I didn’t get into this film first attempt, and then it languished for quite some time before I gave it another go. I didn’t really like the casting, of either Anne Hathaway or James McAvoy, which was a bit of a problem. In truth, I felt the whole thing to be sort of a substandard Austen-esque adaption: yes, it makes her work seem more based on her life, but life can’t hold up to fiction.

However… it’s very very pretty, and at the end of it all I was just so damn grateful to be living in the times that I am. Romantic dramas might not be entirely my cup of tea, but I was left with a profound appreciation that I in the 21st Century would never have to chose between love and family, love and career, or my principles and my family’s welfare.