What did people think of Northanger Abbey?
I think Jane Austen purists may not have liked the liberties taken with
Northanger Abbey last night. Catherine's over-active imagination in the novel spilled over into fairly erotic dreams - with a touch of S&M - which saw her emerge naked from a bath at one point!
However leaving aside the futher adventures in sexing up Jane Austen, I actually enjoyed this more than
Mansfield Park. It was by no means perfect: aside from plot liberties, the ending seemed a tad rushed and the anachronisms in the dialogue were a bit grating. (A gothic novel described as 'Hot stuff!'. I think not!) That said, it was again a fun way to spend a sunday evening and Catherine seemed more like Jane Austen's creation than Fanny in last week's
Mansfield Park.
One think of note, after Billie Piper's eyebrows stole the show in MP, I was a little distracted by the attempts of Isabella's bosom to escape the confines of her very pretty dress. (A colleague swears she saw a hint of nipple.) Heaving bosoms are all very well but I'm not sure Jane would approve of them being on full display!
What did everyone else think? (Of the show, not necessarily the bosoms...)
P.s. Up next is
Persuasion which I must confess I have the highest hope for as it's such a strong story. Great cast too and the trailer does look very good:
http://janeausten.itv.com/#/Persuasion/Trailer/
Jane Austen with a twist?
I just noticed this story in today's
Guardian newspaper:
On the back of their Jane Austen season, ITV have unveiled plans for a new drama, tentatively called Lost in Austen, which sees a 21st century heroine - undoubtably a Bridget Jones-style neurotic - swapping places with Lizzie Bennet!I must admit as much as I like the high-concept (though it's not neccessarily a new one!)*, I'm a little wary too. I want it to be good but...
I guess we really are in the midst of Austen-fever this year, and this is the ultimate in wish-fulfillment television. Though I would say that most woman have already put themselves in Lizzie's shoes before...!! (Or at least Jennifer Ehle's!)
What do you all think? (You can read the complete story by following the link below...)http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2040444,00.htmlP.s. Incidentally I always think Jasper FForde can't be beat for modern heroine's jumping into books. Read
The Eyre Affair and other books in his extremely funny Thursday Next series.
Mansfield Park - the verdict?
Overall - I liked it!
It was a nice sunday evening t.v. programme - reasonably well-acted, pretty locations, gorgeous frocks and romantic too. As with any t.v. adaptation there were some strange ommissions (what happened to Julia Bertram? Did I miss this? And the Bertrams' feelings towards Fanny seemed rather changeable...)
I thought the actress playing Mary Crawford was excellent. Michelle Ryan was very pretty and Billie Piper did a credible job as Fanny. (The little girl playing the young Fanny in the opening scene was the spit of Billie Piper!) Though I must confess I occasionally got distracted by the fact that Fanny's hair was so blonde and yet her eyebrows so dark...Curious!) There was also a moment when Fanny was rather more chav than regency miss...On being offered the chance to see her brother's letters of commission, I swear she said a rather Cockney 'yeah!' rather than yes.
But these are nit-picks and, overall, this was fun! (And much better than the last Jane Austen adaptation I saw which was P&P with the giggling Keira Knightly ruining the character of Lizzie Bennet!)
What did everyone else think?
Northanger Abbey next sunday...A novel I've always enjoyed, not least because of the fun Austen has with Catherine and her addiction to Gothic novels...
You can view a trailer here:
Are your ready for MANSFIELD PARK?
'About thirty years ago Miss Maria Ward, of Huntingdon, with only seven thousand pounds, had the good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram, of Mansfield Park, in the county of Northampton, and to be thereby raised to the rank of a baronet's lady, with all the comforts and consequences of an handsome house and large income.
It required a longer time, however, than Mrs Norris was inclined to allow, to reconcile Fanny to the novelty of Mansfield Park, and the separation from everybody she had been used to.
Fanny, with all her faults of ignorance and timidity, was fixed at Mansfield Park, and learning to transfer in its favour much of her attachment to her former home, grew up there not unhappily among her cousins.' Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
I can't tell you how excited I am by the prospect of ITV's Jane Austen season!
First up is
Mansfield Park - 9.00pm this Sunday evening on ITV. Now I have to confess Fanny is not my favourite Austen heroine - I've always felt she's a little bit too good to be true. And she is a little bit wet - not least because she always seems to be in floods of tears in the novel. Even so I can't wait for what feels like proper sunday evening entertainment.
I must also confess I'm also having to reserve judgement on Billie Piper too. I think she was great in
Doctor Who. I even liked her in the BBC's reworking of the Miller's Tale but she always seems a thoroughly modern actress. Hard to picture in a nice Regency frock...
Mansfield Park also features Michelle Ryan - she of
Eastenders fame though most of the other cast members are unfamiliar to me - especially the men. Anyone know where we might have seen them before?
You can view the trailer here:
http://janeausten.itv.com/#/Mansfield_Park/Trailer/Happy viewing!
Gillian from Piatkus
Making a Splash!
I love MaryJanice Davidson’s books. Her
Undead series of vampire chick lit has made me laugh out loud on public transport. But I must admit I approached her new series with a little bit of trepidation.
It feels like only yesterday (in fact three years ago – yikes!) that I persuaded the powers that be to take a chance on some paranormal romance on our fiction list but having done vampires (
Sherrilyn Kenyon and the divine MJD), Carpathians (
Christine Feehan) werewolves (the forthcoming and very cool
Keri Arthur), I wasn’t quite sure we at Piatkus were ready for mermaids!
I needn’t have feared…
As with vampires, werewolves and the other assorted creatures of the night that populate her books (I particularly love the Devil’s daughter – a Sunday school teacher with a little bit of a temper!), MJ takes the mermaid legend and makes it her own.
MJ’s mermaids are decidedly not Disney. Fred the mermaid in
Sleeping With The Fishes is bad-tempered, allergic to seafood and afraid of the ocean. As with the Undead books, the mermaid novels are also wonderfully funny chick lit that just so happen to have a more unusual heroine at their heart.
They’re great fun and we’ll be publishing the first book this month with more to follow. And don’t worry they’ll be more
UNDEAD books to come too.
P.s. I can’t help wondering what’s next for our paranormal menagerie…
