The Women of Oliver Twist

The second installment of Oliver Twist will air on PBS Masterpiece Classic this Sunday at 9:00 PM EST. While most of the tale centers on the male of the species - Oliver, the Artful Dodger, Bill Sikes, Fagin, Mr. Brumble, and Mr. Monks - the women also play a prominent role. They are in no order of importance:

Mrs. Corney, Sarah Lancashire

You last saw her as the never aging Nelly Dean in Wuthering Heights, and now as the coldly calculating and unfeeling Mrs. Corney in Oliver Twist. Her portrayal as the avaricious workhouse matron who looks out for her own benefit is spot on. Born in 1964, Sarah shot to stardom as Coronation Street's popular Raquel Watts. After leaving the role in 1996, she starred in Clocking Off, Rose and Maloney, the BBC TWO drama The Rotters' Club and as a guest star in the fourth series of Doctor Who.

Learn more about Sarah at this link.


Nancy, Sophie Okonedo

Sophie was unforgettable in Hotel Rwanda and won an Oscar nomination for her portrayal as Tatiana. In Oliver Twist she plays Nancy with an unromantic and realistic bent. The prostitute with a heart of gold, she is conflicted between her loyalty/love for Bill Sikes and her sympathy for Oliver, which puts her life in danger. Nigerian-Jewish actress Sophie Okonedo has enjoyed a splendid and versatile career. Born in 1969, she trained at RADA after attending Cambridge. Her most recent theatrical films were The Secret Life of Bees, Skin, and Father and Son. Read about her career in IMBd and more about her in aProfile and Interview with Sophie


Rose Maylie, Morven Christie

Morven Christie made a big splash as Jane Bennet in Lost in Austen. She was born in 1979 in Glasgow and trained at the Drama Centre in London, where she graduated in 2003. Morven's career is so new, very little information about her sits online. After working as a ski instructor, her work on stage, and in film and television drama since 2003 has become more varied, and has included an increasing number of leading roles. She will play the lead in ITV's Monday Monday, and a supporting role in The Young Victoria. Morven is currently part of the first Bridge Project company, playing Anya in Tom Stoppard's new adaptation of The Cherry Orchard, and Perdita in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. The productions will play in repertory at The Old Vic in London from June 2009, after an international tour. Her movies include The Flying Scotsman and House of 9.


Mrs. Bedwin, Anna Massey

We last saw Anna Massey's familiar face in Tess of the D'Urbervilles as Mrs. D'Urbervilles, the blind woman who loved her canaries more than her son. It was a minor role, as is her role as Mrs. Bedwin. One of Britain's most respected actresses, Anna has been in the business for over 50 years. She has won an Olivier award, a Bafta, two RTS awards and she is also a CBE. It is too bad that actresses of her age are given such short shrift in films. This role as Mr. Brownlow's housekeeper is almost non existent and does little to move the story forward. Nevertheless, she plays the part beautifully. Anna is the daughter of famed actor Raymond Massey. She made her film debut in 1958, appearing in Michael Powell's Peeping Tom in 1959 and in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy in 1972. Read more about her in this link.

• See the men of Oliver Twist in this link.

• Vic's review of Part One of Oliver Twist sits here; LA's review of the film can be read in this link.

Posted by Vic, Jane Austen's World

WIN a Collection of Austen Inspired Novels at Book Club Girl!

Which Masterpiece Classic Austen adaptation is your favorite?

Book Club Girl is awarding a collection of advanced readers copies of Austen inspired novels to the lucky winner of her random drawing. Just enter a comment and share your favorite Austen adaptation from the recent The Complete Jane Austen series and why, and the lucky winner will receive copies of:

Darcy's Story: Pride and Prejudice Told from a Whole New Perspective, Janet Aylmer, Harper Collins, (2006). Publisher’s synopsis: With the utmost respect for Austen's original masterwork, author Janet Aylmer loving retells Pride and Prejudice from a bold new perspective: seeing events as they transpire through the eyes of Darcy himself. One of world's great love stories takes on breathtaking new life, and one of fiction's greatest romantic heroes becomes even more sympathetic, compelling, attractive, and accessible, all through the imagination and artistry of a truly gifted storyteller. ISBN: 9780641891229





Cassandra and Jane: A Personal Journey Through the Lives of the Austen Sisters, by Jill Pitkeathley, Harper Collins, (9 Sep 2008). Publisher’s Synopsis: This is the story of a relationship between two sisters. One, Jane Austen, became a famous author; the other, her beloved elder sister Cassandra, was her confidante and supporter. After their father’s death, they lived together with their mother, suffering at first hand the lack of income and dependency on their relatives which was the fate of the single woman with little status in the social hierarchies of the time, and which Jane Austen used to such brilliant effect in her novels. ISBN: 978-0061446399





Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure, by Emma Campbell Webster, Penguin Group (2007). Publishers synopsis: The journey begins in Pride and Prejudice but quickly takes off on a whimsical Austen adventure of the reader's own creation. A series of choices leads the reader into the plots and romances of Austen's other works. Choosing to walk home from Netherfield Hall means falling into Sense and Sensibility and the infatuating spell of Mr. Willoughby. Accepting an invitation to Bath leads to Northanger Abbey and the beguiling Henry Tilney. And just where will Emma's Mr. Knightley fit in to the quest for a worthy husband? It's all up to the reader. ISBN: 9780641903861




Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, by Laurie Viera Rigler, Penguin Group, (2007). Publisher’s synopsis. After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up to find herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy?

But not even Courtney's level of Austen mania has prepared her for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condom-less seducers, and marriages of convenience. Enter the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, a suitor who may turn out not to be a familiar species of philanderer after all. ISBN: 9780452289727 (paperback), 978-0525950400 (hardback)

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, by Syrie James, Harper Collins (2007) What if, hidden in an old attic chest, Jane Austen's memoirs were discovered after hundreds of years? What if those pages revealed the untold story of a life-changing love affair? That's the premise behind this spellbinding novel, which delves into the secrets of Jane Austen's life, giving us untold insights into her mind and heart.

Deft and witty, written in a style that echoes Austen's own, this unforgettable novel offers a delightfully possible scenario for the inspiration behind this beloved author's romantic tales. It's a remarkable book, irresistible to anyone who loves Jane Austen—and to anyone who loves a great story. ISBN: 9780061341427

The winner will be chosen from a random drawing from visitors who leave a comment including their choice of theirr favorite adaptation. The winner will also receive a DVD of the most popular adaptation from the current Book Club Girl poll. The contest will end on Next Monday, April 14th, so don’t delay!

Posted by Laurel Ann, Austenprose

Persuasion 2007: Jane Austen's Cast of Characters Observed

Two days and counting until airing of Persuasion. The excitement is building for the PBS presentation of Jane Austen's classic love story of loss and redemption. One of Austen's famous qualities as a writer, was her unique ability to craft characters that exemplified a wide range of personality traits, good and bad. In preparation for the viewing, see if you can determine who you will admire or admonish.

Persuasion: Cast of characters

Miss Anne Elliot: heroine, spinster, age 27, second daughter of Sir Walter Elliot, resembles her deceased mother, Baronial household manager by default, enjoys long walks through the estate grounds to get away from family, plays pianoforte on demand, easily persuaded but lives to regret it, incredibly patient with prickly sisters and fussy father, looking for second chance at love, prefers re-hookup with dashing naval officer that she once scorned.

Captain Fredrick Wentworth: hero, bachelor, age 31, ambitious naval officer, recent financial windfall of 25,000 pounds from war booty on the frigate Laconia, cuts a dashing figure by wearing nothing but black (if blue naval uniform not required), enjoys shooting and a good gallop on horseback to vent off steam, rejected in love eight years prior, and seeks hookups with ladies with strong decisive character who know their own mind and are not easily persuaded.

Sir Walter Elliot: Baronet of Kellynch Hall, Somersetshire, widow, age 54, father to Elizabeth, Anne & Mary, spendthrift, relies heavily of the skills of his valet and tailor to puff up his vanity, enjoys the view in the mirror over a window, only reads pedigrees in the “book of books” - the Baronetage, skilled at shouting commands and avoiding his creditors.

Miss Elizabeth Elliot: discontented prima donna, spinster, age 29, first daughter of Sir Walter Elliot, mistress of Kellynch Hall by default through her mother's death, spendthrift, golden child, as vain as her father, enjoys the delights of London society and bossing her younger sisters about, feeling the tick tock of her biological clock, seeks hookups with titled & wealthy nobility only please.

Mary Musgrove nee Elliot: hypochondriac, age 23, third daughter of Sir Walter Elliot, married to Charles Musgrove, Esq. of Uppercross in Somersetshire, mother of 2 sons, chief occupation lying prostrate on a settee and moaning, enjoys nothing, has no known accomplishments except being very good at whining, favourite word is 'no'.

Lady Russell: meddler, widower of Sir Henry Russell, of steady character and age, god-mother, friend and advisor to neighbour Anne Elliot, unromantic and pragmatic, enjoys long walks in the garden persuading young ladies to dump young handsome naval officers because they are poor and untitled, well-to-do and no hookups wanted

William Walter Elliot: schemer, widow, age about 30, nephew of Sir Walter Elliot & heir presumptive of his estates, studied law but does not practice, gold-digger, enjoys marrying rich tradesmen’s daughters who die mysteriously once the money is gone, out of favour with Sir Walter Elliot for flirting with his daughter Elizabeth and not following through, smooth, affable and slippery, seeks hookups with titled and or wealthy ladies with the possibility of their quick demise.

Continue reading the next post for the Minor Cast of Characters!

Be sure to check your local PBS station for air times. Will the Elliot family retrench from financial ruin? Will her scorned suitor Captain Wentworth marry a younger woman? Will our heroine Anne Elliot escape her family and find true love? Join in all the anguish, drama and romance on Master Piece Classic, PBS, Sunday, January 13, at 9:00 pm.

Posted by Laurel Ann