It’s been an enormous delay, because of internet issues, but – we’re back! In this episode, Rachel (Book Snob) and I debate rural vs urban settings in novels, then have a Jane Austen battle between Pride and Prejudice against Sense and Sensibility. We also address the all-important question we’ve thus far ignored: tea or books?
SO sorry we’ve been away for ages, but we’ll be back regularly now. I know Rachel’s missed it as much as I have, and we’re very excited to get back in the swing of things. Do let us know if you have any comments on the podcast, or recommendations for future podcast topics.
(Apologies for the sounds of aeroplanes at intervals…)
Here are the books we mention along the way (including the authors’ names we missed out!):
Armadale by Wilkie Collins
Let Me Tell You by Shirley Jackson
‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
Westwood by Stella Gibbons
Night and Day by Virginia Woolf
The Years by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
Emma by Jane Austen
Ferney by James Long
The Midnight Bell by Patrick Hamilton
Corduroy by Adrian Bell
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
Elizabeth Gaskell
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym
Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym
Charles Dickens
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Fanny Burney
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Linky for the podcast?
Ah, yes, hopefully it’ll appear here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tea-or-books/id1005231433?mt=2
Very happy to see the download show up this morning, Simon! And such an interesting topic…I love country manor settings but when stories take me through neighbourhoods in London, and I can visualize the area, that adds an extra layer for me. Looking forward to what both of you have to say!
I am commenting here for the first time because I felt the need to say two things. First of all, I agree with Rachel. You need to read Persuasion again. It is more quietly nuanced than some of Austen’s other novels but it is so worth it. And Captain Wentworth’s letter is amazing.
Also, I loved Lost in Austen. It was just plain fun. I could say the same thing about your podcast. I really enjoyed it.
While I was listening to this, I put in an Amazon order for One Fine Day and a Netflix order for Lost in Austen. Thanks!
I loved listening to your podcast, particularly the discussion on rural vs urban settings. I’d recommend adding a contemporary novel to the list of urban settings: Sarah Hall’s Wolf Border. There is some stunning writing on the Lake District, the changing of the seasons, the environs in Cumbria and the Scottish border.