🎙️ Simply Stunning Classic Book Club

Daddy Long Legs, by Jean Webster

This month we discussed Jean Webster’s Daddy Long Legs. First published in 1912, the blurb for this one is below: A trustee of the John Grier orphanage has offered to send Judy Abbott to college. The only requirements are that she must write to him every month and that she can never know who he is. Judy's life at college is a whirlwind of friends, classes, parties and a growing friendship with the handsome Jervis Pendleton. With so much happening in her life, Judy can scarcely stop writing to 'Daddy-Long-Legs', or wondering who her mysterious benefactor is . . . A coming-of-age novel, Daddy Long Legs is told entirely through the letters Judy sends to her anonymous benefactor. The question we all had was how this one would stand up to scrutiny through a 2026 lens. Is it problematic, or simply an innocent and tender friends-to-lovers romance? This one was Donna’s choice, so don’t miss the introductory information she gives us at the start. With Deb away on holiday, we will be taking a break for a few months, but our next book is George Eliot’s The Mill On The Floss… If you’d like to read along, you have until August to do so. Thanks for reading Simply Stunning Classic Book Club! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simplystunningclassicbookclub.substack.com [https://simplystunningclassicbookclub.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

A Murder is Announced, by Agatha Christie

Alrighty, so, welcome back to the Simply Stunning Classic Book Club where we’re (wait for it) Booked on the Classics. Thank you. I’m here all week. This one was my choice, and boy, did I dither about it. Was an Agatha a lazy choice? Surely we’d have nothing to discuss that hadn’t been discussed before? In the end though, it was pure selfishness that sent me towards an Agatha Christie. You see, as hard as it might be for you to believe – especially given that I write cosy crime – I’d never read an Agatha Christie. Spoiler alert: now I’m hooked. As it turns out, although I was concerned we wouldn’t have a great discussion on this one, we actually had quite a bit to say. Anyways, have a listen. Just ignore the part where I stuffed up the introduction. Hey ho. Next time: We’re reading Daddy Long Legs, by Jean Webster. Thanks for reading Simply Stunning Classic Book Club! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simplystunningclassicbookclub.substack.com [https://simplystunningclassicbookclub.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift

Life just keeps happening, so it took us a while to get together and discuss this one. While I personally didn’t enjoy the book, in many ways it was the perfect book club book, as it generated plenty of healthy discussion. Anyways, have a listen and let us know if you’ve read it and what you think… Next time: A Murder is Announced, by Agatha Christie Thanks for reading Simply Stunning Classic Book Club! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simplystunningclassicbookclub.substack.com [https://simplystunningclassicbookclub.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

It's all about Jane...

This month’s theme came about because 16 December last year would have been Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, so it seemed the perfect time to talk about all things Jane. Life, though, had other ideas and rather than meeting in December, we’re a month or so late, but you know what? Hay ho and all that. Having already read and discussed the full novels Austen published during her life, we all approached this chat differently. A few of us read the novella, Lady Susan; I took it as an opportunity to reread Persuasion (for the eleventyhundredth time); Sue read Jane Austen’s The History of England, and we all went down Jane Austen rabbit holes. During the chat, I mention an article in The Times where screenwriter Andrew Davies was looking to develop three Austen works - Emma, Mansfield Park, and The Watsons. Rather than rehashing the books, he’s taking a deeper and, dare I say, darker view. A what-happens-after-bin-night view. The full article is here [https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/slavery-and-psychopaths-the-dark-side-of-jane-austen-gt99vwctm], but it is behind a paywall, so an extract is below: This time he will tell it from the perspective of Jane Fairfax, whom he describes as “the true heroine of the novel”. In the book, Fairfax is the only woman whom the titular Emma envies. She also has a secret engagement with Frank Churchill after a passionate encounter in Weymouth. It is a dramatic situation and Davies is keen to dwell on the difficulties in their relationship. Davies said: “Jane falls for Frank — he’s very plausible, very charming and his charm comes from something very dangerous. He’s been hurting all his life, so poor Jane is trapped. If this were a modern story, she’d be able to give him up or have an abortion or whatever, but in this story she’s enthralled to a psychopath basically.” … “Sadly, Emma dies in childbirth a year after the wedding,” he said, drawing cries of “You can’t do that!” from the audience. He continued: “Frank doesn’t take to marriage well, he’s unfaithful and makes Jane very unhappy, runs away and dies a dissolute wretch. This takes about four years.” It wasn’t all bad news. In the end, Davies has Emma’s widower Mr Knightley journey up to Yorkshire and marry Fairfax. We also talked about several spin-off novels that are well worth a read. Among these were: * Longbourn, by Jo Baker - a retelling of P&P from the viewpoint of the servants * The Mr Darcy and Miss Tilney series by Claudia Gray - where the next generation teams up to solve mysteries * The Heiress, by Molly Greeley - the untold story of Miss de Bourgh * The Clergyman’s Wife, by Molly Greeley - Charlotte Collins’ (nee Lucas) story Anyways, have a listen and let us know your favourite Austen novel in the comments. This month we’re reading Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift. The Simply Stunning Classic Book Club is: * Joanne Tracey * Debbie Harris * Sue Loncaric and * Donna Connolly You can find out more about us, and links to our pages, here [https://simplystunningclassicbookclub.substack.com/about]. Thanks for reading Simply Stunning Classic Book Club! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simplystunningclassicbookclub.substack.com [https://simplystunningclassicbookclub.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare

It had to happen, we had to take on the challenge of the bard himself - William Shakespeare. Most of us are forced into reading Shakespeare in high school and, as a result, have a dislike for it. I was fortunate to have a great teacher for extension English in my last year of high school. She brought King Lear alive for us, and I developed an appreciation for it. When I lived in Sydney, I made a habit of going to see at least one Bell Shakespeare production a year. I’ll never forget Baz Luhrmann’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream set in an English garden party with the men in cricketing flannels and boaters and the women in bustles and parasols. There was also the production at Parramatta Riverside Theatre of (I think) The Tempest, where, weirdly, they included The Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun” as the music. I don’t recall the play as much as the incongruity of the music. Anyways, it’s fair to say some of us had some trepidation going into Much Ado About Nothing, and we all approached it differently, something we discussed in our book club meeting. One thing I completely forgot to bring up in book club (and I have no idea how I forgot) is the whole debate over whether Shakespeare is who he was supposed to be. Much of this centres around the fact that despite him being so well known, we actually don’t know a lot about him. Some academics have gone as far as suggesting a woman might have authored Shakespeare’s work. Jodi Picoult’s By Any Other Name creates a fictional narrative of this theory. I currently have this on reservation at the library and can’t wait to read it. In Much Ado About Nothing, the character of Beatrice is the most textured of all - and remarkably feminist in attitude for the time … could she have been written by a man? On that bombshell, I’ll leave you to listen to the podcast, aka the recording of the book part of our book club meeting. Next month, for our Christmas special, we’re trying something different. We won’t all be reading the same book, but instead talking about Jane Austen. I can’t wait … Thanks for reading Simply Stunning Classic Book Club! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simplystunningclassicbookclub.substack.com [https://simplystunningclassicbookclub.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]