This is just for fun. My oddball speculations (after only a few hours of sleep in the last couple of nights).
Considering that Jane is credited by many, including myself, as being the mother of romance as a genre, I wonder what she'd think of her 'children's' romance novels?
If she were alive and writing for Harlequin, what line would she choose? H'm. Well, let's think.... She loved romantic gestures and subtle smiles - maybe she'd write for SILR. Of course, on the other hand, her books were all contemporary for her day - maybe she'd prefer the HQN line. In Pride and Prejudice she touched on the risque involvement of Lydia running away with Wickham - unmarried for several days! Um, imagine the possibilities in that. So maybe she might occasionally write a Blaze. On the other hand, when she wrote Northanger Abbey, involving a reader of a Gothic novel, she touched on Suspense (or would that be considered Nocturne?).
Okay, I think I'm getting pretty silly now. But it's still kind of funny to think about. What do you think?
Love Austen...
I just finished Persuasion and I'm listening to Pride and Prejudice. She did write scandalous characters, but they always suffered for their scandal. But she wrote passion between Darcy and Elizabeth, so I believe that she could have written a spicy novel.
Laughter is an instant vacation- Milton Berle
Darcy and Elizabeth....
Thanks for your post. And, yes, definitely I consider Darcy and Elizabeth to be Jane's most classic (and in my opinion) best example of a zesty, romantic couple. I love how they misunderstood each other for so long, and yet, when they did fall in love, all obstacles were overcome. If they were translated into modern characters, there would be some incredibly hot moments!
How interesting. And such
How interesting. And such odd timing. I just logged on to blog about reading Me and Mr. Darcy (one of those Jane Austen spin-offs... is there a specific name for that type of book?), have decided I want to re-read P&P soon, and I saw this blog entry.
Jo
Jo, funny about the timing....
And that's a good question about a name for the spin-offs. I'm not sure. The sub-genre might be considered romantic chick-lit. But then again, there's probably an actual name out there. If there is and someone here knows it, they'll probably post it for us.
Have you seen that movie with Anne Hathaway - 'Becoming Jane'? Of course, in my opinion none of the spin-offs or movies could ever be as good as the original books. But it's nice to see them come bouncing back into the mainstream every now and then.