PRIDE AND Prejudice, Moby Dick, Anna Karenina.

We’ve all heard of them before, but when do we ever truly take the time to sit down, look up at the hefty books gathering dust upon our bookshelves and appreciate the contribution these 19th century pieces of literature have had on our society and social history?

Very little I imagine.

However, this week, Robert Johnston, a Glagow-born historian based in Halifax, who started from humble beginnings writing sports reports - his first scoop being an article worth seven shillings and sixpence! - came to our monthly meeting and shared his passion and knowledge for the great literary masterpieces of the 19th century.

Johnston told us of he became “hooked on nineteenth century literature, novels in particular” after borrowing a copy of a Charles Dickens book from his local library. He listed amongst his favourite writers Dickens, Twain, Thackeray, Tolstoy and Eliot.

Johnston then began his talk, sharing to the fascinated throng of writers at the April meeting of the Airedale Writer’s Circle the details of Dickens’ political beliefs and Austen’s upbringing and how these attributes affected their writing.

Soon enough, topics and debates were arising, ranging from how impactful Jane Austen’s social commentaries were, the importance of a great opening sentence, and whether or not Charles Dickens really was as good a social reformer as many believe?

Before long, the talk turned into a discussion on the dying interest of these novels. Robert Johnston, however, encouraged us to look past the dense text within these books.

Promising that once that was accomplished, we would soon be transported back to the wild and unforgiving moors, receiving high tea within a stately home, crashing across the South Pacific ocean upon the deck of the Pequod or trying to survive the day within the dank and dirty London workhouses.

These books all portray intricately detailed snapshots of a distant time that has since been lost. A time that, now, we can only dream of.

Our admiration for the great writers of centuries ago soon led to discussions on writing itself: what we enjoy to write, why we love writing so much and what inspires us. Some described their love for writing as an “addiction” whilst others spoke of themselves as ‘a jack of all trades’, writing anything and everything you could possibly imagine.

One of our members, John Roberts, who described himself at the meeting as “an aspiring novelist”, has recently come out with a new novel, Walking Alone, to follow up his best-selling book How The Dice Fell. All proceeds of the books sale will go to Manorlands hospice charity.

Robert Johnston closed with an appreciative applause and thanked the group for their attendance and their contribution toward the evening.

In the next meeting we will be critiquing and reviewing each other’s works. Our group, the Airedale Writers Circle meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 7:30pm at Sight Airedale in Keighley. Anybody and everybody are welcome to come along and join in!