There was an interesting article in the Globe & Mail last weekend titled "So, Who's the Next Jane Austen?" This article is for those who are looking for an alternative to "rereading Emma for the 32nd time."

Turns out the suggestions are not new authors, but pre-Austen authors who influenced her.

Edited to delete the link, as it has expired. The full article is now below in post #9.

Message edited by its author, Feb 10, 2009, 9:32pm.

Here are some of the suggestions from the article:

Eliza Haywood, including Love in Excess, 1719
Charlotte Lennox, Harriot Stuart, 1750 & The Female Quixote, 1752
Ann Radcliffe, including Mysteries of Udolpho, 1794
Frances Burney, Elvina, 1778, and others

this is such a coincidence. A friend showed me this article yesterday but I didn't note the paper and I wanted to read it in depth. Thank you :)

Nice article. Thanks for posting!

That post was great, thanks!

I've just finished reading Fanny Burney's Evelina and, although it has been a nice and enlightening reading I've found it lacking Austen's wit. I think I'll give a try to the some of the others.

>1, "Turns out the suggestions are not new authors, but pre-Austen authors who influenced her."

Thank God. When I saw the title of the article, I figured we were going to be subjected to a truly horrible list. Like when every new young Hollywood actress is suddenly compared to Audrey Hepburn.

>2, Thanks also for posting some of the suggestions. I was sad when I couldn't read the article.

#6 - Like when every new young Hollywood actress is suddenly compared to Audrey Hepburn.

Oh, as a major Audrey Hepburn fan, that one really makes me nuts. No, sorry, Julia Roberts is NOT Audrey Hepburn. At all. She's Julia Roberts, actually.

Fanny, tell me why you couldn't read the article. Did you get an error message, or was the link broken, or no longer there? Maybe I can get it to you somehow. I always hesitate to post links from newspapers because I know not everyone can read them. But I'm sure I can get it for you. Or do you have access to a university library website?

Let me know and I'll help you get it.

>7, Nickelini - It said I needed a subscription to access the full article. No big deal, a lot of sites are like that! :)

Thanks for letting me know, Fanny. It seems that the articles are only available for free online for a limited time and then you have to pay for them (miffs me, because I subscribe to the paper already). Anyway, I found it on Lexis-Nexis and I'll copy it here:

So, who's the next Jane Austen?;
Nobody can be as witty and elegant as Austen, Susan Catto says, but here are four authors who provide a nice alternative to rereading Emma for the 32nd time

BYLINE: Susan Catto

SECTION: BOOKS; ENDPAPERS; Pg. F13

LENGTH: 1412 words

Jane Austen fans, it's time to widen your horizons. Austen's novels and her life story have inspired almost 30 movies and miniseries in the past two decades, and many readers think of her books as cherished old friends, revisiting them again and again. Still, Austen wrote just six novels in her too-short life (she died at 41 in 1817), and it's possible that screenwriters - not to mention avid readers - have finally exhausted the material she left behind. Even the once-thriving genre of Austen pastiche (including "sequels" that picked up where her novels left off as well as homages such as Bridget Jones's Diary) appears to have played itself out. The recent miniseries Lost in Austen, for example, aired to disappointing ratings in Britain and hardly registered with North American audiences.

So where can devotees turn to find other clever books about love and courtship set in a pre-Victorian milieu of balls, bankruptcies and social stratification?

They can look to the writers whose books were beloved by Jane Austen herself, the early women novelists who laid the groundwork, both stylistically and socially, for Austen's achievement. These 18th-century authors were blending satire and sentiment before Austen ever put pen to paper, and their personal lives - invariably more dramatic than Austen's - would appear positively racy if given the Hollywood treatment.

Austen paid homage to some of these writers in her own novels, borrowing character names, plot contrivances and (in the case of Northanger Abbey) the entire premise of her book. And who are we to argue with Jane Austen's literary opinions?

Here, then, is a short list of nominees for the role of "the next Jane Austen," chosen for their influence on Austen, their availability in recent editions and their chances of appealing to modern readers.

Eliza Haywood (1693-1756): There's no actual proof that Austen read Eliza Haywood's novels, but then Haywood's association with erotic fiction meant that women of good reputation rarely admitted to enjoying her books. Haywood wrote dozens of novels and plays and pamphlets, and her political activism was almost as controversial as her sexual frankness. Haywood's steamy love scenes are notable for their descriptions of female desire - indeed, many a Haywood character actually gives way to illicit passion, though this lapse is typically followed by misery and regret.

Haywood's first novel, Love in Excess (1719), features the rakish hero Count D'Elmont, whose path to redemption is littered with a series of seductions and attempted rapes. Love in Excess was an immediate success, as were subsequent explorations of love and lust.

By the mid-18th century, however, Haywood's brand of sensational fiction had been overtaken by the sentimental novel, a genre focused on virtue and emotions. Haywood responded with her own sentimental tome, The Adventures of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751). The heroine learns to value virtue and propriety without having any serious lapses herself, but the titillating affairs of a secondary character are related with particular relish.

Therein, perhaps, lies Haywood's influence on Austen. Austen's heroines are perfectly virtuous, but each of her novels (except Emma) is enlivened by a spicy subplot about another woman's lust, seduction or ruin.

Charlotte Lennox (ca. 1727-1804): A failed actress and one of the first female journalists, Lennox was a relentless self-promoter who used her first novel, Harriot Stuart (1750), to win entrée into polite society. (She gave Harriot a fictionalized - and more upscale - version of her own backstory, then tacitly encouraged readers to view the book as a memoir.) Writing to support her deadbeat husband and their children, Lennox won the admiration of literary giant Samuel Johnson. Her female contemporaries, however, were less enthused: As Frances Burney put it, "though her books are generally approved nobody likes her."

Lennox's most successful novel, The Female Quixote (1752), was praised by Austen in her letters and became the model for Northanger Abbey. In The Female Quixote, the isolated heroine Arabella grows up believing that the 17th-century romances on her dead mother's bookshelf reflect contemporary mores and behaviour. This leads to foolish assumptions and comic faux pas, capped by Arabella's reckless leap into the Thames to avoid "ravishment."

Arabella's delusions are more absurd than those of Northanger's Catherine Morland, whose devotion to Gothic novels leads her to suspect that her host (and future father-in-law) murdered his wife. Still, both heroines cling to fictional worlds where women exercise power and self-determination - a more fulfilling universe, in its way, than the reality they eventually come to accept.

Ann Radcliffe (1764-1832) Though she was one of the most successful (and best-paid) writers of her era, Gothic novelist Ann Radcliffe never sought personal fame; indeed, she quit writing at the height of her success. Her quiet, decorous life (she married young but had no children) stands in vivid contrast to the lives of her heroines, who endure bloodcurdling adventures in foreign lands.

In the 2008 movie Becoming Jane, a young Austen finds literary inspiration in a meeting with Radcliffe. That encounter is entirely fictional, but the influence of Radcliffe's books, especially The Romance of the Forest (1791) and Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), is written all over Northanger Abbey. While gently mocking the excesses of the Gothic form - the ruined and haunted buildings, the improbably sinister aristocrats - Austen also conveys the page-turning suspense of Radcliffe's works.

Even today, readers of, say, The Italian (1792) might find themselves thumbing rapidly through Radcliffe's famed landscape descriptions to find out how the hero, Vivaldi, manages to rescue his beloved Ellena from kidnapping, assassination attempts and imprisonment in a convent.

Frances Burney (1752-1840):

If the makers of Becoming Jane could turn Austen's uneventful life into a tempestuous tale of elopements and thwarted love, imagine what Hollywood could do with Frances Burney, more commonly known as Fanny Burney. The intellectual author's copious diaries record her struggles with a domineering father, her stultifying stint in the court of George III, her controversial marriage to a Catholic escapee from the French Revolution and her wince-inducing mastectomy (conducted without anesthesia).

Burney's first book, Evelina (1778), follows the heroine's struggle to be acknowledged by her high-born father, who denies he ever married her mother. Like Elizabeth Bennett of Pride and Prejudice, Evelina is saddled with vulgar and embarrassing relatives; their behaviour is as off-putting to her eventual husband, Lord Orville, as Evelina's own obscure birth. Sir Willoughby, a handsome cad whose pursuit threatens Evelina's reputation, became the namesake for Marianne's duplicitous lover in Sense and Sensibility.

Burney's later novels reveal a subtlety, wit and psychological complexity that few writers of either sex achieved before Austen. Cecilia (1782), for example, goes beyond the romantic plot to include a harrowing depiction of a compulsive gambler. (Austen likely drew the title of her most famous book from the conclusion of Cecilia, in which the phrase "PRIDE and PREJUDICE" occurs three times.) Camilla (1796), which, like Cecilia, is praised by name in Northanger Abbey, plumbs the repercussions of both reckless and excessively cautious behaviour, and has clear echoes in both Mansfield Park and Sense and Sensibility.

Haywood, Lennox, Radcliffe and Burney are just four of many women who influenced Austen; others include Frances Sheridan, Frances Brooke, Jane West, Charlotte Smith and Elizabeth Inchbald. (Male authors, most notably Samuel Richardson and Henry Fielding, were also enormously significant in shaping Austen's style.) None of these authors are as consistently witty or elegant as Austen - to be fair, no one could be - but their books provide a compelling alternative to rereading Emma for the 32nd time or watching another remake of Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen will never go out of style, but it is only a question of time before another sprightly writer is plucked from the obscurity of academia and given a lavishly costumed miniseries or two.

Susan Catto is a Toronto-based writer and editor, with a doctorate in 18th-century literature from Balliol College, Oxford.

I know that this may leave some of you reeling when I suggest this, because she is simply not considered "highbrow" or fashionable, but I love a good Regency novel by Georgette Heyer to satisfy my Austen cravings. Austen she is not, but her books are so good for a giggle and I read them for pure indulgence. I used to be such a literary snob, but then my husband, of all people, insisted that I give tham a try. They really are good fun, if a little "schlockish"!

From what is being said I think reading the authors that influenced Jane Austen is like reading research. It isn't her, but that doesn't mean they aren't any good. Someone said they lacked her wit, maybe that is why she started writing. Maybe she loved the stories and couldn't find one with the humor she desired. So, she wrote her wonderful legacy. Lastly, I would never say her topics have been explored to death or everything has been done. Never underestimate the imaginations of the future. There was a log period of time between Ms. Austen's P&P and Bridget Jones. imho

Totally different time period, but I found that Nancy Mitford had a somewhat Austen-ish sense of humour.

I agree with both Georgette Heyer and Nancy Mitford as witty writers (though quite different); both poke gentle fun at the foibles of their characters.

Someone like Mrs. Radcliffe, though, is really nothing like Austen. Northanger Abbey itself pokes fun at Radcliffe's style; Austen's heroine has obviously read and been influenced by Radcliffe's highly melodramatic Gothic stories, but her own situation is fraught with everyday issues and misunderstandings, some resulting from her overwrought imagination.

Vanity Fair, Jane Eyre, and Middlemarch all seem like good follow-ups, if you're looking for somewhat kindred reads rather than influences.

Thanks for posting the full article, Nickelini!

Now I'll have to give Udolpho a go again. I keep starting it and then go no further. Middlemarch is a good suggestion - once you really invest time in it, it's fantastic.

It took me 200 pages to get into Middlemarch, but I am SO glad I stuck with it! Once it gets going, it's hard to put down. Brilliant, brilliant writing and characterizations.

Udolpho can be a bit hard to get through, especially with Radcliffe's excessive (but then-accepted) use of commas. But when you read it with Northanger Abbey in mind, it's an absolute scream!

Re read Jane Austen?

Msg 18 above? I've reread Jane Austen many times with great love and enjoyment.

I also re-read her, but let's face it, it's not a huge body of work.

Point taken -- allow me to suggest Barbara Pym. I have read and re-read Excellent Women many times and thoroughly enjoyed it. Crampton Hodnett is another one, a humorous triangle with an amusing love story of sorts.

I read Barbara Pym before I read Austen, and enjoyed that. I know there's not a lot of Austen, but what's there is choice.

ETA: I am a BIG re-reader, and recognize that not everyone does this. It's a comfort thing.

Message edited by its author, Feb 25, 2009, 2:21pm.

I've seen Pym's name, but never read anything by her. My interest is piqued to hear her recommended in connection with Jane Austen!

I tell everyone who's an Austen fan, looking for the next thing, to read Anthony Trollope. He's not the wit that Austen is, though he can be funny. He is, however, one of the best observers of human character and behavior I've ever read.

He can make you care, passionately, about who will be the next Vicar in a small country town.

For Austen fans, I'd suggest starting with Barchester Towers. For Austen fans who also like a good mystery, I'd suggest The Eustace Diamonds.

And there's plenty of Trollope to go around, to boot! :)

I thoroughly enjoy the Barset novels! Very nice. You might start with Doctor Thorne. That's a nice love story.

Joining this conversation rather late, as I only recently discovered Library Thing.

I'll second (third? fourth?) the Trollope recommendation. But before Trollope, read Margaret Oliphant! She's a contemporary of Trollope with a bit more wit and snark, and she's absurdly under-rated. I'd suggest starting with her Carlingford series. Also Elizabeth Gaskell (start with Wives and Daughters), Frances Burney, Thackeray's Vanity Fair, Emily Eden.

I can't get enough of Austen; I have re-read Pride and Prejudice several times, which is saying a lot for me!

I am working my way through her other works again, Sense and Sensibility right now. However, I agree, I would like something else to read that would remind me of Austen. I hate finding a book I love because it inevitably ends, even though I want to remain in that story forever! Austen is one that can do that for me!

I have been meaning to read Mysteries of Udolpho since I read Northanger Abbey last year. I know it won't be the same since, as someone noted above, Austen is making fun a little, but why make fun of something unless it is worth your time to begin with?

I'll have to give those other suggestions a look once I finish S&S soon! Until then, I'll just head off to add them to my library of "to be read" books!

Thanks for the article!!

Although it's a bit "light" (dunno why reviewers always use that damning word), if you can catch the TV series "Lost In Austen" it is well worth a look. The conceit : a feisty 21st Century Jane Austen-loving London girl suddenly finds herself with Elizabeth Bennett in her bathroom, who has just come through a "portal" into her world. She gets to swap places with Elizabeth and ends up living the plot of Pride and Prejudice, though as herself, not Elizabeth.

That sounds pretty awful, but it's not. It is spread over 4 hour-long episodes, and I loved it. Ok, it only just counts as "after Jane Austen", but if you can, see it, it has a lot of charm, wit, and unexpected plot deviations from the original book.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Lost in Austen. I'm such a sucker for this kind of thing that I ordered the DVD from Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Austen-Jemima.... It's supposed to arrive in about a week.

As for Austen's forebears and contemporaries, I have to say that I have read very few, but am not really motivated to dig into that literature--Austen portrayed her milieu better, I think, than I an imagine anyone else doing so, and as for Radcliffe's novels, I can only say that if you are expecting a sensibility similar to Austen's, you will be in for a disappointment.

I completely agree with those who suggested Barbara Pym. I've read most of her books now, and she delights me in the same way Austen does.

Although a very different kind of writer, I am also very partial to Rose Macaulay.

Just seconding riodbrrd #27 - Wives and Daughters has less wry humour, but otherwise all the atmosphere and characterisation of Jane Austen. Read it in conjunction with the BBC adaptation, is my recommendation. :)

I liked Wives and Daughters but I think North and South is even better! And a very very nice miniseries to go with it as well (rated as high as P&P95 on IMDB.com).

I'm reading Evelina at the moment and enjoying every minute! It's nice to 'see' a bit more of London and to see even sharper class contrasts than in Austen...

Has anyone read anything by Maria Edgeworth?

I would second the Elizabeth Gaskell. I also enjoyed E.M. Forster, especially A Room With a View. Forster was a big fan of Austen.

I have very much enjoyed the two novels by Georgette Heyer that I've read so far, Cotillion and Friday's Child. They don't have the sharp social commentary of Austen, but they are very funny and witty, with great characters.

I would second the suggestion of Anthony Trollope. I was taken by surprise on the third page of the first Trollope I picked up, a few years ago, and realised that right then, that soon, I didn't want to put it down. I'm not especially into pre-20th century novels (with notable exceptions of course, or I wouldn't be on this thread!) but somehow I find Trollope completely involving. Totally agree with sskwire (Message 23). And I so root for the girls always!

#36 Have to check him out.

I'm with JoannaON on Trollope. The man has a gift for sucking one into a story because of his vivid characterizations. I've been surprised how much I've actually enjoyed reading both Trollope and (although inferior to Trollope) Wilkie Collins.