The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub

What if Pride & Prejudice's Lydia Bennet wasn't just the selfish and shameless youngest Bennet daughter? What if she was a powerful witch who made a deal with a demon to save her beloved Kitty? And what if she was now on a mission to save another pod fave character from a cursed fate? Stefanie and Melinda discuss the redemption of the youngest Bennet, how well that arc works within a supernatural context, and just what could have been if Mr and Mrs Bennet had cared about Lydia at any point in her childhood, in The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub.

Links & Mentions

A week before this episode was due to air Stefanie and Melinda went to a talk by the iconic Austen scholar, Devony Looser, who is name checked in this episode. Looser's newest work Wild for Austen is incredible and she revealed in it that she has uncovered new evidence that Austen's family was heavily anti-slavery and that three of her brothers were publically pro-abolition and, indeed one of them was a delegate at an anti-slavery conference. It's an incredible discovery, though Looser is at pains to point out that "anti-slavery" does not mean "anti-racist". We highly reccomend you get a copy of the book and jump on any chance you get to hear Devoney speak.

If you are a fan of pithily scathing takedowns, you can find Melinda Taub's letter on behalf of Baroness Von Schrader here. [https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-regret-to-inform-you-that-my-wedding-to-captain-von-trapp-has-been-canceled]

Melinda Taub's new book, The Shocking Experiments of Miss Mary Bennet, can be found on the publisher's website here [https://www.hachette.com.au/melinda-taub/the-shocking-experiments-of-miss-mary-bennet-the-electric-queer-retelling-of-pride-and-prejudice-from-marys-point-of-view]. A note from the hosts: we personally would have called it The Shocking Experiments of Mary Bennet, Scientist but that is because our hobby is being weird about books on the internet… and we love symmetry.

Stefanie used two excerpts as references for the mythology of Seventh Children, the first is from an Occult World article about the seventh child of a seventh child [https://occult-world.com/seventh-child-of-a-seventh-child/] and the second is the Seventh Son, Daughter entry from the Dictionary of English Folklore [https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100457337].

Discover the Shell Grotto for yourself here [https://www.shellgrotto.co.uk/discover].

You can find Lona Manning's research into Lydia as feminist icon [https://www.lonamanning.ca/blog/cmp199-is-lydia-a-feminist-rebel-or-a-victim] here, and you can read Heidi S. Bond's research into Wickham as a serial sexual offender in the her aptly named article, Pride and Predators, here [https://michiganlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/119MichLRev1169_Bond.pdf] - do yourself a favour and read Footnote 2, for one of the best mini plot synopses of Pride & Prejudice we have ever seen.

If you need subtitles or a transcript, these are available through Apple Podcasts. Please note, they are auto generated so we apologise in advance for it not correctly understanding our accents on certain words.

As always you can find us (and our memes) on Instagram @janeaustenremixed [https://www.instagram.com/janeaustenremixed]and you can contact us via [email protected].

Join us every second Monday to hear all about a new adaptation of our favourite classic novel. Next episode we will be reading The Darcy Governess by April Karber. If you're reading along, we encourage you to buy second hand or support your local independent bookshop, where possible.