Jane Austen Mystique Captures our Grandson’s Attention

I love Jane Austen. Who doesn’t? Last year during the pandemic I enrolled in a free lecture series sponsored somewhere in England. So it was with great surprise and enthusiasm when we learned that our 17 year old grandson loved the movie Emma. When I asked his parents why he did, they weren’t certain. So I took it upon myself to ask him what he found so fascinating. He said he really liked the Mr. Knightley character. That’s all I and my husband needed to hear. We were visiting last weekend for his high school graduation after not seeing the family for 18 months. Our grandson was the salutatorian and all around nice guy - in sports, scholastics, cooking, outdoor adventures, etc. When visiting the family we always watch some kind of movie and so we thought Pride and Prejudice was in order - the one with Colin Firth. He said he was only thirty pages from finishing the novel so we watched the first segment of the series. We also mentioned that Sense and Sensibility would be a must see because of Colonel Brandon. Our grandson was then off for a week vacation with five girls and two boys. So upon his return I sent a few texts to hint at finishing watching the shows. The photos included the shirt Mr. Darcy wore that hung in the Folger Shakespeare museum in DC, and images of Jane’s house in Chawton England that we visited. It included the note I wrote with a quill pen telling Jane how happy I was to be there. So I hope these novels inspire this kid to be and do even better things. We are obviously proud of him and now we have another reason. I’m hoping we hear more about what he thought of shows.