Interview de Natalie Jenner, l'auteur de The Jane Austen Society

La canadienne Natalie Jenner, l'auteur de The Jane Austen Society (que j'ai lu, beaucoup aimé et chroniqué ici : ) a accepté de répondre à quelques unes de mes questions, sur son travail, ses inspirations, ses goûts etc. De quoi peut-être vous donner encore plus envie de découvrir son roman

Citation :

1- Can you introduce yourself in a few words ? 
I was born in England, raised in Canada, and have university degrees in both English literature and law. I have been a lawyer, a career coach, a bookshop owner and now, in my early 50s, a debut novelist. I live with my family and two dogs in a little house from the 1930s near the shore of Lake Ontario, in an idyllic town with the largest tree canopy in Canada.

2- How did you discover Jane Austen? 
My mother is a great reader, even though she had to leave school when she was only 14 due to family circumstances. She owned a lovely old edition of Pride and Prejudice and I was fascinated by the language, the archaic spelling of words like "chuse" and "shew." It felt like a very foreign world to me, and yet the characters all seemed immediately--and wonderfully--familiar. And then I saw the 1980 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice and fell really hard for the character of Mr. Darcy as a formidable screen presence, and that was it: I was a goner. 

3- What is your favorite novel of hers and the one you like least ? 
I love Pride and Prejudice the most but Emma is a really close second. My least favourite is Northanger Abbey, but even that I love more than most other books.

4- Your favorite adaptation and your least favorite one ? 
Ang Lee's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, which is a near-perfect film, is my all-time favourite. I don't have a least-favourite film adaptation from the past thirty years - I think they're all beautiful and watchable in their own way. 

5- Which Jane Austen heroine do you feel closest to? 
That is such a good question - I would like to think I am most like Elizabeth Bennet (the line "He wished he could be her" is in my own novel for a reason!), but in reality I am an Emma. 



6- What made you want to write a story about a group of Jane Austen admirers? 
I was rereading books by and about Jane Austen to help me through a difficult time in life, and to be perfectly honest, I wasn't ready to leave that world. I remember starting to write the first few pages of my book, and the phrase "He was becoming quite worried for Mr. Darcy" popped into my head, and I realized that creatively my book could be another vehicle for talking about, and thinking about, Jane. I also wanted to pay homage to her in my own small way, for how much she has given and inspired me.

7- If your novel was made into a movie or tv adaptation (which I hope more than anything!), which actors would you choose?
 I would love RIchard Armitage for Dr. Gray (he is the exact right age!) and this amazing young actress from the recent BBC production of Howards End, Philippa Coulthard, for Adeline. I always saw Hayley Atwell as Mimi when I was writing, Olivia Colman for Frances but with lighter hair, and Matthew Goode for Andrew (although I think Richard Armitage could do a great job there, too!).  My dream Evie is Saoirse Ronan, all the way. Finally, I see James Norton as Adam (swoon!) and Tom Hughes as Yardley. For Jack Leonard, only one actor will do: Armie Hammer.

8- The original idea of your novel made me think of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society and the Jane Austen Book Club, but it ultimately has its own personality. Have you read these novels? 
I actually have not read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but caught the Netflix adaptation last Spring and really enjoyed it. The Jane Austen Book Club was actually a formative reading experience in my life, because it was this brilliant, literary, yet accessible way of spreading the gospel of Jane as broadly and as entertainingly as possible. One of the biggest thrills for me was getting an endorsement of my own book by its author Karen Joy Fowler.

9- Have you ever participated in a book club about Jane Austen? 
I haven't, but I'd love to!

10- Have you ever visited Chawton? 
Yes, many times, and I urge all Austenites to visit there if they ever get the chance. The village itself looks like it has hardly changed since Austen's own time there. And both the Jane Austen's House Museum (the cottage where Austen lived and wrote) and Chawton House (the estate belonging to her brother) have been so beautifully preserved. Whenever I visit, I stand there by the little table where she wrote, and look out the window onto the road where the coaches and villagers would have all passed by under her genius gaze, and I cry every single time.

11- Do you read a lot of novels around Jane Austen?
If yes, which titles or authors do you recommend? I do, and I am indebted to several of them for inspiring and informing my own book. I especially love Deborah Yaffe's Among the Janeites for its dissection of modern Austen fandom, Lucy Worsley's Jane Austen at Home for the way it builds connections between creativity and place, and A Secret Sisterhood: The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf by Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney, for the invaluable way it examines female friendship in the context of making art.

12 - Who are your favorite authors besides Jane Austen?
For me as a reader and a writer, you can draw a direct line from Austen through the Brontes, George Eliot, Henry James, Edith Wharton, E. M. Forster, and Virginia Woolf.

13- Can you tell us more about your projects? 
I am finishing up my second book, and I can't say too much about it, but it too is about a group of people coming together to save a crumbling estate, and the role of art in our lives, and the importance of preserving the past.

super en plus j'ai pratiquement tout compris !
merci !

Merci pour cette interview.

J'aime beaucoup le moment où elle dit qu'elle aimerait être une Elizabeth Bennet, mais qu'elle est plutôt une Emma.

Evidemment, j'ai aussi beaucoup apprécié quand elle parle du casting (qui vend du rêve !), malheureusement, n'ayant pas lu le livre, je ne peux pas vraiment me rendre compte, mais déjà, il y a James Norton dedans.

Merci Emjy pour cette interview très intéressante. Natalie Jenner a suivi un parcours atypique, elle force l'admiration. Elle donne aussi envie d'aller visiter son coin de Canada.

Je constate qu'elle possède beaucoup de point commun avec nous.

@Shelbylee : le casting est impressionnant! Nous pourrons constater lorsque nous lirons le livre.

Je ne crois pas avoir lu son travail, mais ça me donne envie de m'y pencher! Merci pour cette belle interview!!

J’aime beaucoup son casting masculin

Merci à vous deux Natalie et Emjy pour cette interview très spontanée, très franche, très agréable à lire.

Une édition française serait idéal...

Merci beaucoup pour cette interview. J'ai encore plus envie de lire son livre...

Merci! Comme je viens de commencer son livre, je n'ai pas résisté à rechercher un topic sur le sujet !