For decades, the English novelist Jane Austen has been a constant source of inspiration for filmmakers and television creators who seek to adapt their work, but also authors who wish to expand their world and our understanding of it.
Such is the case of “Miss Austen”, Gill Hornby's 2020 novel. The fictitious story focuses on Jane's sister, Cassandra, and her decision to destroy a large part of Jane's correspondence over the years, something rooted in fact. “Miss Austen” is the first of Hornby's three novels that immerses readers in the life of Jane and his very united family, which the author found “completely captivating.”
“They were all brilliant and quite extraordinary, although Jane was the most extraordinary of all,” said Hornby. “She wrote on the day and then read out loud in the family circle at night, what everyone did.”
Hornby's novel is no different from a novel by Jane Austen, full of ingenuity, playful disputes, tragedy and romance. But it was the love between the Jane and Cassandra sisters that inspired this particular book, which has now been adapted for television.
“Miss Austen”, a four -part miniseries, will premiere at 9 PM PST on Sunday in PBS as part of “Masterpiece”. (The subsequent episodes will be broadcast on Sundays, with the last two that will be transmitted on May 18; they will also be transmitted in the application PBS and PBS.org.) The period drama, starring actor Keeley Hawes as Cassandra Austen, premiered in the United Kingdom in BBC One in February favorable reviews.
Keeley Hawes plays Cassandra Austen in “Masterpiece” “Miss Austen” in PBS.
(Robert Viglasky / Bonnie Productions for masterpiece)
Hornby joined the executive producer Christine Langan by Bonnie Productions, which produced the “Masterpiece” series, in a “Miss Austen” projection at the Los Angeles Times book festival on Sunday, where they discussed Jane's legacy and adapting the book for television. It is the first television series of the production company.
“I loved reading,” Langan said about why he chose to produce it. “They moved my tears at the end, and it seemed a completely unique angle in a writer that I have worshiped for decades, and very immediate, exciting and identifiable.”
Langan, who has previously produced awarded series and films, including “Cold Feet”, “The Deal” and “The Queen,” said he loved the idea of rehabilitating the reputation of Cassandra, who was “a good influence always present, good source of support and love of one of the most famous writers in the world.”
In the series, Cassandra is a little younger than her counterpart in the book, and that in part had to do with Hawes, whose dramatic and comic skills were crucial for the role.
“We had already decided to make Cassandra a little younger than her in the novel, the feeling that middle -aged women are as invisible in this society as older women,” Langan said. “We loved it [Hawes’] Versatility and its grace, and then knew us the same with the same vision and passion. “
“Keely has a huge and brilliant reputation in the United Kingdom that is very dear,” he added.
That contrasts with Cassandra, who for a long time has been seen with some dismay by his sister's historians. He burned all but 160 of Jane's letters, which could have provided academics and fans equally more details about the author and her life. There is Several theories As for why Cassandra chose to destroy them, including the prevention of Jane's negative scrutiny and want to preserve her sister's legacy.
The series, such as the book, tries to recast Cassandra in a more positive way, along with its reason to destroy Jane's letters, which includes keeping them away from family members such as Astuta Mary Austen (played by Jessica Hynes), who was married to James Austen, brother of Cassandra and Jane. We also see flashbacks of the young Cassandra (Synnøve Karlsen) and Jane (Patsy Ferran) as events in the letters come alive, revealing their true nature.
The story is mainly in Kintbury, a town in Hampshire, England, where Hornby has resided for more than 30 years and where he first learned about Cassandra. “I feel that Cassandra found me,” he said.
While the letters are fundamental to the drama, “Miss Austen” also deals with Cassandra and her fiance, Tom Fowle (Calam Lynch), whose family lived in Kintbury. He died of yellow fever during a trip to the Caribbean, and Cassandra never married.
Tom Fowle, played by Calam Lynch in “Miss Austen”, was promised with Cassandra Austen.
(Robert Viglasky / Bonnie Productions and Masterpiece)
“I knew she [Cassandra] He was there on the last Christmas they had together, and that she went down at our door at dawn a January morning and said goodbye to Tom and never saw him again, “said Hornby.” And he started a little to chase me because I've always been obsessed with those women in history. “
It is a remarkable moment to reconsider Cassandra's role in Jane's life: this year marks the 250th anniversary of Jane's birth. Hornby said it was Cassandra who gave Jane the ability to produce “six of the best English language novels” to take care of her when she was sick and directing the house so that Jane could write. And two and a half centuries later, Jane's stories continue to delight readers and inspire creators like Hornby and Langan.
“She wrote about what it is to have a mother, a sister, fall in love, have a roof on your head, how is the climate and how annoying the neighbors are, all the things we all do,” said Hornby. “She tells us in a way that none of her contemporaries does.”
“And she is fantastically funny,” Langan adds.
Imagine the Austens and their lives have been a fruitful territory for Hornby, whose subsequent works, “Godmersham Park” and the next novel “The Fotement”, scheduled for its launch in the United Kingdom in May and in the United States in October, also focus on the family.
And the Hornby association with Langan will continue; The producer has already opted “the escape.”
This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the television adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” that starred to Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle and the twentieth anniversary of the film version, with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. (Netflix also illuminated a limited series). “Miss Austen” also contains references of the novel, which makes the premiere of the program this year feel a full time in a circle.
“It's so fascinating that it still goes,” said Hornby. “She is a posthumous success, and I really wanted success. It was intelligent enough to know that what I was writing was really good.”
