Joanna Trollope: I’m good, Jane Austen is great
The Independent has a Q&A with novelist Joanna Trollope. One of the questions asked how Ms. Trollope compared her work to Jane Austen’s:
Some compare you to Jane Austen. Others suggest that you write middlebrow fiction masquerading as something more serious. How would you define your writing?
Liam Holland, IpswichWell, they shouldn’t. The comparison to Jane Austen makes me fidget. There is a huge gulf between being great and being good. I know exactly which category I fall into and which she falls into. They are not the same. On a good day, I might be good. I think of my writing as contemporary accessible fiction and it really isn’t for me to add the qualifying adjectives. The word “masquerading” tells me more about the person using it than about the quality of my writing.
Ooooh. Burn! (And quite Jane-worthy, we think!)
February 4th, 2005 at 10:17 am
“Who’s a trollope?” ROTF. Sorry, that’s one of my favorite jokes from Bridget Jones, and I always think of it whenever I run across Anthony or Joanna. I’ve never actually read any of her stuff though; I’ll have to give it a try.
February 14th, 2005 at 6:10 am
There was a letter in the Independent today correcting the original “Ask the Questions” - Joanna is no relation of Anthony, apparently.
February 14th, 2005 at 9:19 am
Really? I’d always understood they were related. Huh. Amazing how those things get around and get accepted as fact!