A Night With Jane Austen
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Ask anyone to name three famous authors of romantic literature and it would be astoundingly unlikely if the name of Jane Austen were left out. But, then again, she knew full well how to push the buttons of the early 19th century reader, and it remains much the same with those of the early 21st. Just ask TV commissioning editors.
Arguably, the two high altars of “chick-lit” are the Bronte sisters’ Old Parsonage in Haworth, Yorkshire, and Jane Austen’s cottage in Chawton, Hampshire. And it was at the latter that she spent the final eight years of her life, completing works such as Emma, Persuasion and Mansfield Park before her death in July 1817.
For many aficionados, though, no Austen tour is complete without a visit to the famous Georgian city of Bath. After all, the place features so frequently in her works that she is generally credited with being its most famous resident.
Here one will find the ‘Jane Austen Centre’ and an exhibition celebrating her life in Bath between 1801 and 1806. Situated on Gay Street, it is located on the very same thoroughfare upon which she lived for a short period of time.
There are, however, a few more places that might interest fans of Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and the other novels for which she is renowned. And you don’t merely visit them… you can stay in them.
The author is certainly known to have stayed at the Burford Bridge Hotel near Dorking in Surrey – an area that many will recognise from Emma. And the Angel Posting House & Livery in nearby Guildford is another such place said to have been visited by Miss Austen.
Well-travelled for her day, there will undoubtedly be numerous inns along the old highways where she slept, anonymously, on journeys. One such place at which she is certainly known to have rested, however, is Bodkin House near Badminton in South Gloucestershire. Staying here as a young girl, references to it were later to be made in Northanger Abbey.
Another hotel noted for its connections to Jane is The Dolphin in Southampton. Indeed, it was in its ballroom that she is said to have danced during the evening of the 16th December 1793 – her 18th birthday. The building is presently being restored and refurbished.
However, perhaps the place many will want to visit will be The Rutland Arms in Bakewell, Derbyshire. Stay in room number 2 and you’ll be sleeping where Jane Austen is widely held to have revised her manuscript to Pride & Prejudice in 1811. In fact, it’s difficult for any present-day female admirer to get any closer to Mr Darcy, even if most of we men wouldn’t necessarily want to.
For these and details of other places to stay associated with great literary figures and historic icons, visit www.nightsinthepast.com
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