Miss Austen Regrets on Masterpiece

Captain's Log, Stardate 02.05.2008

I just finished watching Miss Austen Regrets on Masterpiece Classic and I’m very impressed.

Now, granted, I don’t know how much of the movie is true and how much is speculation. I recognized a few things from Just Jane, a novel by Nancy Moser, and so I’m relatively certain those events are factual.

But much of the movie is absolutely beautiful. The casting and acting is wonderful, and the scriptwriter was masterful. The script even managed to help me keep Jane’s numerous siblings straight.

One scene near the end with Cassandra was beautiful. It was overheard by their niece Fanny, and it gives some explanation (which might be speculation rather than fact) about why Jane refused her first offer of marriage, and possibly why she wrote Persuasion as she did. It’s a powerfully emotional scene that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I’m inspired to read a nonfiction book that’s on my TBR pile, A Walk with Jane Austen by Lori Smith. It looks like a travelogue rather than a full biography on Jane, but I’m in a Jane mood and want to read about her regardless.

Lori blogged about Miss Austen Regrets here, and mentioned she didn’t think Jane lived with that much regret. I tend to agree with her after reading Just Jane and also reading just some of the bare facts about Jane’s life. It’s still a good movie, though—as a novelist, I love the emotional intensity and complexity of the dialogue.