May, Lou and Cass: Jane Austen's Nieces in Ireland

by Sophia Hillan

Overview

The true story of the lives of Jane Austen’s three nieces, their Pride and Prejudice-style courtships, dramas and disappointments, and their move to turbulent 19th century Ireland in a time of war and famine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780856408687
Publisher:	Colourpoint
Publication date:	10/07/2011
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Sophia Hillan was Assistant Director of the Queen’s University of Belfast’s Institute of Irish Studies. She is the author of a number of critical studies on Michael McLaverty and Sam Hanna Bell and of one novel, The Friday Tree. She is best known for her biography of Jane’s Austen’s nieces, Marianne, Louisa and Cassandra Knight: May, Lou and Cass: Jane Austen’s Nieces in Ireland. She lives and works in Belfast.

www.sophiahillan.com

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 1

Introduction: Daughters of the House 5

1 'Everybody is Rich There': Jane Austen and the Knights of Godmersham, 1779-1817 11

2 'Goodbye from the Cowhouse': Two Weddings, a Scandal and a Refusal, 1817-1826 53

3 'No Money - All Charms': Pride, Prejudice and Persuasion, 1827-1834 73

4 "Wintering in England': Cassandra's Marriage, 1834-1842 93

5 'The Manners There': Louisa and Lord George, 1842-1849 112

6 'Our Lost Home': Marianne and Her Brothers, 1849-1860 140

7 'I Can't Live by Myself: Life After Godmersham, 1860-1881 168

8 'The Fashion to be Poor': Lady George, Miss Knight and Miss Hill, 1879-1895 195

Postscript: A New Century 224

List of Abbreviations 232

Timeline 233

Bibliography 249

Notes 258

Picture Acknowledgements 283

Index 285