Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Emma Woodhouse, detective?

The recent Guardian podcast with P. D. James on her novel The Lighthouse contains the reminder that she, a huge Jane Austen fan, once wrote a discussion of Emma as detective story. See the appendix of James's autobiography Time to Be in Earnest. Alas, Emma Woodhouse is not a great detective—she fails to see the clues right in front of her regarding her closest relationships. James states during the podcast that Austen would have made a fine mystery writer.

About the image: Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma Woodhouse in Emma (1996, dir. Douglas McGrath)

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