Death Comes to Pemberly

What happened after Darcy and Elizabeth wed?  Did they live happily ever after?
Many a spin off book has been inspired by Pride and Prejudice.

This one was a little different.
Taking place six years after the end of Austen's novel, it begins with the dramatic entrance of Lydia, screaming that her husband Wickam has been murdered in the forest near Pemberly.  Is it true?  What happened?  Who is to blame?

So begins P.D. James take on murder-mystery-meets-Jane-Austen.  She mimics Jane's language and stays true to the characters, but throws in a very convincing who-done-it plot.   I thoroughly enjoyed it!

How to cure what ails you and secure a husband (1811 edition)

From reading Sense and Sensibility, one can learn many household methods of curing common illnesses.  Some of these *cures include:

• Wine- cures: colicky gout, a disappointed heart
•  Mrs. Jennings asks Elinor to take "some of the finest old Constantia wine... that was ever tasted" to Marianne while she is ill.  
• Elinor replies, "...how good you are! But I have just left Marianne in bed, and, I hope, almost asleep; and as I think nothing will be of so much service to her as rest, if you will give me leave, I will drink the wine myself" (Chapter 30).
• Then... "Elinor, as she swallowed the chief of it, reflected that, though its good effects on a colicky gout were, at present, of little importance to her, its healing powers on a disappointed heart might be as reasonably tried on herself as on her sister" (Chapter 30). 

• Sleep/rest- cures: heartache, violent colds, feverishness, coughing, pain in limbs, sore throat
• Elinor is convinced that Marianne just needs to sleep. "Elinor advised her to lie down again" (Chapter 29).   
• "I shall persuade her if I can to go early to bed, for I am sure she wants rest" (Chapter 30).  

Clearly, Marianne is suffering from heartache in this picture. 

• Upon arriving at Cleveland, Marianne takes several twilight walks in tall, wet grass, and then she sits in her wet shoes and stockings, giving her a cold. "Though heavy and feverish, with a pain in her limbs, and a cough, and a sore throat, a good night's rest was to cure her entirely..." (Chapter 42). 

She brought it upon herself, if you ask me. 

• Lavender drops- cures: heartache, restlessness
• After Marianne reads Willoughby's letter she is beside herself and needs to lie down, but that is not enough. "Some lavender drops, however, which she was at length persuaded to take, were of use; and from that time till Mrs. Jennings returned, she continued on the bed quiet and motionless" (Chapter 29). 
• Read about lavender here.  They even mention that it appears in Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.  Apparently it really can be used as a sleep aid.  Who knew?

• Cordials/medicines- cures: ????
• Mr. Harris prescribes various "cordials" and "medicines" for Marianne during her illness, though they seem to do nothing other than cause her to "sink at last into a deep slumber," but her "fever was unabated" (Chapter 43). 

Marianne (here in Kate Winslet form) is slumbering, perhaps.

*It should be noted, however, that none of these methods really seemed to do much good for Marianne, and therefore, they should only be administered under the guidance of a practised (yes, I meant to spell it that way) apothecary.  

Austen's characters also give women some helpful hints about how to secure a husband, as evidenced by Mr. John Dashwood in Chapter 33 when he encourages Elinor to pursue Colonel Brandon:

Colonel Brandon, the one to be secured

• "A very little trouble on your side secures him.  Perhaps just at present he may be undecided; the smallness of your fortune may make him hang back; his friends may all advise him against it.  But some of those little attentions and encouragements which ladies can so easily give will fix him, in spite of himself." 
• In other words, "Go for it, Elinor!  Even though you are dirt poor and none of his friends will approve of you, you just go ahead and flirt with him, and he won't be able to resist you despite his better judgment!"

These topics were ones that jumped out at me as I was reading... the various, rudimentary methods used to nurse people back to health were many, though hardly effective.  And the ridiculousness of John Dashwood's remarks concerning Elinor's relationship with Colonel Brandon are not terribly unlike ones that I have heard given as advice to me.  There may be some truth in his comments, but I'm just not sure what those should look like within the context of 21st century Christian pre-dating and dating relationships. 

-Betsy

S & S- Favorite Quotes

Book Club, I challenge you to post about some of your favorite quotes from the book.  Share the quote, maybe a picture, and a thought or two.  It doesn't need to be long, but it might prove to be entertaining.

Here's one that I really liked:

"The gentleman offered his services; and perceiving that her modesty declined what her situation rendered necessary, took her up in his arms, without further delay, and carried her down the hill."

I just love the language of the chivalry of this line.  Now, I know that the chivalry was on the part of a good-for-nothing money grubber, but the thought was nice.  Too bad the act of manly compassion didn't work out for Marianne.

Oh wait, it did...just with a different guy.

Amen for chivalry.

-Katie

If you can't submit as a wife, submit to be a nurse

"A woman of seven-and-twenty," said Marianne, after pausing a moment, "can never hope to feel or inspire affection again, and if her home be uncomfortable, or her fortune small, I can suppose that she might bring herself to submit to the office of a nurse, for the sake of the provision and security of wife." 

~Marianne Dashwood, Sense and Sensibility

Before you yell at me about writing in my book (and messily, at that) please note that this is a $5 B&N copy, of which something has been spilled on.  A family library classic it is not.  I just might write another post about some of the comments in my margins.

Yes, I know that this book is from a different era.

Yes, I know that Marianne Dashwood is a ridiculous teenager.

Yes, I know that Jane Austen was making social commentary, not stipulating cultural truths.

But, as a twenty-six year old, I take offense.  Apparently, by my next birthday, I can expect to "never hope to feel or inspire affection."  True?  Not so much.  However, it does hit a soft spot in many a single girl's heart.  

I never aspired to be a career woman.

I never aspired to plan a life for only one.

I never aspired to still be waiting.

While I admit that it is hard to now have more married friends than single friends, to have to constantly answer questions about my singleness, and to hear comments like, "You need to get a move on that!", I know that this is a season that I need to live out to the fullest.

I'll spare you the multiple platitudes that I have heard about singleness, and stick to one truth: God's ways are far better than ours.  I would not for one moment presume to think that I could plan, organize, or design better than Him, so why do I fight to plan, organize, and design my own life?  He is the Author of it, after all.

So I will wait.  And if I am still waiting on my 27th birthday, I will meet it with joy, knowing that the path laid before me will be ordained by a Creator who loves me and will never ask me to settle for something less than His plan.

Take that, Marianne.

And, in closing, I only hope that I am as happy as the Palmers.

"Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare." ~Psalm 40:5

~Katie

S & S Discussion- The Food

We ventured into public for book club this month, and met at:

Click logo for 30 30 website

Which was beautiful:

And had delicious drinks:

Mochas are more beautiful with froth art.

And then returned to Kayla's beautiful house for lunch:

Thanks for all your kind words regarding the Creamy Tortellini Soup. Actually Betsy was the one who found it on Pintrest, so I am deffering credit to her. Click HERE to get the recipe. Oh, and I used half as much spinach. I also want to say, don't you love the placemats? I have a roommate who isn't a fan, but they just look so great with the dishes. Makes me ready for SPRING!

Two kinds of yummy hummus: Click picture for recipes.

 

Brownies

While brownies are a good thing, they would not normally warrant their own post.  However, due to some eager posting on the part of some of the members, they inadvertently ended up on their own.  Here you go:

Hershey's Best Brownies
(see photo in this post)

2 sticks butter or margarine

2 c. sugar

2 t. vanilla

4 eggs

¾ c. cocoa

1 c. flour

½ t. baking powder

¼ t. salt

Melt butter. Stir in sugar and vanilla.  Add eggs – one at a time.  Stir in cocoa.  Add flour, baking powder and salt.  Beat until well blended.  Bake 30-35 min at 350 in greased 9 x 13 pan until brownies begin to pull away from the sides.

S & S Discussion- The Quotes

Betsy- "What, are they going to live on love and 200 [British] pounds a year?"

Katie- "Stop! We have to record this!"
Betsy- "What!!! We're recording?"

Kayla- "The more that I read Austen, the more I realize that her writing is a commentary on the ridiculousness of people and society."

Betsy- "I don't know if I should be embarrassed or not..." (in reference to admitting what we are doing [having our Jane Austen Book Club] in this coffee shop)
Karla- "It's not like we are reading Danielle Steel or Nora Roberts!"

Betsy- "So I pinned finger knitting on Pinterest last night..."
Kayla- "Wait. You were on Pinterest last night, but you didn't finish the book?"
Betsy- "No!  It was only for like 15 minutes, while I was waiting for the brownies to bake..."
Kayla- "Wait! You were baking brownies, but you didn't..."
(****addendum- this was actually all Karla's fault, but the conversation was too long to record...)

Katie- "Can we talk about the lock of hair now?  OK.  Number one- it is gross."
later.. (after reading this wikipedia article)
Katie- (In reference to lovelocks-) "Have you all seen Dr. Quinn? Sully has a lovelock that he cuts the day of his and Dr. Quinn's wedding."
Betsy- "This is not the first time that Dr. Quinn has been referenced during book club.  The validity of this conversation just plummeted."


Katie- "I think that we should rewrite the ending so that Marianne dies.  It makes more sense."
Kayla- "YES! I would have felt better about that!" (said with a straight face and lots of vehemence.)

Kayla- "That is one mountain that I would die on."

Sense and Sensibility

A few photos from the morning... which turned into the better part of a day... which is what happens when the four of us get together to talk about Jane Austen, and eat food, and talk about life. 

Don't we look happy to be enjoying our coffee on this snowy, slushy morning?   

Yum. Those mochas were delicious!

We also sampled a very fresh-tasting strawberry croissant.  

Katie, always the industrious one, spent some time crocheting while we talked.  

We forgot to take a picture of all of us at Thirty-Thirty (There even would have been the possibility of having a real, live person take our picture!), but Kayla's roommate Mary was generous enough to be our photographer once we relocated back to their house for lunch.  

S & S- The Books

sorry, Karla.

Oh the Drama!

This is an auspicious occasion- the fact that our readership has grown exponentially- and I think we owe it to our readers, to post on this day.

And without giving too much away before our actual discussion (in 2 days!) I will just leave you with, I think Marianne and I could have been kindred spirits in all of our dramatic tendencies.

"...the more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love."

I would like to argue, I think I have the sense (sometimes) that she often lacked.
Because, really, through I have said something quite similar, I hardly believe it.

Looking forward to our meeting and conversation.

And for the rest of you, be looking forward to my forthcoming post, Why Jane Austen Ruined my Chances of Getting Married (Part II).

Respectfully submitted,
Kayla

Been chewing on this lately...

"You shouldn't be looking for a finished statue, but a great block of marble...you want to be in love with who you see that person becoming." - Tim Keller.

And unfortunately, unlike Emma and Elizabeth, most are not the finished statues that Mr. Knightly and Mr. Darcy were.