Paths Retraced: Travels and an Anthology

This is a copy of my monthly post at Always Austen. Feel free to either click the link and read it there, or since you’re already here, just keep reading below. Comments always welcome.

Paths Retraced: Travels and an Anthology

As I write this post, I’m still dusting the final vestiges of jet lag from my shoulders, almost but not quite back into the routine and—yes—time zone of my normal, everyday life. We returned just a week ago from another visit to the United Kingdom. We were there to help my daughter settle into her new digs for the upcoming academic year at her university, and of course, to be tourists.

Our path took us from Edinburgh to Durham, then to Yorkshire, through Shropshire, and finally to the south of Wales, where my kid is studying. We explored ancient abbeys, ruined castles, technological marvels, and magnificent great houses along our way, and by the time we got to our destination her university, we had all learned a few new and fabulous things. Once there, we spent as much time taking our little hired car to the supermarket and hardware store as we did driving it to historical sites and through stunning countryside, and by the time we said our goodbyes to our daughter, she was happily established with her friends in the nice flat they’ll call home for the next year.

Roslyn CastleEasby AbbeyRaby CastleCastle HowardPontcysyllte AqueductChepstow CastleA few photos from my travels, all (c) Riana Everly

If this sounds a bit familiar, it might be because a year ago, I did almost exactly the same thing. My Facebook feed is full of memories from exactly a year ago, reminding me of places I visited and things I saw last September, as we helped our young student move into her dorm.

Last year’s trip was not only the germ of some great memories. It also spurred my contribution to a new anthology in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth.

I was greatly honoured when I was approached last spring with an invitation to contribute to this fascinating collection. In the Path of Jane Austen: Travels and Tales, edited by the fabulous Carol S. Bowes, is not only a collection of novellas by six Austen-inspired authors, but it’s also a travelogue, recounting moments from trips to the UK taken by these authors.

Although I’ve spent a bit of time in the UK over the past several years, I chose to write about part of last September’s visit because of a special Austen connection. The previous February, another group of fabulous authors put a Valentine’s Day anthology together as a fundraiser for the Jane Austen’s House Museum, and just over a year ago, I met with Michelle d’Arcy to present the funds we had raised. Seeing her again was a treat in itself, but visiting the house where Jane Austen lived and wrote was beyond special.

At the Jane Austen’s House Museum

I was so moved by the house in Chawton, and the nearby market town of Alton, that they inspired my story for this collection. I could imagine Jane and her sister Cassandra walking through the streets, wandering down those lanes. How often must they have made the easy walk from their cottage into Alton to visit a shop or to wander through the market? My feet, walking that distance, surely trod in their footprints. It’s a rather heady thing to consider.

It was not hard, then, to imagine Jane as a character in a story. But I did want to bring in one of my favourite heroines as well. It’s not a secret that Persuasion is my favourite of Austen’s novels, and that I especially like Anne Elliot. Intelligent, musical, practical, elegant… she is everything I wish I could be! Yes, I had to make her the star. But if both author and character were featured in the same narrative… then they had to meet!

It starts as a tragedy, but the fates are strange things, and who knows what magic might happen when the will is strong enough.

Please enjoy the first few paragraphs of my contribution to In the Path of Jane Austen: Travels and Tales, “A Matter of Persuasion.”

***

The carriage jostled as the horses turned off the busy road and onto the quieter lane. A farmhouse emerged from behind a stand of trees as they moved, surrounded by a carpet of ripening fields.

“It is fair country, is it not, Miss Elliot?”

Anne Elliot turned her attention to her companion. A kind, understanding face looked back at her, intelligence clear within her dark eyes.

“Fair, indeed, Mrs Croft, although not as varied a landscape as Somerset. Still, I see why a man tired of the ocean might wish to settle here. It is green and welcoming.”

“And wait, my dear, until you see the town. A prettier situated place you have never visited, outside of Kellynch, of course.” This was from the other occupant of the carriage, a rosy-faced, jovial man with a big laugh and a bigger heart.

“I look forward to it, Admiral Croft,” she replied. “I have heard so much of it, I feel I know every street and alleyway.”

“And know them you shall, Miss Elliot. I might be Somerset-born, but I lived some happy years here, and this is where I met my Sophy.” The admiral cast an affectionate glance towards his wife. “A more pleasing place I cannot imagine. Ah, look. There is the town now, just coming into view after this curve of the road.”

Anne turned to look out the carriage window. The view ahead was restricted, but already there were more buildings and structures dotting the land, and she thought she spied the tall steeple of a church above the trees.

“I hope your own memories are not too painful, Mrs Croft. It must bring both pleasure and pain to return here.”

Mrs Croft’s smile was genuine, but there was mist in her eyes.

“Some pain, yes, but mostly joy. I wish to remember Frederick as the bright, rambunctious child from our childhood. I have mourned him these past three years, and I shall mourn him forever, but I cannot permit that sorrow to overwhelm the delights of having had him as my brother. What damped his spirits so sorely back in the year six, I know not, but I know he died as a hero on his ship. Still, it is not the valiant naval captain I recall, but rather, the cheerful, inquisitive child who visits me in my dreams. He was ambitious, so brave and brilliant. Oh, I do miss him.”

***

You can read the rest of my story, my travelogue, and five other fabulous contributions in this anthology, coming out on Thursday, October 2. It’s available for preorder now, and all profits will go to the museum.

Enjoy stories by me (amazing, of course), L.L. Diamond, Lory Lilian, Kelly Miller, Suzan Lauder, and Heather Moll, edited by Carol S. Bowes. I’ve read them all, and they’re all terrific.

In the Path of Jane Austen: Travels and Tales