Tea at Chawton & Miss Austen Regrets

Imagine sitting in Jane Austen’s kitchen at Chawton, sipping tea and chatting with an elegantly turned out English gentleman! Tough work if you can get it. Writer Gretchen Kelly of Single Minded Women had that incredible privilege recently, and this blogger is pea green with envy.

Her travel to Jane Austen’s home in the village of Chawton found her discussing our favorite authoress' life and flirtations as a guest of the Curator.

"She basically never found anyone good enough for her," Tom Carpenter, Curator and Trustee of the Jane Austen House Museum at Chawton. But it wasn't for lack of trying," he adds mischievously, pointing to a stack of Xeroxed letters in a back office. "Those are all letters to and from her…well in those days they called them gentlemen callers, but you would say, "boyfriends," wouldn't you?"

It is quite interesting to have an inside view of Jane Austen’s home and her social life from such a venerable source as a precursor to tonight’s biopic on Jane Austen’s life, Miss Austen Regrets, presented by Masterpiece Classic on PBS at 9:00 pm. You can read the entire article here.

For Ms. Place's review of Miss Austen Regrets, go to Jane Austen's World. For Laurel Ann's review, go to Remotely Connected. We are most anxious to read your opinions, so be sure to leave your comments.

Posted by Laurel Ann, Austenprose