Jane Austen, Jane and Mary Findlater, and – it’s episode 87!
We recorded this episode a little while ago and I have been lazy at editing – but here we are. Hope you like our lovely new logo, courtesy of my graphic designer friend Ellie.
In the first half of this episode, we discuss novels based on real people vs biographies – in the second half, Crossriggs by Jane and Mary Findlater vs a book it seemed a little based on, Emma by Jane Austen.
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Oh, and you can find a snippet of me recommending a lovely summer read in the latest Book Club Review Podcast – have a hunt for that in your apps.
Books and authors we mention in this podcast:
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Human Kind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
A House in the Country by Ruth Adam
Airhead by Emily Maitlis
A Woman’s Place by Ruth Adam
A House in the Country by Jocelyn Playfair
Vanessa and Virginia by Susan Sellers
Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Virginia Woolf in Manhattan by Maggie Gee
Alexandra Harris
Hermione Lee
Quentin Bell
Regeneration by Pat Barker
Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man by Siegfried Sassoon
Memoirs of an Infantry Officer by Siegfried Sassoon
The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves by Rachel Malik
Rose Macaulay by Constance Babington-Smith
Rose Macaulay by Jane Emery
Rose Macaulay by Sarah LeFanu
The Silent Woman by Janet Malcolm
Anne Stevenson
According to Mark by Penelope Lively
Summer in February by Jonathan Smith
Stevenson Under the Palm Trees by Alberto Manguel
Nicola Upson
Josephine Tey
Gyles Brandreth
Oscar Wilde
Dorothy L. Sayers
The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson
The Three Sisters by May Sinclair
The Three Brontes by May Sinclair
Larchfield by Polly Clark
Remembering Denny by Calvin Trillin
The Story of Charlotte’s Web by Michael Sims
Arthur and Sherlock by Michael Sims
Parson Austen’s Daughter by Helen Ashton
Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton
More Women Than Men by Ivy Compton-Burnett
A House and Its Head by Ivy Compton-Burnett
Manservant and Maidservant by Ivy Compton-Burnett
Elizabeth Gaskell
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
A great episode, thank you! I think I’d probably choose biography, too, for the first choice, though it is a tough one! My favorite biography is called Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which is about Lincoln and his competitors for the presidency in 1860 who became members of his Cabinet. I know George Saunders wrote Lincoln in the Bardo, which is fictional, and an American poet named Maurice Manning wrote a poetry collection from Lincoln’s point of view called Railsplitter. It would be fascinating to take the three together and see what light they shed on each other and on Lincoln.
I’ve never heard of Crossriggs, but it sounds worth a try. And of course Emma is genius! I love The Remains of the Day. I read it twice last year, once on my own and once with my book club, so I can’t wait to hear you talk about it.
Interesting episode Simon – I have a really complicated relationship with fiction featuring real people. For example I really didn’t like the Nicola Upson booIs at all; I love Tey’s books but didn’t feel that Upson created anything particularly good by using her as a character and was unconvinced. Conversely I loved the Oscar Wilde stories and this may be because Brandreth’s lovely Oscar allowed him to create a more convincing representation. He also captured his character rather well.
But I was left cold by a book fictionalising Bulgakov. However, I adored The Noise of Time; but I know a lot about Shostakovich and Russia- I imagine it wouldn’t be a book which would necessarily be for you! So the jury is out for me on the subject, though often I struggle with this kind of book.
Loved the podcast — and the new logo is so cute, very retro! I would much rather read an author biography than a fictionalized book about their life, I’d much rather read the facts than someone’s imagination. However, I do have Parson Austen’s Daughter, much recommended by someone in my Jane Austen group. (Still haven’t read it, naturally!)
A House in the Country sounds delightful and I’m sure you’ve already considered an episode comparing it with the Persephone book of the same name! And I’m looking forward to the Ishiguro episode upcoming, I can’t believe both these novels are that old! Remains of the Day in particular seems timeless.
I’m currently reading ‘Elizabeth of the German Garden’ – a biography of Elizabeth von Arnim written by one of her daughters under a pseudonym. The author does a good job of weaving in letters and journal entries by Elizabeth and her friends, family, and acquaintances, as well as incorporating the writing in her novels and explaining how different viewpoints expressed by her characters also illustrated Elizabeth’s own feelings at that particular time. It’s a 424 page book, but only takes until page 65 to get to the writing!
I’m so surprised that Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell novels weren’t mentioned. With a few exceptions, I avoid novels about famous people and authors who who put words and ideas in real people’s mouths. In spite of that, I love the Wolf Hall novels. Thanks for talking about Ivy Compton-Burnett. I really hope Rachel tries her again and think she would really like More Women Than Men.
Just catching up on this episode… I enjoyed the discussion on biography versus biographical fiction! I find that if I begin with a work of fiction, it creates so much human interest that I become more interested in the actual biographical facts and context.
There are so many interesting examples of good biographical fiction. Lynne Reid Banks wrote two fiction books about the Brontes, which were really good. (I also have to admit to really enjoying the trend you mentioned in the episode, of making famous people into detectives. Several of the ones I’ve read have been surprisingly on-point with language and tone.)