This was not the first time I had read 'Emma', but the slow pace of a GR has caused me to see the novel in a different light. I had not realised before how seamlessly the text is structured, or how it is constructed of a great many 'nothings' and minute, seemingly trivial details which may or may not turn out to be significant.

Perhaps because of this I found the text very difficult to get to grips with and post about in the GR context. As I said to my DH a few weeks in, “It's all so elusive. Discussing it coherently is like trying to nail jelly (U.S. 'jello') to the wall!”

The GR rules about not referring to things ahead of that weeks chapters made matters even harder, given the 'trail of clues and a mystery' aspect of the tale, which is something I had heard of but not really understood until now. I will happily admit that my own denseness may be part of the problem too!

Whatever – the end result of the GR for me is that I begin to appreciate what a masterly job JA did with 'Emma'. The other result is that I think I may be falling in love with Mr Knightley – a perfect gentleman who is at the same time a human being imperfect enough to be lovable. Lucky, lucky Emma!