Author to discuss Jane Austen and George Eliot in Taunton
Edward Whitley will be at Brendon Books in Taunton on Wednesday, March 26 at 6.30pm to talk about his new book, Jane Austen and George Eliot: The Lady and the Radical.
The book explores the unexpected relationship between Jane Austen and George Eliot, two of the most influential writers in British literature.
A chance meeting between Mary Ann Evans, who later became known as George Eliot, and George Lewes in a Piccadilly bookshop in October 1851, is said to have changed the course of literary history.
Encouraged by Mr Lewes, Ms Evans went on to become a major literary figure.
Lewes drew inspiration from Jane Austen, an author from the previous generation.
Though Ms Austen and George Eliot had little in common on the surface, they shared the drive to prove the worth of a woman’s perspective in a male-dominated world.
Despite their different lifestyles and eras, Ms Austen’s works are believed to have inspired George Eliot when she began her writing career in the late 1850s.
Mr Whitley’s book is packed with quotes from letters, diaries, and well-loved novels to trace the connections between these two literary stars and how they might have inspired each other.
Edward Whitley first became interested in the works of Jane Austen and George Eliot as an undergraduate at Oxford.
He has since dedicated his life to re-reading and re-examining their novels in the context of one another.
His previous works include The Graduates, a collection of interviews which was a Private Eye Book of the Year, and Gerald Durrell’s Army, a travelogue about the battle to save rare animals from extinction.
This inspired him to launch the Whitley Awards, which funds wildlife conservation worldwide.
In 2013, he was given the OBE for his work, and to mark the 30th anniversary of the Whitley Awards, he was interviewed by Sir David Attenborough.
To mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth in December 2025, Mr Whitley will be discussing how each writer can be illuminated by the other’s light.
Tickets for the event can be booked by calling 01823 337742 or by visiting Brendon Books in Bath Place.
