WORLDBOOKDAY
Pride and Prejudice , Jane Austen ( 1775 - 1817 )
First published in 1813 , Jane Austen ’ s timeless classic follows the character of Elizabeth Bennet , a spirited young woman who must learn to navigate marriage in the society of the landed gentry . With an emphasis on class distinctions , upbringing and morality , the novel is a complex reflection on pride , perception and prejudice as Elizabeth finds herself in a love story with the bachelor , Mr Darcy .
It wouldn ’ t be a Kentish literary roundup without including one of literature ’ s most iconic names , Jane Austen , who frequently visited her brother Edward ’ s homes in Goodnestone and later , Godmersham . Born one of eight children in Hampshire , Austen fell in love with reading at an early age and anonymously published six novels within her lifetime including the acclaimed Pride and Prejudice , Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park . During her trips with her brother , Austen often spent days in Canterbury and Ramsgate - even writing about Ashford ’ s Eastwell Manor in a letter dated 1805 . Shortly after a visit to Rowling House , Edward ’ s first Kentish home , Austen began writing First Impressions , a story which later became Pride and Prejudice .
The Thursday Murder Club , Richard Osman ( 1970 - )
The first novel in a four-part cosy mystery series , The Thursday Murder Club follows the lives of a group of four retirees living in the Coopers Chase retirement village : Elizabeth , Ron , Ibrahim and Joyce . When a local developer is found dead , and the only clue is a photograph beside his body , the Thursday Murder Club must rush to solve the case before detectives can .
An English television presenter , producer , comedian and novelist , Richard Osman was born in Essex and raised in West Sussex , where he began pursuing his career as a scriptwriter . His bestselling crime series is set within the fictional town of Fairhaven , a retirement village within the Kentish Weald . Alternating between references to real places in Kent and those that appear completely made up , the novel gives shoutouts to Whitstable oysters , Kent ’ s police and county council , and Tunbridge Wells ’ Virgin Active gym . According to Osman , in order to find the fictional retirement village , you take the following route : ‘ after taking the A21 out of Fairhaven , if you want to find it you should head through Lents Hill , past the Blue Dragon and the little farm shop , before reaching the bridge over the Robertsmere and taking the single-track right turn with its dappled hedgerows .’
The Secret Garden , Frances Hodgson Burnett ( 1849 - 1924 )
A children ’ s novel first published in 1911 , The Secret Garden is a classic pastoral story that revolves around main character , Mary Lennox , who is sent to live with her uncle after the death of her parents in India . A source of healing and companionship , Mary begins to thrive after discovering a hidden door in the garden wall on her uncle ’ s estate . Intensely curious about what ’ s behind it , she uncovers a world overgrown with dormant rose bushes and vines that she can transform into a healthier oasis with the help of her cousin , Colin , just as she can overcome grief and reimagine what family truly means .
Frances Hodgson Burnett was a British- American author and playwright born in Manchester , who lived at Great Maytham Hall near Rolvenden . Before being damaged by a fire in 1893 , Great Maytham Hall was a charming home with a long-neglected garden that Burnett took it upon herself to restore . After removing hedges and adding a rose walk to open up the space , the environment of the rose garden became a vital inspiration to her novel .
Dreamland , Rosa Rankin-Gee ( 1986 - )
Set in a terrifying and uncanny future not that far from home , Dreamland is a dystopian exploration of the effects of rising sea levels on Kent ’ s coastal town of Margate . Having moved from London to begin a new life , the novel ’ s protagonist is met by erratic weather , deep-rooted inequality and creeping political extremism , but as this new chapter unfolds finds friendship , adventure and - most importantly - hope .
A portrait of a futuristic Margate destroyed by climate change and economic instability , it doesn ’ t take a Kentish native to understand the inspirations for Dreamland . Like many writers who have come before her , Rankin-Gee is fascinated by the transitional nature of coastal settings serving as a metaphor for the human condition in a landscape shrouded by mystery and danger . Throughout the novel , readers will find themselves haunted by ‘ the broken spines of old rides at Dreamland ’ and ‘ jagged flashes in the water ’, which serve as the warning for a future where life as we know it might not be so fictional . www . insidekent . co . uk • 45