May, Lou and Cass: Jane Austen's Nieces in Ireland

by Sophia Hillan

Marianne, Louise and Cassandra Knight were nieces of the great 19th century novelist who gave us Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Jane knew the girls well, reading and sewing with them as they grew up, and they were often the subject of her witty letters.

The Knight sisters went on to lead lives remarkably similar to those of Jane’s heroines, experiencing the pains of blighted love, the joy of patience rewarded, and the sorrow of losing their childhood home, but even Austen could not have imagined that they would find themselves in Donegal at a time when Ireland was riven with famine and war.

May, Lou and Cass tells for the first time the story of the Knight Sisters and their extraordinary journey from the ordered world of Regency England to the turbulent upheaval of Northern Ireland, exploring Irish History and the heritage of the Austen family.

• ISBN13: 9780856408687
• Publish Date: 23 September 2011
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Colourpoint Creative Ltd
• Imprint: Blackstaff Press Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

May, Lou and Cass were Marianne, Louisa and Cassandra Knight, three sisters who were nieces of Jane Austen and knew her growing up, little did anyone realise that all three sisters would end up buried in Gweedore, having lived, in some instances, the majority of their lives there courtesy of Lord George Hill, his marriage to two of the sisters and the hotel he built.

There they would take up the cause of Irish, sell socks that the locals made to soldiers in Crimea, among other places and basically become more Irish than the Irish themselves.

Interesting read, I never really knew about them and I think it's an interesting look at the relationship between Ireland and England and the landed gentry and peasant farmers.