In the early 19th century a young woman took the world by storm with her novels Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma. These books stand as key works and milestones in English literature and yet are not merely academically interesting and they continue to entertain readers today. Her progressive literary style and insightful irony mean that, 200 years later, the world is still enamoured with the works of Jane Austen. Yet few know about her connections with Ireland. Dr Sophia Hillan is one of these few and she has started to spread the word with her book May, Lou, & Cass: Jane Austen's Nieces in Ireland.
Listen back as Sophia and Susan journey into 19th century Ireland to look at the lives of Marianne, Louisa, and Cassandra Knight. Find out what it was like for these women to live in an aristocratic society where the shadow of their aunt and her literature still dominated society and thought. Through atmospheric and entertaining readings Sophia takes us back to a land dominated by class, prestige, and decorum as we find out why the Knight sisters left England for Irish shores and what Jane Austen's special relationship with Donegal was.
In the second part of the show Susan is visited by Senator David Norris as the two try to get to grips with one of the most important books in the English language: the Book of Common Prayer. First published in 1549 during the reign of Edward VI the Book of Common Prayer furthered the Anglican reformation started by Henry VIII as it made the prayers and liturgies used in all Church services available in the vernacular English. For the next 200 turbulent years of religious reform the Book of Common Prayer underwent numerous changes until the 1662 Act of Uniformity established the definitive version.
There are few books that have influenced the world as much as the Book of Common Prayer and it has reached far beyond the limits of the Church of England. Yet this is not a forgotten book relegated to academic study and the annals of history. In this interview Susan and Senator Norris plumb the depths of the living and breathing Book of Common Prayer. While Senator Norris' years as a former lecturer and scholar of English in Trinity College Dublin shine through, it is his own relationship with the Book of Common Prayer that steals the interview. 
Listen back as 'Talking History' talks with Senator Norris about the impact the Book of Common Prayer has had on literature and the English language and what it has meant in his own personal life in terms of comfort and support. Is this one of the most important work of literature ever written? What does it say? And what is it that makes this book so special to so many people?
