Jane Austen retellings (and why we love them) with author Jessica Bull

[@DebMcDonald]

I enjoyed this very much. Thanks for posting the interview and I will certainly buy Jessica’s book. I liked the Stephanie Barron series, although a friend and fellow Janeite described them as Vermeer without the light. I also admire C. S. Harris and her regency mysteries including one where Jane makes an appearance.

[@dayanafacanha5685]

❤

[@kevinrussell-jp6om]

This is like the very best possible version of a Busman's Holiday. We're along for the ride with two drivers who know the country like the back of their hand, and no one is thinking this may be too much of a good thing. Thanks for all the good recommendations. Satis House would never do for the name of a clearing publisher of All Things Austen. A better image would be of the Austen works dropping modestly into the pond we know as the World of Inspired Letters. The ripples produced radiate outward forever, with other nodes creating interference both opposing and re-enforcing, but lasting as long as the pond endures.

[@stephenn3727]

Thank you Katie!

[@LuminousLibro]

Putting Miss Austen Investigates on my wishlist right now! I love to hear your insights into JA and how she really does mean different things to different people. It’s amazing how the JA community can come together with such different tastes and opinions but appreciate the varied perspectives we all bring to her works. Love it!

[@SamSlamJam]

Thank you, Jessica! It feels like no one else enjoyed the new Persuasion movie, but I loved it. Just like you said, there was something about it that spoke to me - the music, the atmosphere, it all worked for me. So happy to know I'm not alone in my enjoyment (and I love it more than any of the ones that came before)! 😊

[@DarcyRussell-x1o]

Thank-you both so much for sharing your discussion. It was lovely to listen in.

[@FullyBookedMelissa]

Lovely video. Great to get more recommendations for Austen retellings and adaptations. This has made me even more excited for my Jane Austen July reading. I was a bit delayed but am starting my Austen reading this weekend! :)

[@acratone8300]

Yes! As always, I now jumped into a "read sample" to test an author's wares. The Hapless Milliner. I am transported back into the Regency (usually it is only a modern version of such, but this time I am really there). I can tell that the story will be very good one, and this is not the common result. :)

[@HannahsBooks]

What a wonderful discussion! I must go pick up both Miss Austen and Miss Austen Investigates. Thanks!

[@katiejlumsden]

They are both excellent books!

[@jamiedianne6778]

I was so excited to see this video pop up in my feed today because I’m reading Jessica’s book right now and absolutely loving it! I can’t wait for the future installments.

[@katiejlumsden]

Excellent! Good timing :)

[@anasky00]

I just finished Miss Austen investigates and really enjoyed it!!

[@bookingthroughlife]

Thank you so much for this video. I received Miss Austen Investigates a few weeks ago. I’m planning on starting it next. Great interview. ❤

[@katiejlumsden]

Enjoy :)

[@LedgerAndLace]

This was such a fascinating conversation from your perspectives both as fans of Jane Austen and as writers. I loved when Jessica was talking about seeing a "flash of her voice which takes your breath away" in an unfinished work. That's a moment! You can recognize it as a first/rough draft of Jane creating the structure, but you can see the possibilities of what it could be before she would have fleshed it out. Retellings I've really like: "Northanger Abbey" by Val McDermid, and "Personally, I'd Rather Lick Sand" by Ari Rhoge (P&P, American) I also really appreciated your discussion of the Netflix "Persuasion." There was such potential there to show Anne Elliot's inner thoughts and observations, without resorting to butchering her character. They turned her into a bitter, irresponsible, alcoholic, awkward loudmouth. And now I'm getting all worked up about it again. Ha! And another thing! NO BONNETS! I guess it would have interfered with the Mermaid Hair. OK, I'll stop spitting tacks. Rant over. Which retelling have you thought about, Katie? "Mansfield Park," perhaps? That would be AWESOME! 🙂

[@katiejlumsden]

Agreed! Well, I wrote a chunk of a modern Sense and Sensibility retelling about ten years ago. It was just after I read Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope (2013 novel retelling), and it didn't quite work for me, so I sort of tried how my own version. I don't know if I'll ever return to it!

[@larrymilliken288]

Super video, Katie! Having a sit-down talk with Jessica was inspiring and motivates me to read her book and the others discussed. I would like you to expand on this platform, and interview other writers, either in person or virtually. You always surprise me by providing great viewing content! I loved Jessica's remark "then there will a flash of her voice, which kind of takes your breath away". That happens even in finished novels where the author suddenly surprises the reader with a stroke of genius you were not expecting. Why do some UK books have different titles in the U.S. and elsewhere?

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks, Larry! It's usually just different decisions/marketing/strategy at the different publishers.

[@NadineTouzet]

Hi, I’m currently listening to Unequal affections in Audible and finding it an interesting take on the courtship of Darcy and Elizabeth.

[@katiejlumsden]

It's a really interesting one!