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riate for the servant classes than the gentry there should have been a marked disparity in costumes between the servants and the masters perhaps costuming was intentionally chosen to attune to the autumnal tone and colour palette in the movie everything seemed toned down to autumnal browns bronzes and other dark colours the lack of bonnets would have annoyed many a janeite as ladies would not have been prancing about in public with nothing on their heads that said if i wasn t a connoisseur of the period i most probably would have enjoyed the carefully chosen colour schemes reflective of the emotional aspect of the movie on a positive note i must say that i enjoyed the cinematography in this film very much indeed the film has been beautifully shot and locations such as the wild coastal devon countryside are portrayed like a period painting the cinematography somewhat reminds me of pride and prejudice 2005 and scenes from bronte adaptations scenes are shot in natural light and the camera moves with the characters making each scene feel like you are a part of it some of the actors are wonderful too the legendary fiona shaw the delightful mrs croft in persuasion 1995 is outstanding as mrs jennings and had me in fits of laughter the main characters are also beautifully portrayed by daisy edgar jones elinor and esmé creed miles marianne however the leading men don t really appeal to me as austen characters and lack screen presence and mr palmer is simply odd the production has taken some creative liberties with the plot there are some scenes that have been altered or added and do not appear in the original book i won t mention those for fear of spoiling the film for those who haven t seen it but i would love to hear your opinions if you have we don t get to see a full resolution at the end of the film either which differs from the previous adaptations my biggest criticism is perhaps how the dialogue is shown in this movie i would much prefer to hear authentic dialogue from jane austen s book rather than a screenwriter s version of it again this wouldn t be an issue if i hadn t been introduced to jane austen and hadn t read the book as the film itself is beautifully made and the story is a wonderful portrayal of sense and sensibility reason and feeling as an adaptation of jane austen and her wit this version disappoints overall this version doesn t compare to the 1995 masterpiece by ang lee which will forever remain in my heart as the most brilliant portrayal of jane austen s sense and sensibility and more specifically of the duality of reason and feeling i have vivid memories of discussing the movie back in 1995 with my grandad who sadly passed away two years later my grandad loved emma thompson s elinor and vastly preferred the movie to the 1995 pride and prejudice which i adored i will cherish the memories of these debates as some of my last interactions with my grandad and the bond i shared with him in our love of jane austen posted by anna at 1 54 am 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels movies sense and sensibility tuesday september 30 2025 becoming mrs darcy re imagining elizabeth and fitzwilliam after marriage you may be familiar with julia b grantham s popular facebook page elizabeth darcy you may also have read julia s coffee table book mr darcy s guide to pemberley then you would be delighted to know that julia has just published a new book titled becoming mrs darcy re imagining the story of elizabeth and darcy during the first few months of their marriage imagine elizabeth and darcy as living characters whose story continues what does their life at pemberley and london look like i had the chance to interview the lovely julia about her creative process in this q a who is your favourite character to write and who do you find the most difficult a it will not surprise you that elizabeth is my favourite to write her voice feels natural to me her wit and spirit are almost ever present once i begin she has such a lively way of seeing the world quick to notice folly yet generous in her judgement that i never tire of her company mr darcy is a delight of another kind his character requires patience he reveals himself slowly and much of his depth is concealed beneath outward reserve but the more i write him the more i treasure the opportunity to show that steadfast loyalty quiet tenderness and capacity for growth that make him so beloved his restraint makes the glimpses of warmth all the more precious together elizabeth and darcy are in my mind the perfect combination she softens him he teaches her restraint and both embrace these changes without resistance it is a joy beyond words to keep company with two people working so harmoniously towards their shared future i must also confess a particular fondness for writing mrs bennet who though often comical reveals herself with such energy and fervour that i can scarcely type quickly enough to keep pace with her passionate outbursts mr bennet on the other hand is a challenge his dry humour while sharp and often just can verge upon the unkind and i must take care that it does not jar upon the modern ear he fascinates me though a man both wise and indolent affectionate yet withdrawn whose irony protects him from the world but sometimes distances him from his family i frequently disagree with him both in his words and in his behaviour while still liking him as a character it is not easy i assure you lydia too is a challenge she is so very different from myself that i find it hard to relate to her yet she is also tremendous fun to write fiery impulsive utterly heedless of consequence and always speaking her mind i rather dread the time when wickham enters the story what shall i do then and then there are the historical figures who step into the story they bring their own difficulties for i wish to portray them with fairness and accuracy not as caricatures but as people who once lived with complexities of their own it is a delicate balance weaving fact with imagination yet it adds a richness that i hope does justice both to them and to the world in which elizabeth and darcy now live you can buy a copy of becoming mrs darcy here about the author julia b grantham is a british author whose lifelong love of jane austen has inspired her to create new stories in the spirit of austen s world she is the author of the much loved coffee table book mr darcy s guide to pemberley and connects with thousands of fellow austen enthusiasts on her popular facebook page elizabeth darcy alongside her austen inspired works julia is the creator of the bestselling children s books a mole like no other and moley and the mysterious sea turtles both warmly received by readers and the press she also serves as an ambassador for the jane austen literacy foundation founded by austen s great niece caroline jane knight reflecting her dedication to literacy and education on michaelmas 29 september 2025 the first volume of julia s sequel to pride and prejudice becoming mrs darcy elizabeth s chronicles will be published posted by anna at 3 09 am no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels related books thursday august 14 2025 finding highbury in jane austen s surrey have you ever wondered if jane austen s fictional locations were inspired by real places there are several places in surrey that claim to have been inspirations for highbury in jane austen s emma and i was recently inspired to visit some of these villages having read my fellow blogger tony grant s detailed blog post about this area janeite deb also recently visited the area with tony grant and shared some detailed blog posts making me more intrigued leatherhead leatherhead museum i started my tour from leatherhead museum which currently has an exhibition for jane austen 250 there are some lovely exhibits on display such as this incredible doll s house portraying ford s the draper s featured in emma ford s drapers picture courtesy leatherhead museum curators lucy quinnell and cathy brett the museum have collated evidence to prove that emma was set in this area and t here are detailed quotes from jane austen s novels with references to the local area it s really fascinating to read some of these snippets of local history i will mention just a few of these but i highly recommend that you visit this exciting exhibition museum to learn more picture courtesy leatherhead museum curators lucy quinnell and cathy brett for example jane austen describes highbury as a large and populous village almost amounting to a town chapter 1 which resembles the size of leatherhead at the time interestingly i learned that the names of two key estates in this area were called high lands and nor bury moreover there was a large timber framed house here called randalls on the east bank of river mole which was coincidentally owned by jane austen s distant relative sir john coghill if you remember randalls is also the name of the estate where mr and mrs weston live in emma leatherhead names of local people are also mentioned in the exhibition which might have given inspiration to jane austen when writing emma there was a wealthy girl called emma boulton a local poet called james woodhouse and even a mr knightly living locally many other names from emma have been found in local parish records however the inn mentioned in emma crown inn could point us to nearby great bookham a village that lies in the centre of surrey 30km from london bridge there is a crown inn in the middle of the village crown inn left in great bookham in chapter 26 emma goes on a walk with frank churchill and mrs weston their first pause was at the crown inn an inconsiderable house though the principle one of the sort where a couple of pair of post horses were kept in passing it they gave the history of the large ball room visibly added the crown inn at bookham currently under renovation as seen from austen house we know that highbury is a populous village but small enough for every villager to know each other and considered a particularly healthy spot according to the 1801 and 1811 census t here were 120 people living in bookham bookham also fits in with jane austen s description of its location as it would takes about 7 miles to box hill by the old roads the scene of the disastrous picnic in emma there is a further stronger connection that jane austen has to great bookham jane s godfather rev samuel cooke was vicar of st nicolas church in great bookham in 1768 samuel cooke married cassandra leigh a cousin of jane s mother who is also also named cassandra as is jane s sister st nicolas church samuel cooke is listed as one of jane s godparents in the austen family bible on the day of her babtism on 5th april 1776 born 16th december 1775 received into the church 5th april 1776 rev d mr cooke rector of bookham surrey mrs j austen of sevenoaks kent father s uncle s wife mrs musgrave of chinnor oxon matts jane first visited the cookes in great bookham on 14th may 1799 staying until the 2nd june initially jane wasn t excited about the visit perhaps due to the fact that the family were evangelicals and jane didn t like the evangelicals at the time jane wrote to her sister i assure you that i dread the idea of going to bookham as much as you can do letter 17 however she used her time here to learn more about the area to collect ideas for her next novel the watsons which is set in nearby dorking sadly the book was left unfinished but the fragment does contain several references to this area interestingly jane paid a second visit here in 1814 after she had begun to write emma perhaps this time she had a task in mind to gain more knowledge about this area so that she could use bookham as the setting for emma i found st nicolas church right in the middle of the village jane would have worshipped in this church several times during her visits here st nicolas church the exterior of the church is similar to how it looked in jane austen s times but the interior is somewhat changed as there would have been wooden boxed pews here at the time i found a memorial to samuel cooke on the left hand side of the altar there were also information booklets for sale and posters about bookham s jane austen connection i bought this helpful booklet published by the church council which is a very interesting read with images and details about bookham at the time of jane austen and other authors who resided in the area from the booklet i learnt that the cooke family had 11 children of which sadly only 3 survived to adulthood jane liked her second cousins and was close to mary cooke in particular as mentioned the cookes had evangelical leanings and jane wasn t always kind to the clergy in her novels the cookes however appreciated mansfield park as jane writes in a letter from 1814 mr cooke says it is the most sensible book he ever read and the manner in which i treat the clergy delights them very much letter 101 the cookes interpreted the novel as a protest against lax views on clerical duty chapman in matts et al considering edmund s strong sense of duty and moral standards in the novel what is fascinating to learn is that cassandra cooke was also an authoress and published a historical novel called battleridge in 1799 once more we can see once more how literary jane s extended family was and how she would have been inspired by several of her family members on her way to becoming a writer herself the cookes first lived in gothic house opposite the church gothic house was the earlier rectory and home of rev cooke s family later the family moved to a newly built rectory set back from the road which was later known as the old rectory but has since been demolished the site of the new rectory is on the right where the parade of shops is another famous resident of great bookham is fanny burney later fanny d arblay who lived right across the road from st nicolas church in a house called fairfield cottage now called the hermitage the hermitage the home of fanny burney fanny burney was one of jane s favourite authors and a huge influence on her writing jane particularly liked her novels evelina cecilia and camilla using these as an inspiration for her own work such as the opening line in pride and prejudice and the characterisation of mr darcy it would be interesting to know whether jane ever met fanny burney as it is likely that they did come into contact in such close proximity given that the cooke family knew her well mickleham fanny burney moved to bookham after getting married to french emigr é general d arblay in another village called mickleham in 1793 mickleham church where the d arblays got married inside mickleham church evidently the d arblays were happily married when the d arblays moved to bookham fanny had already published evelina and cecilia after making more money from the publishing of camilla in 1802 the d arblays could build a new house in wes...