Jane Austen fans are a devoted bunch. True “Janeites” tend to travel widely to celebrate their favourite author, most often to Bath for the Jane Austen festival. But on the other side of the world sits Governor’s House, a picturesque, yellow Georgian-style mansion in Hyde Park, Vermont. The house, along with its owner Suzanne Boden, draws Janeites from all over the globe – who come not only to celebrate their favourite author, but to live as a character in her world.
Boden had the idea to start hosting Austen weekends at her home 11 years ago. “I was outside hanging tablecloths on the clothesline,” she says, “against the backdrop of Governor’s House, and I was listening to some music through the window, which happened to be Mozart. From the back of the house, you can’t see anything that’s modern because of the trees. And I thought: ‘I could be Jane Austen! And someone else might want to come and be Austen, too.’”
Others did. For more than a decade, Boden, who also offers the occasional Downton Abbey experience, has been hosting in-character weekends where attendees – who range in age from seven to 80 – get the pleasure of living life through the eyes and words of Austen.
“It’s an escape,” says Boden, who encourages guests to eschew modern technology and leave their phones behind. “It’s about going back in time. It’s a chance to dress up. Most of all, it’s a chance to be with, and interact with, other Austen fans, who always have a lot to say. It’s unusual if someone goes home without a long list of book recommendations or film recommendations from new friends.” People come for all sorts of reasons: “One woman clearly thought it was going to be like the movie Austenland and she’d meet her husband here.”
Although guests don’t typically find partners at the rate Austen’s characters do, they do gain new skills: learning to write with a quill pen and fold paper the way the author did, before envelopes existed. They get English country dancing lessons and indulge in afternoon tea. No lunch is served, because, as Boden points out, lunch wasn’t invented in Austen’s time (neither was afternoon tea, but an exception is made). Other weekend activities include sewing reticules (a small purse-like bag used in Austen’s time to carry gloves, a fan, and perhaps even love notes), horse-drawn carriage rides and archery.
A recent weekend dedicated to Emma at Governor’s House drew Janeites from as far away as Texas. On a Friday night, attendees nibbled lemon squares and sipped tea as they watched a short lecture titled “Bared Bosoms and Padded Calves” (on the fashions of Regency England).
There are 79 regional groups in the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) across the US and Canada. When asked why so many Americans love Austen, Boden is incredulous. “Everybody loves Jane Austen! She gets right to the heart of things,” she says. “On the surface, it looks like a little romance, but there are so many layers in her works, which have been translated into – well, how many languages are there in the world? Although it’s very British, she doesn’t mention anything going on politically … so it could be set anywhere.”
Over a breakfast of tea, blueberry muffins and baked eggs, guests discuss favourite books, adaptations, characters – and their shared love for spotting inaccuracies in period films (“I heard there’s a shocking lack of hairpins in the new Little Women!”). Everyone agrees that Henry from Mansfield Park was one of her best male creations, for being sweet, competent and witty. “But he was never witty in a mean way, or at someone else’s expense,” says Lena Ruth Yasutake, a 36-year-old teacher from Connecticut. She runs a Regency clothing business called Cassandra’s Closet (a subtle nod to Austen) with her sister-in-law Anna, who has also joined the party: she had her hair in rag curlers yesterday night and has an Austenesque hairstyle ready for breakfast. Lena’s her devotion to Austen has been hard-won: “I pushed through my dyslexia to finish Emma because I loved the story so much. It was my ‘gateway drug’ into Austen.”
Everybody loves Jane Austen!’ … Women take a turn through the grounds of Governor’s House
The women here tend to come in groups: Vermont bookstore owner Kim Crady-Smith has brought her sister, her niece and a friend, who sit alongside three childhood friends from Dallas, all in their 70s. Ann, who urged her friends Charlene and Mary to join her, has attended other Austen weekends before, and, as a result, ended up joining the Dallas chapter of JASNA. The Dallas meetings aren’t as much fun as Boden’s weekends, Ann says: “After experiencing this, it’s hard to settle for less!”
Janeites delight in Austen’s words and stories, but what most bonds the Americans is a bit more complex. Anglophilia is strong throughout the US; its presence is reflected in Americans’ appetite for British television and film, football, music and more. The enthusiasm for Austen reflects a wider desire to journey into a world that feels foreign and familiar all at once.
At the end of Boden’s weekends, she gives guests a quiz over Sunday brunch. Throughout the weekend, she drops hints and breadcrumbs of information that are answers to Sunday’s quiz. What happens if you fail the quiz? Boden doesn’t miss a beat: “If you flunk, you get the greatest prize of all: you get to reread the novel.”
