(Note: As previously indicated, the Lowndes books I have read are mostly available on Gutenberg and/or Amazon. In past reviews of early 20th century books, I have not made any effort to offer content warnings, on the assumption that anybody reading these reviews knows better than to expect present-day attitudes on certain topics from books of this timeframe. I am continuing with that assumption here.)

“Fanfics” is maybe a strong word for it; “remixes” or “riffs” might be better. But there are definitely places where you can see kind of a Jane Austen strain in the Lowndes novels, both in their interest in the social order and their microscopically close study of the characters’ emotions, even though Lowndes is not remotely in Austen’s league as a writer. The title character in Heart of Penelope has something of an Elizabeth Bennet vibe – plus nicer parents and more money and a hundred years of progress in the status of women, but minus Mr. Darcy. The title character in Jane Oglander is a bit like the “people-pleaser” interpretations of Jane Bennet, although the situation she’s in during the later stages of the novel would look more familiar to Elinor Dashwood or Fanny Price.

The novels I discuss below have a stronger Jane Austen angle than usual; two of them namecheck Austen characters and one recognizably reworks the Henry Crawford subplot from Mansfield Park.

Continue reading “The Novels of Marie Belloc Lowndes: The Jane Austen Fanfics” →