Jane

Jane Austen

Pre-pandemic, a friend and I took a day trip from London to Chawton, Jane Austen’s house. We traveled by train from London to Winchester and then boarded a bus but failed to hop off at the correct stop. Instead, we disembarked at the Chawton Roundabout and had to cross a terrifyingly busy two-way road. Yelling “Jane, here we come,” and moving at top speed we made it.

I remember Jane’s writing desk, a small oval tilt-top table. (Very small. A reproduction of the desk was in the Jane exhibit at the Morgan Library.) Chawton also displayed some modest family jewelry, letters, copies of Austin’s books and a charming kitchen. This house is where Jane Austen wrote, revised and published Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. For a virtual tour of Chawton click here: https://janeaustens.house/online-exhibition/virtual-tour-of-jane-austens-house/

Later that day we went to Winchester Cathedral where Jane is buried. She was forty-one when she died, possibly from Addison’s Disease, but no one is entirely sure of the cause of her death.

After Shakespeare Jane Austin is arguably the best-known author in the English language. As 2025 was the 250^th anniversary of Austin’s birth, exhibitions abound. The Grolier Club in NYC has a delightful one, Paper Jane: 250 Years of Austen. (It runs through February 14, 2026.)

 The first section of the exhibit explores Austen’s early reputation that began when her first novel, Sense and Sensibility, was printed anonymously and at her own expense. (There are very few Austin first editions as readers in Jane’s era bound new books to match the rest of their libraries, probably the height of chic.)

Another part of the exhibition showcases literary works by Austen family members that include family histories and fan fiction. There are also Austen-related works such as Goodnight Mr. Darcy, a parody of the children’s classic, Goodnight Moon, and a book titled Pride and Prejudice in Space.

One section of the exhibit, “Pinking Austen,” recalls the 1960s when publishers appealed to women with budget paperbacks of literary classics, Austen’s among them.

From 1925 to 1975, many Austen works were featured on stage and screen. The 1940 film of Pride and Prejudice with Greer Garson and Lawrence Olivier was shown at the time when Americans were deciding whether to join Britain and its allies fighting against Hitler. Adrian, (aka Adrian Adolph Greenberg), who designed the women’s costumes, must have skipped his research as in the film the women wear hoopskirts reminiscent of the antebellum American South. Oops.

More Southern than Regency

Here is a Jane era recipe:

White Soup from Pride and Prejudice (attributed to Martha Lloyd who lived with the Austen ladies at Jane Austen’s House; in the novel Mr. Bingley mentions serving it at the Netherfield Ball.)

2½ quarts water (about 10½ cups)

2 chicken thighs

½ pound bacon (about 8–9 oz)

¾ cup white rice

1 anchovy or about ½ teaspoon anchovy paste

2-3 whole peppercorns

Thyme, bay leaf, and parsley (maybe ½ tsp thyme, one bay leaf, small bunch of chopped parsley)

2 small to medium onions, roughly chopped

2 celery ribs, roughly chopped

¼ pound ground sugared almonds (about 4 oz )

1 cup heavy cream

1 egg yolk

Directions:

In a large saucepan, simmer together the soup bones, water, chicken, bacon, rice, anchovies, peppercorns, herbs, onions, and celery, for two hours over a low flame.

Strain through a sieve into another large clean pot.

Let sit overnight in the fridge.

Next day skim the top of the broth to remove any scummy bits.

Add the ground sugared almonds and bring to a boil.

Strain through a sieve so it catches the almond pieces. (Lots of workouts for you and your sieve here.)

Mix together egg yolk and cream, stir into the soup, and serve.

Mr. Bingley notwithstanding, I rather doubt anyone plans to attempt this soup but it gives you an idea of Regency-style tastes. Better to offer a glass of Champagne, a cup of tea or any other drink and toast Jane. Enhance the experience with music popular in the Regency era –anything by Beethoven, Rossini, Liszt, or Mendelssohn will do beautifully.