Weldon’s Letters to Alice: On First Reading Jane Austen (Letters to Alice) is an epistolary novel containing a series of letters from Aunt Fay to her niece Alice who is currently studying English Literature at college. Alice has been told to read Jane Austen but thinks that Austen is “boring, petty and irrelevant” (Letters to Alice, Page 7). Aunt Fay attempts to convince Alice to read Jane Austen by talking about the life and work of Jane Austen, and tries to explain Literature to Alice. She encourages Alice to put off writing her own novel until she is more familiar with proper Literature. Aunt Fay then creates the metaphor of the City of Invention where writers create their “Houses of Imagination” (Letters to Alice, Page 11) and readers come and go. Alice finally creates her novel ‘The Wife’s Revenge’ which becomes a bestseller and manages to sell more copies of it in three months than Aunt Fay has done with all of her novels. However, Aunt Fay still offers advice on what to do and read. This series of letters are similar to the letters which Jane Austen wrote to her own niece. Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy who are ‘blinded’ by pride and prejudice.
Letters to Alice - the 'explosion' of change that was occurring at this time with respect to the roles of women within society and the fact that they could now partake in the workforce. Pride and Prejudice - there was not much change occurring during this time which involved the characters of this novel. Letters to Alice – the City of Imagination is the world which is created by writers and that this Literature is “the very essence of civilisation” (Letters to Alice, Page 9). ‘Romance Alley’ which is described by Weldon in Letters to Alice; many of Austen’s novels would be found in this alley in which