Q: Speaking of death-in-life, how deeply attached was Jane to her cousin and sister-in-law, Eliza de Feuillide, whose death opens the book?
A: I think Jane was one of the few Austens, other than Henry, who truly loved her. Jane was witty and sophisticated enough to enjoy Eliza’s essential nature, which was frivolous, fun-loving, and profoundly of the moment. Eliza connected Jane to the Great World, and her kindheartedness and intelligence would more than make up for any French pretensions she persisted in displaying. The rest of the Austens seemed to mistrust Eliza as a bad influence. But her amusements were so tame—she never appears to have hurt Henry in any way, and added greatly to his consequence and comfort—that one wonders whether there was not a bit of envy at the base of the family’s poor opinion.
Q: And yet Jane and Henry go on.
A: You had to go on, in those days. People died left and right. In the course of her life, Jane would lose four sisters-in-law, most in childbirth. She lost her father, of course, and her close friend Madame Lefroy. And eventually the Austen family would lose Jane herself, far too young. To be a citizen of the world in 1813 was to be intimate with death.
Q: You make use of a very convenient tunnel in this book. Is that an invention too?
A: Actually, no. The Prince Regent liked to get around Brighton without being seen—particularly in his later years, when he was obese and somewhat crippled by his size. He had a number of tunnels built to and from the Pavilion, and three of them survive in the present-day Royal Pavilion complex, connecting modern concert and public performance venues erected in the former stable block.
Q: What’s ahead for Jane Austen?
A: She’s going to travel to Kent in the autumn of 1813, for a protracted visit to her wealthy brother Edward. At this point in her life she’s publishing her third novel, Mansfield Park, and gathering material for Emma, which she’s forced to dedicate to the Regent! Kent is another secure and comfortable world full of rich and famous families; but the Pilgrim’s Way to Canterbury Cathedral also runs through Edward’s estate, Godmersham Park. A mysterious stranger will find his end there, in Jane and the Canterbury Tale.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
STEPHANIE BARRON is the author of the standalone historical suspense novels A Flaw in the Blood and The White Garden, as well as the Jane Austen mystery series. As Francine Mathews, she is the author of the Nantucket series, as well as acclaimed standalone novels, including the thriller The Alibi Club. She lives in Evergreen, Colorado, where she is at work on the next Jane Austen mystery, Jane and the Canterbury Tale, which Bantam will publish.
Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron Page 31