Glenna Matthews grew up in a household devoted to 19th-century British literature. Her mother loved Jane Austen (and re-read the novels on a regular schedule); her father loved Elizabeth Gaskell. But they both loved Charles Dickens, and passed that love onto their daughter. Glenna’s first recollection of Dickens was the family reading Pickwick Papers aloud to each other when she was 12. She loved it—and particularly remembers Mr. Jingle. She went on to read all of Dickens’s novels by the time she was 20.
With a life-long love of Dickens, and as a long-time Bay Area resident, it took a surprisingly long time for Glenna to find the Dickens Universe. She heard about Jill Lepore’s article in the New Yorker (about the 2011 Universe—Great Expectations, as it happens), then found and read the article, and immediately signed up for the 2012 Universe. Because of Lepore’s article, interest in the Universe was particularly high, and Glenna was put on the waiting list, but she got in. And never looked back!
The novel that year was Bleak House. Glenna happened to sit next to John Jordan at dinner the first night (not yet knowing who he was), and they traded stories about how they had come to Dickens—a fine introduction to the Universe! She also met a friend from high school in one of the discussion groups—someone she hadn’t seen in over 50 years. She says it made it seem that she was meant to be here.
What has kept her coming back year after year is the community, the camaraderie that develops when everyone is talking about one novel, and about the lectures, discussions, movies, and all of the shared experiences. She spent her career as a professor of history (primarily American, with focuses on women’s history and Bay Area history), and she enjoyed seeing the intellectual rigor that she experienced in her field brought to this field; but also, she enjoyed being able to participate as a fan, rather than as an academic—“without the angst,” as she says.
Those of you who have attended the Universe will recognize this sense of camaraderie—the endless conversations during meals, breaks, and often late into the night. But for the last few years, Glenna hasn’t been able to attend in person, and has taken advantage of the remote option. Although she misses the social aspect, she still keeps coming back for the high quality of the lectures. She is continually impressed by the ability of the speakers to bring intriguing, sophisticated insights to bear on the text, while making these ideas accessible to a wide range of non-experts. She also continues to enjoy the discussion sections, both for the variety of ideas provided by participants with varied backgrounds, and for the way they provide at least some of the social interaction of the in-person Universe.
This year Glenna will co-host the remote version of the Dickensian Seminar. She will bring her early love of Mr. Jingle to bear on discussions of the many marvelous minor characters in Great Expectations. It will be her way of giving back for the “gift” that the Universe has been to her—with her parents both gone, she feels like it is an annual opportunity to live in a world that they loved—a world of Dickens.
