Top Ten Spiritual Jane Austen Places

I'm thrilled to post this!  (Thanks, BajaJaneite for sending in the link -- I've been wanting to share it with you all.)

I did a gallery for BeliefNet with pictures from my trip and thoughts on the spiritual Austen places I visited -- spiritual being rather loosely defined, as in perhaps relating to (ahem...) the cult of Colin Firth. ;-)

Check it out!  The pics are some of my absolute favorites.  They're also running an excerpt from my book.

Photo of the Roman Baths (copyright Lori Smith 2005)

Comments

[Laurie Viera Rigler]

Beautiful photo gallery. And I LOVE the excerpt from your book; it's beautiful and moving. I always get tears in my eyes when I read that evening prayer. You wrote "I'm afraid I'll make some people cringe by tying Jane to Christianity in any form." You certainly did not make me cringe. It is my belief that spirituality pervades Austen; if one is a Christian one will see her work as Christian; if one is a Buddhist one will see it as Buddhist. Or Hindu, or or Jewish. And so on.

[Will]

I'm agnostic, Laurie, and I agree with you...

Austen's severe on empty rituals and religion as a way for people to earn a living and get on; I can't see much spiritualism; however, she is very preoccupied with the way people should behave towards each other.

[Sarah Hartley]

Im really excited to see you wrote a book about jane austins "walks". i live near the border of scotland and i was lucky enough to train as an optician and qualify this year. Ive always been a huge fan of jane austin and one morning while eating my breakfast at godmersham park my friend told me jane had lived in the house. I choked i was probably sitting where shed sat eating her breakfast!!!!! i never realised i had such good luck. I hope you had the opportunity to go inside the mansion. its absolutly breath taking.!! nearly all the old features are there, the lab in the mansion looked so out of place modern equipment surrounded by old pictures and original fireplaces etc. i would be happy to email any photographs i have of gadmersham park if it may be of any help.