him there.
www.goodnestoneparkgardens.co.uk
.
Winchester Cathedral:
Jane is buried here,
www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk
.
8 College Street:
This private home behind the cathedral is where Jane and Cassandra came to stay while she was being treated by Mr. Lyford. Jane died here on July 18, 1817.
Jane set parts
of Persuasion
here—readers will recognize the Cobb and the Granny's Teeth steps,
www.lyme-regis-dorset.co.uk
/.
Jane set parts
of Persuasion
and
Northanger Abbey
here and lived here with her parents and Cassandra for several years after her father retired.
Jane Austen Centre:
A wealth of information about all things Jane.
Roman Baths:
Visitors—like Admiral Croft in
Persuasion
or Mr. Allen in
Northanger Abbey
—often came to “take the waters” at the baths, which were thought to have healing properties,
www.romanbaths.co.uk
.
Pump Room:
Jane's characters visited the Pump Room to walk and drink the spa water. You can still drink the water here or stay for dinner, as it's now a nice restaurant,
www.romanbaths.co.uk
.
Beechen Cliff:
Catherine hikes Beechen Cliff with the Tilneys in
Northanger Abbey.
Assembly Rooms:
Jane visited the Assembly Rooms for dances and concerts, as do her characters. The Museum of Costume is now on the lower floor.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
and
www.museumofcostume.co.uk
.
Villa Magdala Hotel:
Where Lori stayed,
www.villamagdala.co.uk
.
Jane set Darcy's home—Pemberley—here, though she likely never visited herself.
Lyme Park:
Pemberley in the 1995 BBC version
of Pride and Prejudice
,with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Now a National Trust property.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
.
Chatsworth:
Pemberley in the 2005 Focus Features version
of Pride and Prejudice
, with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen.
www.chatsworth.org
.
Devonshire Arms Pub, Pilsley:
Where Lori stayed. Also, great food. Many pubs in the UK only serve lunch, but proprietors Rod and Jo Spensley give occasional “carvery dinners.” Phone: 01246 583258.
Jane's mothers family's estate. Jane came to visit with her mother after her father died,
www.stoneleighabbey.org
.
P
ART 1
In which I go to Oxford and fall into something like love.
7
Alton Abbey: Incense and Blooms
P
ART 3
In which I stumble upon deeper meanings of grace.
14
Winchester: A Patient Descent
16
Sensibility and Self-Expression
18
Pilsley and Pemberley (Or What Makes Darcy Great)
20
Evensong