Middlemarch and Jane collides

This Saturday's Globe and Mail has a whole page on George Elliot's "Middlemarch" and talks about Jane Austen's writing. Strange things happen in the land of Doris.
I have a few pages left to end "The Real Jane Austen" written very well by Paula Byrne. I think she brought a good picture of the culture of the times. Clothing, the army and navy, the manors and how the wealthy interacted with each other.
However my eye strays to my next treasure -
"Empress Dowager CIXI" by Jung Chang. Leafing through this book makes you gasp with wonder how this concubine woman can manage an Empire while bringing in so many changes to modernize the vast country. Beautiful cover of the Empress - long, long fingernails. I remember seeing some older Chinese men in Hong Kong with finger-nails so long they curled around and around and were tobacco coloured with age.
(My fingernails don't break as much now because I have a tablespoon of coconut oil with my breakfast which is at the moment Quinoa - wheat and gluten free.)


Saw Alice Walker's story on PBS last night. (The colour purple) - what a stunning film that was.
She had to live through so much criticism and to top it off, her daughter wrote books and articles condemning her as a mother, like "Mother dearest" with Joan Crawford.
Women who want to "belong to the world" should know they must face this abuse when they have children. There's no way out of it.
So she was a Lesbian in the days when no one talked about it. But she was a real heroine for Black women to tell it like it is. I don't have to worry about that I just tell about fingernails!.


Jane Austen's book reminded me of my brother-in-law's mother.
She came from Royalty - don't ask me the lineage but she showed me once the large icon of her family. She lived with her father and sister in this Dowton Abby looking manor, her mother had died. When the father died, the law at that time would not allow females to inherit the estate, which was massive and as there wasn't any male offspring they were hard pressed to find a male with at least some connection to the family. He was anointed heir and Den's mother and sister were sent away from the estate.
They were set up in a house but it was a miserable time for them. Den's mother married a Veterinarian who was well known around the country and they had six sons (I guess making up for not having had males before. After her husband died she lived on this ancient farm in Ashorne where she bred Shetland ponies and exotic chicken.


Things have changed since then, now females can inherit.
signed