But perhaps the most interesting example of a mainstream novel which is also a detective story is the brilliantly structured Emma by Jane Austen. Here the secret which is the mainspring of the action is the unrecognised relationships between the limited number of characters. The story is confined to...
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This looks interesting. http://scholarship.rollins.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1028&context=mls
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PD James has argued that Emma should be viewed primarily as a detective story. This is fascinating, exciting - even titillating - I'm going to have to dig up that annotated version myself!
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JA was an astute observer and I bet you are right that she drew from real people to develop her characters. One of my Goodreads friends, another Austen "enthusiast" - bordering on the obsessive - (like me!) thinks that people who have parented daughters find much to relate to, and to love in Emma, d...
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Interesting. I never thought much about Isabella. She and Emma never seemed to interact or have a conversation. According Carol Shield's brief bio. Jane and her sister were devoted to each other but interacted infrequently-one or the other was always on an extended visit. Thankfully, they wrote each...
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That's a good way of putting it. I guess she had charity for all her characters-except maybe Lady Catherine; even Sir Walter had his defenders in Persuasion.
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I found this on Goodreads. (It must have been from one of her letters) :“I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like” ― Jane Austen, Emma
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Mr Knightly is always right, as in Father Knows Best -ancient American TV show-I read some place that Austen knew most people would find Enma unlikeable but I think she ended it by exceptinh herself. I'll look for the quote.
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Slow works for me. I haven't read this in many years and I want to savor every word. Poor Mr. Woodhouse is the child in his relationship with Emma. Another imperfect father to add to Austen's collection. In his own way, he's as narcissistic as Anne Elliot's father.
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Reading Jane Austen
discussion: Group Read: Emma
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