Rural Britain - A Novel Approach

Jane Austen lived a quiet country life, never married, wrote only 6 books (Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Persuasion, Sense & Sensibility) and died young. Her legacy leaves a picture of Georgian and Regency England on the cusp of the Industrial revolution. Visit her rural birthplace in Hampshire, then Bath, then onward to her beloved Chawton home, and then to her final resting place in Winchester.

Mention the landscape of English Literature and most people will think of Charles Dickens. From the London of "Oliver Twist", "A Tale of Two Cities" and "A Christmas Carol" to the seaside locations of "David Copperfield" and the Yorkshire horrors of Dotheboys Hall in "Nicholas Nickleby", Dickens paints a vivid picture of Victorian England.

After the rural idylls of Jane Austen, a visit to the Yorkshire countryside of the Brontë sisters will be a stark contrast. Charlotte (Jane Eyre), Emily and Anne produced different novels and the dark wilderness of "Wuthering Heights" depicts a harsh life in the bleak Yorkshire landscape. Visit the Parsonage where they lived, their every waking moment dominated by an imposing graveyard.

George Eliot's novels take us to the Industrial Midlands and the Black Country. A toughness in the work of this author would suggest a masculine writer, but this was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, a well-educated Victorian lady who was years ahead of her time. She wrote about the Industrial heartland and Midland's countryside, many of those locations remain unspoiled to the present day.

Few authors have been able to capture the rural majesty of England in the way that Hardy did. His tales of Wessex takes us to Dorset, the rolling hills and the sea views provide us with the perfect backdrop for his cast of characters. From "Tess of the D'Urbevilles" to "Jude the Obscure", every facet of human life is dramatically represented, with joy and tragedy in rural country life.

D.H. Lawrence certainly shocked the world with his daring brand of writing. From Constance Chatterley (Lady Chatterley's Lover), his most famous "Lady" to the Brangwen sisters of "Women in Love", he explored sexuality in a way that challenged society on all levels. Visit the Nottinghamshire of his childhood with extracts from his works, "The Rainbow" and "Sons and Lovers."