A Letter to Jane Austen

Dear Jane Austen,

I have read all your novels and loved them all with just one exception: Northanger Abbey.
I return to them again and again. It's like visiting old friends. Emma Woodhouse and her father who is so careful of his health, Eleanor and Marianne making do on a low income, Fanny Price living in the awesome environs of Mansfield Park. I hardly need mention the lively Elizabeth Bennet and the stuffy Mr. Darcy, not that Mr. Darcy would be everyone's fancy but the telling of his proposal to Elizabeth and her spirited refusal is a treasure among "romance" novels.

You grew up in a world where women had to marry in order to have what was known as a comfortable provision. Or they had to be rich, like Emma Woodhouse. We know that you were not wealthy. Yet you refused to accept the norms of your day and your heroines are all rebels in their own way with the possible exception of Fanny Price. Many readers are impatient with Fanny but you  remained true to the character - given her upbringing and circumstances, it is highly unlikely that Fanny would have been a rebel. That is what makes a talented author, to know the characters you have put on paper and understand how they would react.

Having said all that, I can't tell you how depressing I find it when modern authors "build" on your stories - murders and vampires included! - and books are published on your private life and "wild love affairs".  I have read a collection of your letters many of which concerned domestic matters. You were most entertaining when you described acquaintances or people you had met and were very proud of recognizing an "adultress" on one occasion despite having been told she was not the one. I have read one or two biographies of your life and as far as I can gather, you fell in love with a dashing young man (I feel you built Wickham's character around him) and refused another gentleman's offer. There might have been more romance inbetween but as your sister Cassandra burned all your letters during a bad period of your life, we are never going to find out all the details. And we don't need to. We can admire your work and enjoy all the nuances of your characters (and compare them to people in our circle of acquaintances!).

So, thank you Jane Austen, thank you for the pleasure I get whenever I re-read one of your novels. You are a treasure!

Getting that New Look

Up until recently I didn't spend a lot of time or money on cosmetics. While the kids were growing up I didn't have the spare cash and when they'd left home, I didn't seem to feel the need. Like a lot of moms, I just managed with what I had always been using. Then one day I caught sight of myself in a mirror in a really good light. Wow! My skin looked tired and very very dry. That part of me which was used to "managing" protested a bit but next thing I found myself in a department store looking around the many beauty products at the various counters. I finally settled on Clinique, which I have used in the past.
I must admit I felt a bit awkward. I'm a granny, for goodness sakes, and here I am asking for advice from a young, very glamorous woman as if I were a gawky teenager. Maybe because of my embarrassment (if you could call it that - it does take a lot to embarrass me) I was treated with the utmost courtesy and consideration. The beautician was most charming. She sat me down, looked at my skin which is both dry and red, and listened to what I wanted. She then applied Clinique redness solutions, a daily protective base moisturizer, followed by Clinique redness solutions makeup. To top it off she added a dash of Clinique sunkissed true bronzer pressed powder. I must admit I was a bit dubious about the bronzer. True, I had just returned from a month on the continent visiting my daughter and her family and we did have very hot sunny days, but still I didn't want to look like I was in disguise or something. I am still not too sure about it. Last time I went out with the "girls" one of them asked me if I'd been sunbathing...For evening wear, though, I think the bronzer looks OK.
Of course I forked out much more money than I had ever paid for makeup in the past. But as the slogan says, I suppose I'm worth it. At any rate, by the time I got home, I felt pretty good and wondered why I'd never indulged myself before.
I just might book myself in to one of those beauty treatment places where you get facials and pedicures and lounge around in a robe reading magazines with names like Homes and Gardens and Best Holiday Destinations. Bring. It. On.