strange and random happenstance: Lyme Regis

There are places you see pictures of and think, there, I want to go to there. That is how it is with me and Lyme Regis. The water crashing against the Cobb is, to me, what it should be like when you visit the coast. Yes, much can be said about a nice beach, but unless you have some wind and great crashing waves, well, do you really feel the power of the ocean? Lyme Regis is made all the more desirable as a travel destination by it's literary connections. John Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman as well as Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures about fossil hunter Mary Anning are set there. But of course it's the connection to Jane Austen and Persuasion that make it a sacred site to me. When the company from Uppercross sets out for Lyme Regis little do they know how it will change all their fates. This is where Anne's bloom begins to return. This is where she first sets eyes on her cousin Mr. Elliot. While much sorrow is attached to this trip because of Louisa's fall, this is the place where Captain Wentworth starts to realize that Anne still has a hold on his heart and that Louisa's accident might forever destroy his chances of regaining Anne's hand. Lyme Regis is the linchpin of their happily ever after and therefore should not be missed by the true Janeite.

But what is really interesting about Lyme Regis is that unlike other Austen travel sites this one would be approved of by Jane herself! While Bath is a must, Jane hated Bath. And other locations where often just visited in her mind, but Lyme Regis? Jane visited Lyme Regis at least twice, once in 1803 and again the next summer in 1804. By the way she describes Lyme Regis in Persuasion you can feel her love for the place coming through. Her esteem is pouring off the page: the Cobb itself, its old wonders and new improvements, with the very beautiful line of cliffs stretching out to the east of the town, are what the stranger's eye will seek; and a very strange stranger it must be, who does not see charms in the immediate environs of Lyme, to make him wish to know it better... these places must be visited, and visited again, to make the worth of Lyme understood. Thankfully Lyme Regis has not shied away from their Austen connection and their Literary Lyme Walking Tours are now officially Jane Austen Tours! They operate several types of Jane Austen Tours, from short tours to day tours, from Lyme Regis all the way to Bath and any other city by arrangement. But as this post is about Lyme Regis, perhaps I'd start there, standing on the Cobb.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments

Labels: Anne Elliot, Bath, Bicentenary Ball, Captain Wentworth, Fossils, Jane Austen, John Fowles, Literary Landmark, Lyme Regis, Persuasion, Remarkable Creatures, The Cobb, The French Lieutenant's Woman, Tracy Chevalier

Of all the authors whose work I love and admire I have to say that if there was one whose life I could live for a day I'd choose Mary Robinette Kowal's. She's like my high schooler dream life personified. Firstly, a puppeteer, so she's got the Jim Henson Muppet side down. Secondly writing work inspired by Jane Austen, but not being limited by that framework. Then there's the whole friends with amazingly awesome writers from Patrick Rothfuss to Neil Gaiman. Sigh. But more then anything it's the talent that I am just in awe of. Seriously, she can write, and the awards she's garnered prove I'm not alone thinking this. She has received the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, three Hugo awards, and the RT Reviews award for Best Fantasy Novel, such an underachiever.

Going back to Pat Rothfuss, it's because of him that I first heard about Mary's Glamourists Histories. I'm still kicking myself that I actually met Mary at WisCon when Shades of Milk and Honey was just out but didn't know about the series till a year later, thanks Rothfuss, I was talking to you five feet away from Mary, you think you could have pointed her out a year earlier? But whenever you stumble upon a great series it doesn't matter when it happens, just that you finally found this author whose work you just connect with. Besides writing and doing puppetry she also uses her performance and theater skills to record the audio books of fellow authors from Seanan McGuire to John Scalzi.

But the most interesting thing about Mary is there's a slim possibility she's Jane Austen... as her publishers Tor pointed out on their website when the recreation of what Jane Austen must have looked like was unveiled:

"After an extensive period of research, utilizing forensics, eyewitness accounts, and the expertise of a period costume designer, the Jane Austen Centre in Bath has determined what Austen really looked like during her life in the 18th century. At which point we replied um, no, that’s Tor Books author Mary Robinette Kowal, puppeteer, Pat Rothfuss impersonator, and...regency author."

So let's ask this author some questions shall we? Like when she "discovered" Jane Austen...

Question: When did you first discover Jane Austen?

Answer: Golly... I don't remember when I first knew about her, but the moment I rediscovered and fell in love with her was in Lyme Regis. I'd read Persuasion, but there is something about buying a copy in a second hand shop and reading it in the town itself that makes it really live.

Question: What do you think Jane Austen would think of her impact with so many literary offshoots, from parody to pastiche?

Answer: I think she'd likely be amused, given how many parodies and pastiches she wrote herself.

Question: Where do you get your inspiration from?

Answer: People. No, really! That's not as facile as it sounds. What I'm most interested in is the connection between people. Writing helps me understand why people make certain choices and the choices I might make in a similar situation.

Question: What makes the early 19th century mesh so well with magic?

Answer: It's an interesting cusp period. They had a very scientific approach to the world, but from our point of view a lot of things that were Science to them look like superstition and magic to us. It's very easy to insert magic and treat it as matter-of-factly as the idea of ill humors.

Question: The world building and system of magic varies greatly in the regency fantasy genre, how did you go about creating yours?

Answer: I knew I wanted to write a Jane Austen pastiche. Specifically, I wanted to find out if I could fit Fantasy into a Jane Austen plot mold. So, having decided that, it meant that my main character needed to be a young lady of quality. I also wanted her to be a magic user, which meant that magic had to be largely impractical and decorative, since young ladies of quality never had jobs.

Question: If you had to choose between writing only period literature or only fantasy literature, which would win?

Answer: I would break the rules and continue to do both.

Question: Be honest, have you ever dressed up in Regency clothes just to pretend for a moment you are in the past?

Answer: Oh... Kind of every chance I get. I hand sew my own dresses, which started as research, and attend events with the Oregon Regency Society. I've spent an entire week wearing nothing but Regency clothes and writing with a quill. Why not? Just because you're grownup doesn't mean you should stop having fun.

Author Photograph © 2012 Rod Searcey