Joan Aiken

#2

1992

This is an original novel and not a pastiche by Joan Aiken, exploring the possible history of spoiled, rich, Emma Woodhouse and her contemporary, young orphan Jane Fairfax. Both are pretty, clever and talented children, although the disparity in their fortunes and station in life will necessity place Emma in the role of patroness, and Jane that of patronized. The book takes us past the childhood of our two heroines and through the events of Austen's novel, but with clear-eyed and independent Jane as the narrator (of course, the reader never does get a satisfactory explanation of how she winds up with that insufferable jackass Frank Churchill. Jane could do much better). Aiken's mastery of 19th century language and mores makes this a particularly enjoyable book.

#3

1966

Having had enough of life on board the ship that saved her from a watery grave, Dido Twite wants nothing more than to sail home to England. Instead, Captain Casket's ship lands in Nantucket, where Dido and the captain's daughter, Dutiful Penitence, are left in the care of Dutiful's sinister Aunt Tribulation. In Tribulation's farmhouse, life is unbearable. When mysterious men lurk about in the evening fog, the resourceful Dido rallies against their shenanigans with help from Dutiful, a cabinboy named Nate, and a pink whale.