Reincarnation: Austen today

The British writer gets reincarnated in the words of contemporary writers.

TOKYO: If Jane Austen were alive and living today, she’d be an avid blogger, she’d be on Facebook and of course she’d also be tweeting away but mostly about other people, not herself.

That’s because Austen had a passionate fascination with people and what made them who they were, an interest that keeps the modern world fascinated by the woman who wrote novels set in small villages nearly 200 years ago, explains Laurel Ann Nattress, who is the editor of an anthology of Austen-inspired stories.

“She loved understanding how people ticked, and you see that aspect in her characterisations and her plots. So I think that social networking would fascinate her too, because you learn more about people.”

Nattress’ passion for the writer didn’t truly begin until 1980, when a television production of Pride and Prejudice made the world of Regency England come alive for her.”I loved the era, I loved the gentility and I loved the respect that the characters had for each other. I love their dialogues — that sharp, witty and funny dialogue delivery,” she says.

Nattress immediately re-read Pride and Prejudice and then the other books. In 2007, she began a blog, “Austenprose”, to share her passion for Austen’s work, including a growing body of Austen sequels and other Austen-inspired tales. Amidst this literary outpouring, Nattress realised there was not an anthology of Austen-inspired short stories.

Therefore she rectified this and the result was a collection that contains Austen-inspired tales by seasoned authors in a variety of genres as well as one debut piece chosen from among 88 in a short story contest.

There is one about a modern-day Austen giving her niece advice ahead of her wedding and another in which Mr Darcy, the romantic hero of Pride and Prejudice, sues all the writers of sequels and spin-offs. 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th,  2011.