tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436417288060370638.post4617960042957631647..comments2024-01-29T03:20:32.291-05:00Comments on ...... SHARP ELVES SOCIETY ...... Jane Austen's Shadow Stories: The Bates apartment is upstairs from a shop for sale of WHAT????Arnie Perlsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01720424361279466002noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436417288060370638.post-49723620106314791042015-08-01T23:50:23.945-04:002015-08-01T23:50:23.945-04:00This is totally ridiculous. Highbury, as Jane Aus...This is totally ridiculous. Highbury, as Jane Austen told her nephew, is based on Leatherhead. From the clues in the novel we know that the Bates's lodging is above the shop on the south west corner of the main crossroads of the town. It is opposite The Crown which is on the north east side of the crossroads and corresponds to The Swan in Leatherhead (we are told it is only a stone's throw away). On the south east corner of the main crossroads is Fords shop. Therefore we can deduce that the Bates's lodging is above another shop. <br /><br />It is highly unlikely that the prime retail space in the exact centre of the town under the Bates's lodgings would be used as a brothel, and if it was, it would be immediately closed down by the town council if it was in such a prominent position bang in the middle of the town. This is preposterous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com