Jane Austen would have been Shocked

Firstly, thanks to BikerBabe and Arell for instigating this madness!

For Boxing Day, the picture shows a red phone box (details to be completed by those with a decent education), which several years ago was the subject of great controversy in the quiet, conservative hamlet of Steventon.

According to the local press and social media (and possibly the town crier), residents were at their wits end and curtains twitched incessantly as streams of strangers parked their cars by the box / library, leapt out, spent a few minutes rummaging through the donated books, then drove off as suddenly as they arrived.

Their quest was to discover the well-thumbed, racy paperbacks which were being 'donated' and then declared on social media for the keenest of eyes to spot and the swiftest to seek out and claim. Some locals had unwittingly suffered shock as they innocently visited to exchange their reading material and caught a few phrases as they chose their next volume; apparently some of the most avid Jane Austen followers even needed to take medication - yet for several weeks locals seemed unable to track down the culprit or prevent this scourge in the quiet North Hampshire community.

Eventually the supply (or the energy of the culprit) faded, peace and tranquility returned to the community and the reporter fastened his raincoat and shuffled off in search of another scoop.

The basis of this tale is true, but I'd like to express my gratitude to the fact-checking team from GB News for their efforts in ensuring the accuracy of this post.

Extra blip shows the narrowness of the lane and the obvious difficulty for even the smallest of local horse-drawn outfits to pass when cars queue by the phone box. The bicycle is not representative of the Jane Austen period.