検索キーワード： ナレーター "Catherine Bilson" すべてのカテゴリー

Persuasion was the last novel completed by Jane Austen and was first published posthumously in December, 1817. The story represents an interesting configuration of Austen’s characteristic narrative patterns. The heroine, Anne Eliot, is something of an old maid—she is twenty-seven years old, still single and is considered by family and friends to have lost her youthful beauty. Several years earlier, her engagement to Captain Frederick Wentworth had been broken off, due to the insistence of her family that the Captain lacked the wealth and status needed for a suitable husband.

The novel opens with Mr. and Mrs. Parker’s visit to Sanditon, a village on the coast of Sussex. Sanditon is being developed into a bathing-place under the patronage of the two principal proprietors of the parish, Mr. Parker and Lady Denham. Mr. Parker suffers an injury and receives assistance from a local farmer, Mr. Heywood. The latter’s daughter, Charlotte, is of marriageable age and has three eligible suitors: Lady Denham’s foppish son, Sir Edward; Mr. Parker’s devil-may care brother, Sydney; and Arthur, who is an unemployed hypochondriac.

American Heiress, Hannah Turner, has been shipped ‘across the pond’ in search of a husband. Although considered a spinster by some, she’s young enough to indulge in a little fun while abroad. Ignoring the stifling expectations of the English aristocracy, Hannah spends carefree days at her cousin’s estate donning breeches and riding astride. Accused of impropriety by infamous rake, Lord Dunford, she suppresses her wild side to become a picture-perfect English Lady.

Jane Austen commenced writing in her adolescence and continued right up to her untimely death in 1817. Her novels are reflections of the socially constricted world in which she lived, and the plots are built around the search of one or more young women for a suitable spouse. Austen’s works are noted for the perceptive elegance of her prose and for vigor and detail of characterization. Celebrated critic F. R. Leavis considered Austen as one of the four great English novelists, along with George Eliot, Henry James, and Joseph Conrad.

She dislikes handsome and arrogant Mr Hartwell, but is he an enemy? Miss Caroline Barnes is shocked to discover she has a secret family she’s never met! Aristocratic Mr Hartwell tells her of her cousin’s lonely plight, and Caroline reluctantly agrees to visit Julia at the gothic sounding Canons Grange. Her stay in the English countryside is more intriguing than she expected, with smugglers, secrets, and the dashing but mysterious Mr Bell, as well as delightful walks and a faithful if naughty dog!

When Charlotte Lucas becomes the new Mrs. Bennet, taking charge of the household after her predecessor's untimely death, she guides the fates of the five Bennet sisters with a steady hand. Even Mr. Darcy can find little to criticise in the elegant family, and much to admire in the witty, clever Elizabeth. However, rumours and scandals brew when the charming but deceitful Mr. Wickham arrives in Meryton. Jealous Caroline Bingley fans the flames against the Bennets, but level-headed Charlotte manoeuvres each challenge with grace.

Katherine's relationship with her daughter, Chastity, goes from bad to worse when the hot-tempered mother finally speaks her mind—loud and clear—and in public. Now, Chastity has cut her out of her life and the two families are at odds. But that's not the end of Katherines problems It seems the stork has paid Patrick and Kaiti an unexpected visit and the over forty couple must learn to navigate life as new parents a second time over.