Guest Blog: An Interview with Christina Morland About Her Love of Austen, Writing, & Latest Novel, The Year In Between

My friendship with two fellow JAFF lovers was one inspiration for the Jane Austen State of Mind blog. Through commenting on posts to the Facebook page, Austen Readers, the three of us realized we shared one huge thing in common--our love for the book Seasons of Waiting by Christina Morland. This realization subsequently sparked a friendship between us that has been a real bright spot in the craziness of the past year. Gina, Wendy, and I communicate almost daily through Facebook messenger and have gotten to know each other quite well.

In addition to Seasons of Waiting (which we call SOW for short), we love all of Christina Morland's books! We re-read A Remedy Against Sin awhile back, and next we're planning a re-read/study of her other great novel, This Disconcerting Happiness. We truly believe Christina's work is on a different level than most JAFF--even those books by our other favorite authors. That's why we jumped headlong into her newest novel, The Year In Between. But I digress. This past summer, another JAFF friend, Christina Boyd, put us in touch with Christina and we were able ask her questions about SOW via Zoom. To say we were fan-girling is an understatement, and Christina was so humble and gracious! She promised us an early sneak peak of her then work-in-progress. Of the three of us, Gina was probably the most fervent and was always in the loop reporting back to us when the book might be ready. Since its release last week, Gina and Wendy have finished it, and I'm 50% through it--not too shabby for a book that is over 700 pages! Who needs sleep? Wendy and Gina are still processing the book (so many layers and emotions). Once I finish and undergo the same process, we'll likely post a review on this blog as well.

 With no further ado, I will hand the post over to Gina!

Thanks, Paige for letting me have a little share in the conversation on your blog. I, along with many others, have been anxiously awaiting the release of a new book from Christina Morland as her variations are among my favorites. Paige, Wendy, and I had the pleasure of “meeting” over our mutual gushing over one of Christina’s books, so we decided to really dig into its depths. We got connected with Christina through this deep dive of Seasons of Waiting, and it was such a treat to get to know her a little bit. She was gracious enough to answer many of our questions—impertinent ones too.  When she mentioned she was working on a Sense and Sensibility variation, I honestly can’t overstate how excited I was for its release. I have been eagerly awaiting its publication, and when it released this week, I devoured it in two days.  It’s over 700 pages, so that’s no mean feat.  Christina writes with great sensitivity and understanding of character motivation. I find her characters fascinating and love to get to know them and see their internal struggles as I read her works.  Christina (pictured below) was kind enough to answer some questions I had about her and her work.  I hope you enjoy learning more about her. 

How did you get introduced to Jane Austen?

I don’t think I was even aware of Jane Austen until my senior year in high school (shocking!). That was 1995. Yes, 1995, that blessed year in Austenesque history. I’m sure I must have heard someone say something about that mini-series with Colin Firth. But I didn’t watch it. I mean, what did I care about British costume dramas? However, I did (secretly) love romance novels. I felt like I couldn’t tell many people at college about this because I was trying to be “literary” then. (I can be such a snot at times!)  I did admit my secret to one friend, however-- and I’m so glad, for she said I had to read Pride and Prejudice. It’s not a romance, she said, but almost all romances are based on it. And whoa, was she right! I adored Pride and Prejudice, of course, and not just for the connections to romance novels. I came to love all of Austen’s novels for their humor and their heart. 

What draws you to Jane Austen’s works again and again?

Austen employs a sharp wit; I love how she skewers some of her characters! Yet she can be so compassionate, too. She gave her main characters flaws, real flaws--and I love her for doing that. She has a brilliant understanding of human nature, and she writes in a way that defies categorization. Also, she’s so concise! (As you can see by the length of these answers, this is a skill I lack -- and therefore admire very much!) 

Why do you think her works are so ripe for variations and sequels?

Austen gives us just enough of each character to understand their convictions and their conflicts, but she doesn’t tell us everything. She leaves a lot of space to imagine what they might be thinking as they struggle toward their own version of a happy ending. 

Also, to paraphrase the great critic and philosopher Cornel West, Austen understands human nature in a way that allows her to speak to people in almost any time; she transcended her time, even as she was a child of her time. (You’ve got to check out this Youtube video of Cornel West if you haven’t seen it! In other words, she writes about a very specific time and place (the mostly-white gentry in Regency England); she has certain biases, as we all do. Yet she speaks to human nature in a way that allows people from many times and places to understand themselves and the people around them in her stories. Her ability to reach across time and space is just amazing to me. 

What influences your writing? Are there certain questions you feel all characters must struggle with in novels?

I’ve never been comfortable in my own skin, and that has led me to ask, again and again, in a variety of ways: who am I? While so many of Austen’s characters are comfortable with themselves, they, too, are learning about themselves. Jane Austen uses the marriage plot as a vehicle for self-discovery, and I love that. But I’m a firm believer that marriage and romantic love don’t provide any firm and finished answers to that question, “Who am I?” So, I suppose what influences me is the belief that we’re always searching for more puzzle pieces to ourselves, and the questions my characters most often struggle with are “Who am I?”, “Who do I want to be?”, and “How do I learn to cope with the fact that those questions will never have fixed answers?”

Tell me a little bit about your newest book The Year In Between?

As the title suggests, it takes place during the year in between Elinor’s marriage and Marianne’s. I wanted to know how Marianne becomes the Marianne we see in Chapter 50 (the last chapter) of Sense and Sensibility. I also wanted to know how Elinor, who perhaps never fully believed she would be able to marry Edward, experienced her first year of marriage. 

Will the novel be mostly from Elinor’s perspective, but Marianne’s storyline driving much of the action as in the original Sense and Sensibility or are you taking a different approach?

The novel alternates between Elinor and Marianne’s perspectives. They both have their own storylines, but of course these stories intersect constantly, for they are as close as (or perhaps even closer than) they were in Sense and Sensibility. While we’re often learning more about Elinor’s storylines in the “Elinor” chapters, we’re also getting to see her perspective of Marianne’s development. Same goes with Marianne -- so we see her storylines from her point of view, but we also find out about Elinor through Marianne’s eyes. I really enjoy writing one character’s story through another’s perspective. Maybe it’s because I’m nosy and really like imagining other people’s stories in my own life; or maybe it’s because I’m self-centered, and I secretly hope other people are wondering about my story from their perspective! :-) 

Since your previous published works have all been Pride and Prejudice variations was it especially scary writing a variation for one of her less popular novels?

Yes, definitely -- and that’s part of the reason it has taken me so long to write this book! I’ve started and stopped, started and stopped. And to be honest (probably too honest), I’m still not sure about this book. I love it, and I hope others will, as well, but it was certainly a challenge to give Marianne, Elinor, Brandon, and Edward voices that were their voices -- and not replicas of Elizabeth and Darcy’s!

Pride and Prejudice seems to be the top favorite among fans and the most popular of Jane Austen’s novels to adapt for print. Once you go away from Pride and Prejudice there seems to be a wide difference of opinion on ranking the other five novels.  Sense and Sensibility specifically doesn’t seem to be as beloved as some of her other novels. It’s my second favorite personally, so I am very excited to have a new variation based on it.  What made you want to explore this novel over one of her others?

I’m so glad you’re excited about a Sense and Sensibility variation! I love Sense and Sensibility; it’s very funny, and there is a lot happening with many different characters behind the scenes. So, there’s a lot to work with in this novel. Also  -- beware, I’m going to commit blasphemy and offer gentle criticism of Austen here -- I’ve always struggled with a few aspects of this novel. For one thing, Elinor is near perfect. She might actually grow the least of all the Austen heroines. Elizabeth Bennet, Anne Elliot, Catherine Morland, Emma Woodhouse, Fanny Price -- they all have their flaws, and we love them for those flaws (well, some people never do come to love Fanny Price). Elinor -- she’s the victim of other people’s flaws, and she’s so stoic throughout it all. She’s a real hero, but it also means she doesn’t have to change much in the end. It’s others who change, most notably Marianne. So, I wanted to explore Elinor’s possible flaws and see how she could grow over the course of a novel. Also, let’s just get this out there: Marianne and Brandon. There are so many problems with this romance, and yet I love the idea of it! When Elinor says, “Perhaps...thirty-five and seventeen had better not have any thing to do with matrimony together” (Chapter 8), she’s spot on -- and I’m not just saying this because I’m a woman from the 21st century. There really is a major gap in life experience between Marianne and Brandon. How do they overcome that (without us, as readers, going “Ick!”) And does he see her as just another version of his first love? Does Marianne really come to the marriage thinking of him only as a friend? These are questions I wanted to explore. Also, last point (sorry I’m so wordy): we don’t get enough of Edward in S&S for my taste. I know a lot of people out there don’t like Edward; they see him as weak. But I love him, and I wanted to see more of him, so I wrote this book. 

Any plans to write variations of her other novels?

I’ve toyed with the idea of a modern-ish Persuasion. Others (namely Karen M. Cox) have already done this so well, so I’m not sure there’s a need for me to write this book. But Persuasion was a very important book to me in my late 20s when I felt as if I had made a mistake (not in love, but in terms of my career), and I really needed a thoughtful examination of second chances. So I love that book very much. We’ll see if I do anything with it. 

Finally, what are you working on after The Year In Between?

Well, I’ve also been working on what I once called a P&P “novella” entitled “Disappearing Act.” This was supposed to be out, um, now. I’m going to finish that (and it’s probably not going to be a novella; I can’t write short books to save my life anymore). I won’t say when it’s going to be out because I never can predict when I’ll finish a book.  I also have a few P&P short stories in the works. Maybe I’ll put those together into a collection, though I couldn’t possibly top the anthologies that Christina Boyd puts together. And I have two non-Austen fantasies I’d love to write -- one a time-travel novel, the other a series about a very messed up royal family in a very messed up world. We’ll see. 

Thank you again to Christina for stopping by Jane Austen State of Mind. You can find The Year In Between here at Amazon as well as Christina’s other novels—Seasons of Waiting, A Remedy Against Sin, This Disconcerting Happiness, and The Significance of Sisters.  She is also a contributor to the anthologies Dangerous to Know, Rational Creatures, and Elizabeth: Obstinate Headstrong Girl.