Extending my Jane Journey while preparing for a Meeting of Two Marys

Reading challenges for me are a good way of not only diving into subjects that you’ve neglected for awhile but also a solid method for reducing a TBR pile or two.

Another bonus is an excuse to do some rereading with my Jane Journey as a good example. 

Since late last year, I’ve been tackling a trio of Jane Austen themed nonfiction and pairing each book up with an appropriate Jane Austen novel. I’m on the final book in that trio, Jane Austen and the Navy by Brian Southam , and not only finished a reread of Mansfield Park but started sailing with Persuasion yet again.

While Jane Austen and the Navy(pretty interesting read, particularly if you’re into the naval history of the Regency period) is the last stop on this tour, my travels with Jane are too good to end here. So,for my final leg of this journey, I will be visiting the family Dashwood via Sense & Sensibility , fittingly as it’s her first published work.

Part of this reason for this additional reread is the upcoming Hallmark Channel new adaptation of the book, which promises to be a very Elinor focused version and that alone pleases me greatly.

Don’t get me wrong; Marianne’s romantic issues are understandably designed to take center stage and lend much development to her character.

I, however , am much like Elinor in many respects and find her quietly yet just as heartrending emotional experience with love as equally compelling. Hopefully, Elinor will get her small screen spotlight to properly portray her inner resolve:

Yet, I do have plans for my next nonfiction/fiction pairing which I am calling a Meeting of Two Marys.

Those ladies are mother and daughter, neither of whom got to know each other at all. Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley are biographically compared in Charlotte Gordon’s Romantic Outlaws, which looks at their legacies and the influence one had over the other, even from beyond the grave.

I must admit that Mary Shelley is much more familiar to me than her mother, although they both touched upon controversial topics in their writings respectively. While The Vindication of the Rights of Women is a feminist classic, Shelley’s Frankenstein is far better known and resonates strongly with each generation with it’s themes regarding the nature of science, parenting and ethical experimentation.

Nonetheless, I would like to know more about each of them and this compare/contrast should be a good place to start(although Mary Shelley is quite the attraction here):

Now I’m sure you’re thinking “Oh, she’s going to reread Frankenstein “-no, not just yet, folks.

My fictional reread is going to be The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White. The title character is the foster sister of Victor Frankenstein, who is prone to moodiness and solitude and her role is to be of comfort and make him more sociable to the outside world.

When Victor goes off to college, Elizabeth grows concerned about her position in the family and enlists her girlfriend Justine to help her find him and see if Elizabeth can still be of use to him.

Upon discovering his whereabouts, she finds that Victor’s obsession with creating life and conquering death has gotten way out of hand. What lengths will she go to in order to save him from himself and is that even the best thing for her at all?

This is a very engaging take on the Frankenstein mythos and it’s great to see the ever expanding pop culture impact of Shelley’s story come to new life. Should be a nice offset to the duel biography (I will probably reread the original Frankenstein along the way) and to maybe read more of Kiersten White as well:

This mix and matching of nonfiction and fiction has certainly made this TBR clearance all the more fun, that’s for sure.

Speaking of fun, I have been enjoying those Hallmark “Loveuary” Jane Austen inspired movies(Paging Mr. Darcy was the best one so far) but I am a bit worried about the latest one, An American in Austen,  airing this weekend.

Our leading lady finds herself in the bookish realm of Pride and Prejudice, with Mr. Darcy being more interested in her fine eyes than Lizzy Bennet’s, which will not do for many reasons. 

The premise is great but also very similar to the British miniseries Lost in Austen that a good number of Austen fans know of and love quite a bit. Hopefully, this take on the same notion will not suffer too much in comparison and simply be an agreeable time shared by all. We shall see and perhaps these two projects will be a beloved double feature for future Austen binge watching: