Book Description
Now in Penguin Classics—a treasure trove of Jane Austen’s novels

Few novelists have conveyed the subtleties and nuances of their own social milieu with the wit and insight of Jane Austen. Here in one volume are her seven great novels: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and Lady Susan. Through her vivacious and spirited heroines and their circle, Austen vividly portrays English middle-class life as the eighteenth century came to a close and the nineteenth century began. Each of the novels is a love story and a story about marriage—marriage for love, for financial security, for social status. But they are not romances; ironic, comic, and wise, they are masterly evocations of the society Jane Austen observed. This beautiful volume covers the literary career of one of England’s finest prose stylists of any century.

“These modern editions are to be strongly recommended.”
—Brian Southam, The Jane Austen Society ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Practical
I love this copy of Jane Austen's stories. It's great to have all the novels together and it's not too heavy or bulky to sit and read. A good addition to any library.

Books Included
The books included weren't listed so I went to Penguin Classics and copied their information:

Here in one volume are her seven great novels: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and Lady Susan.
A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition with French flaps and luxurious packaging
Features the definitive Penguin Classics texts recommended by the Jane Austen Society
New introduction by bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club Karen Joy Fowler

Excellent Complete Edition -- Penguin Classics Deluxe
There are several complete editions on Amazon of Austen's novels, so I thought I would write a review recommending this one (the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition). It lays open in your hand, has nice paper and high-quality paperback binding and cover, and it has perfectly sized type and wide inside margins. Other than the substantial size and weight (though it is not nearly as inconvenient as quarto-sized complete editions, such as the classic Sherlock Holmes), it is a perfect volume for those who are more interested in reading Austen than admiring how she looks on the shelf.

By contrast, the Modern Library hardcover edition (which I compared in person at the bookstore) has such a narrow inside margin that the reader must strain to read bent text or to force the binding to open more and the paper to lay flatter. Otherwise, it was a nice edition. For me, they ruined it by this simple mistake.

The leather bound edition from the Library of Literary Classics is a nice idea, and I have not seen it in person. I did notice, however, that the table of contents shows how little space they manage to squeeze Austen's novels into. It has far fewer pages than the Penquin Classics Deluxe Edition. When previewing the pages of text, this seems apparent in the very small type. As I said, I have not seen it in person, so I may be wrong, but it looks like it might be a strain to read, whereas the Penguin is quite comfortable. Hopefully Penguin will provide preview images soon so potential buyers can "Look Inside" and compare for themselves.

It is wonderful that there are so many editions of Austen to choose from. The choice is personal and subjective. I will spend many, many hours reading mine, so I chose the one that I thought would be the most comfortable. I do not want to fight the book -- I want it to disappear so that my imagination may wander unhindered with Jane's characters. I hope you enjoy the novels, whichever edition you choose. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (23)

Jane Austenthe complete novels, the delux edition
Jane Austen: The Complete Novels, Deluxe Edition (Library of Literary Classics)
This is a beautiful book. Since it contains all the novels it is a handful but nicely bound with a leather cover and edge gilded pages. Since it is a weighty volume it has to be well made to stay together. I am half way through the book and it still looks like new. An incrediblebargain at this price.

The Austen Reader
The Jane Austen collection is a complete volume of her novels that are being presented this season by Public Television stations across the USA.I like this book because it provides me with the actual novel from which the TV productions were derived. The only problem with the book is that it is a bit heavy to hold.

Great Gift/Price
I bought this book for my sister-in-law as gift. It's a beautiful book at a very good price.

Be Still My Heart!
I was beyond impressed with this book, with such a cheap price I didn't expect much and I am pleased to say that it is everything I hoped for a more.

I have only seen the movies based on her books but watching them I couldn't help but feel things were left out so I simply had to purchase the book and I am glad that I did.

This is simply....Perfect!

Jane Austen: The Complete Novels
A beautiful leather bound book that will be a keepsake for anyone who is a Jane Austen fan. It contains all of her novels except Sanditon, the unfinished novel.I highly recommend it.It is priced right too. ... Read more

Book Description
A sublime comedy of contemporary manners, this is the novel Jane Austen might well have written had she lived in twenty-first- century California.

Nothing ever moves in a straight line in Karen Joy Fowler's fiction, and in her latest, the complex dance of modern love has never been so devious or so much fun.

Six Californians join to discuss Jane Austen's novels. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens. With her finely sighted eye for the frailties of human behavior and her finely tuned ear for the absurdities of social intercourse, Fowler has never been wittier nor her characters more appealing. The result is a delicious dissection of modern relationships.

Dedicated Austenites will delight in unearthing the echoes of Austen that run through the novel, but most readers will simply enjoy the vision and voice that, despite two centuries of separation, unite two great writers of brilliant social comedy.Download Description
A sublime comedy of contemporary manners, this is the novel Jane Austen might well have written had she lived in twenty-first- century California. Nothing ever moves in a straight line in Karen Joy Fowler's fiction, and in her latest, the complex dance of modern love has never been so devious or so much fun. Six Californians join to discuss Jane Austen's novels. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens. With her finely sighted eye for the frailties of human behavior and her finely tuned ear for the absurdities of social intercourse, Fowler has never been wittier nor her characters more appealing. The result is a delicious dissection of modern relationships. Dedicated Austenites will delight in unearthing the echoes of Austen that run through the novel, but most readers will simply enjoy the vision and voice that, despite two centuries of separation, unite two great writers of brilliant social comedy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (263)

Pretty good, buta little choppy at times
Mostly, I enjoyed reading the Jane Austen Book Club.I felt like the story was a little choppy at times, since the narrative does jump back and forth between the different characters, so you never get a really full picture of any one of the women. But, I did think that the author did a good job of pulling the different themes of austen out into the different women.It's a fun read for an austen addict (like me) because it makes you revisit each of her books with the women as you read!

Mediocre book if you're desparate
I bought the Jane Austen Book Club at the airport when I was making a connection, so I didn't have too much time to browse.This book couldnt even keep my attention on my very long flight though I had absolutely nothing else to do.The characters are somewhat interesting, but overall I wouldn't recommend buying this book.

Waste of time
The only good part of this book are the quotations about Jane Austen in the back.That said, this book has no interesting dialog, there are few comments about Austen's books and they are random and are usually a vehicle to comment on the character making the statement.Also the action jumps all over the place affecting the flow of the narrative.Add to that the fact that you probably won't care in the slightest about these lackluster, poorly defined people.Very sorry I bought the book and wasted time reading 70 pages.

Witty and Sophisticated
The Jane Austen Book Club is a sophisticated, yet delightful story about how fiction, in this case fiction by Jane Austen, intersects with the lives of readers. It becomes clear very early in this well-crafted story about reading that the characters, all members of The Jane Austen Book Club of course, have their own ideas of who Jane Austen really was.

The book very possibly answers the question, is it possible for a reader to remain neutral when reading a literary classic, or fiction at all for that matter? The answer is no. And for any reader who has ever been told they were wrong about what a particular story meant (remember those old college English classes?), they will be happy to read about a group of people who also have a hard time separating their views of life with those in the literature they read.

Filled with fun and equal doses of wit and wisdom, much like an Austen novel, The Jane Austen Book Club entertains and is very well worth reading. Even if you aren't well-versed in all things Jane Austen, if reading is a big part of who you are, you will thoroughly enjoy this novel about human nature and how our triumphs and flaws draw us to the novels we read.

The Jane Austen Book Club
Despite some portions of the book that are quite interesting and even humorous, on the whole I found the book to be profoundly boring. I would have set the book aside if it were not for the fact that my Book Group had chosen this as our monthly selection. So, I plowed through it. Come to find out the Book Group was unanimous in their appraisal that this was one boring book! The book reads like a soap opera and the movie does likewise.
However, there is one redeeming value to the book: It does offer some insights into some of the possible dynamics of book groups. Yet, this is not justification enough to read the book. ... Read more

Product Description
This collection of original Jane Austen letters nicely augments her famous books and other material to give a complete picture of the great ladyAmazon.com
Jane Austen famously labeled her literary ambit a "little bit (two inches wide) of ivory." Luckily, her personal travels and those of her family were slightly more extensive, otherwise we should be without her letters. Not only should every Janeite possess them, but also every connoisseur of correspondence. Austen's wit is ubiquitous--even though some protest it edges into waspishness. E. M. Forster, for example, described the letters between Austen and her beloved sister, Cassandra, as "the whinnying of harpies."

On September 18, 1796, she tells Cassandra, "What dreadful Hot weather we have!--It keeps one in a continual state of Inelegance.--If Miss Pearson should return with me, pray be careful not to expect too much Beauty..." The dashes and capitalization alone make one long for the days before stylistic rules had so cemented. As for the sentiments! Austen paces her monologues to perfection, making the comic and ironic most out of the smallest incidents. Still, her frustration does occasionally emerge. "I am forced to be abusive," she implodes to Cassandra, "for want of a subject, having nothing really to say." Jane Austen has more than enough to say for lovers of literature and the cultural pinprick. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

good contents but poor presentation
It's great to have such a compilation of Jane Austen's Letters, but unfortunately the edition I bought looks like a xerox photocopy more than a book. It's difficult to discover it when it's an internet purchase. Thank God it was for myself and not a gift, 'cause I'd be a little ashamed to give it to someone else...

Amazing Treat!
I ordered Deirdre Le Faye's edition of Jane Austen's Letters with a certain amount of trepidation, which only increased when I received the book and realized its size. I am a huge Jane Austen fan, but I was afraid her personal letters might be boring, confusing, and hard to wade through. I was wrong!!! The very first letter, with its mention of Tom Lefroy, had me hooked! Jane Austen's letters are every bit as engaging as her novels. They are full of the wit and humor with which those of who read her novels are very familiar. It is such an amazing treat to get a glimpse at who Jane Austen really was to her family and friends.

Most of Jane Austen's letters are to her sister Cassandra, but there are also letters to her brothers, friends, and towards the end, her nieces and nephews as well as publishers. The letters start off very conversationally with updates on family, friends, and acquaintances as well as minutia about dress and household cares. Towards the end there are many references to her novels and their publication, and Jane Austen's excitement over publication and popular success as a novelist is very evident. Jane Austen even gives advice on love and marriage to one of her nieces. I must confess, the last several letters before her death and Cassandra's letters afterwards were very sobering after hundreds of pages of almost pure delight.

As much as I enjoyed Deirdre Le Faye's edition of Jane Austen's Letters, I do realize it is not for everyone. Since there are so many family members and friends mentioned in the letters, it would help to have read biographical material about Jane Austen previous to reading her letters. Otherwise, the letters may be a bit confusing. I believe this edition is the most current and up-to-date compilation of her letters, and I would highly recommend it to serious Jane Austen fans already somewhat familiar with her life.

Shoddy treatment of such valuable things!
I dare not argue with the importance of Jane Austen's letters, nor with the pleasure to be obtained by reading them. This edition, however, is the poorest-bound book I have ever seen! I just received it in the mail, and the copyright page has already fallen out. The margins are equally dismal, and I am afraid one reading will finish the whole thing off. Buy this edition if you must, but find a better copy if you can.

Great insight into an author who didn't write enough!
I think all Austen fans lament her early death - only six completed novels just isn't enough!

These letters do help fill that gap.Austen was smart, honest, funny; you can hear her voice so clearly in these letters.It is a shame that her sister destroyed most of her letters before she died (since she thought they were too indecent or personal or just downright mean!), but I allow Austen SOME privacy!These letters are just wonderful.

The only slight drawback is that, as a lay person, the layout was a little cumbersome.I'm not a Regency expert, so I needed to keep flipping back to the explanatory notes to understand the language.That flipping became annoying at times.I would prefer to have the notes at the bottom of the page so I could scan them without leaving the body of the letter.Just a personal preference thing, though.

Disintegrating letters.
I had already read Jane Austen's letters but wanted to have my own copy. They give a fascintating insight into her life, although somewhat limited by the fact that her sister Cassandra burnt all of Jane's leters to her after Jane's death. Unfortunately the copy I have recently bought is poorly bound and the pages started coming loose the first time I opened it. I just couldn't be bothered returning the book from New Zealand. ... Read more

Book Description
This complete set of the novels of Jane Austen is now reissued as a boxed set with handsome new jackets. Using the definitive text established by R.W. Chapman, with later revisions by distinguished scholars, the set presents the most authoritative and comprehensive edition available - invaluable for students and enthusiasts of Jane Austen's work.Each volume contains notes and appendices, and indexes of characters, and the set is illustrated with a charming selection of early nineteenth-century plates. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Muddyboo's Misunderstanding
Muddyboo's review claimed that he had twice received this set with a flaw at the bottom of every page, "an erroneous word" there by mistake.

Apparently he is unacquainted with books printed in the 19th century and early 20th century.They regular print, at the bottom right of every page, the first word of the following page.This was believed to be helpful to the reader.

It is NOT a "flaw" nor a misprint.It show how exactly correct this wonderful edition is.It is much the finest edition of the many editions of Austen's works I personally own.

THANK YOU, Jane and Amazon
I have been watching the PBS'sThe Complete Jane Austen shows for a few weeks now and wanted to get a set of her books to enjoy as well. I came across this set and feel that I got more then my money's worth when I brought it. First of all, the price was just 37.50 and now I see it is back to 94.50. Secondly, the set it self is a good size. Not as small as paperbacks and not as large as some hardcovers making it easy to carry around and still clear in font size. Before I saw this, I was going to buy each book at BN which would have costed me much more. I got what I wanted here and for an amazingly good price. Thanks Amazon!

Don't bother with this edition
Yes, Oxford alright, but a facsimile edition of the first printings from Jane Austen's own lifetime plus a facsimile of the Chapman edition from 1923 (that's as much as I could make out; it requires quite an amount of historical criticism in itself to reconstruct this edition) In other words, it has charm but for our modern eyes, spoiled by superclean desktop publishing, the print is too small, too narrow and WAAAAAY too irregular. I could accept this if it were either an original first edition, or else, if this edition were really cheap. But it isn't. In fact, it's quite costly. My advice: go with the Barnes and Noble editions; they are set in clean type and the introductions are interesting and readable. Plus, they cost a fraction of this edition

Beautiful item
This was purchased as a Christmas gift to our daughter. She loved them, and is already re-reading her favorite novel.

Publishing error is distracting and ruins quality of set
I recently ordered this set off of Amazon and each book had a publishing error that reprinted one extra, erroneous word at the end of almost every page.Very irritating.This item was purchased as a gift for a friend's vacation retreat library.The flaw made it tacky and diminished the quality significantly.I had to return it.It was just lazy and cheap of University Press to sell this printing.Amazon sent a replacement set and it had the same flaw, even though they assured us that it wouldn't.So, I am going with another publisher altogether, and from another book vendor. Don't waste your money on this more expensive collection. It can't even get the basics right. ... Read more

Book Description
Explains Austen's methods, motivations, and morals

The fun and easy way(r) to understand and enjoy Jane Austen

Want to know more about Jane Austen? This friendly guide gives the scoop on her life, works, and lasting impact on our culture. It chronicles the events of her brief life, examines each of her novels, and looks at why her stories - of women and marriage, class and money, scandal and hypocrisy, emotion and satire - still have meaning for us today.

Discover
* Why Austen is so popular
* The impact on manners, courtships, and dating
* Love and life in Austen's world
* Her life and key influences
* Her most memorable characters ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

Jane Austen Comes To Life
I have heard a great deal about Jane Austen over the years but could not get enthused about her writing.I read guides to Jane Austen with the same result.So it was with reluctance that I began reading this book when a friend loaned it to me.Suddenly, Jane Austen came to life.I could see things in Jane's writing that had eluded me for years.Joan Ray's writing style is comfortable and at the same time highly informative.If you want to have an eye opening experience about one of the great writers, I suggest that you pick up a copy of this guide.Thanks for your time.

Ed Paris

Best primer on Jane Austen and her times
I have read numerous books about Jane Austen and her times, but this is by far the best of the bunch.I am used to mining nuggets from other books about the author and the Regency, but in "Jane Austen for Dummies," all of the information is there in well organized chapters in which the reader can move from one chapter to the next and back again with ease and without "losing one's place."If you want a well-organized reference book that is well written and entertaining, "Jane Austen for Dummies" is the one.

A Bon Bon for Austen Fans
I found this book utterly delightful. The author is an academic with real expertise on Jane Austen and her writings; the delight is her witty, accessible style. She takes the reader on a journey that gives real insights into: Georgian England and English gentry; the Austen family; contemporary English events; primogeniture; flirting and dancing; and more, then shows how these topics show up, albeit subtly, in Austen's writings.

I am thoroughly enjoying my prerusal of the book and I'm glad that I bought it as it is defintely something I want on my bookshelf. I recommend it as a must have for Austen fans.

Feasting on Austen
Jane Austen for Dummies will leave a contented smile on the face and satiated delight in the belly of even the most discriminating Austen afficionado!Joan Klingel Ray's scholarship is evident, but the manner in which she doles out both the essential and the trivial ingredients of all manner of things Regency and Austen will satiate any literary taste bud. I loved the organization of the text and the index is fabulous.I would love to see this book "taught"; it would enhance immeasurably the certain enjoyment of reading any of Asuten's novels.

Think You Know Jane Austen?
You may be surprised to learn how much you don't know about Jane Austen.
Glance over the Table of Contents of Jane Austen for Dummies and you
can't help but envy Professor Joan Klingel Ray's students. She manages to
present in an informative and very entertaining manner Jane Austen's
life, works, literary predecessors, legacy, and so much more. This book
is for everyone who reads Jane Austen - and for those who don't. Think
Jane Austen is only for ladies who sip tea? Think Jane Austen favored the
aristocracy? Think Jane Austen lived a sad, lonely life and never
traveled? Read this book and discover the truth of the matter. You can
buy countless books about Jane Austen and spend the next decade or so
reading them, or you can get just this one.

... Read more

Product Description
Jane Austen is without question, one of England's most enduring and skilled novelists. With her wit, social precision, and unerring ability to create some of literature's most charismatic and believable heroines, she mesmerises her readers as much today as when her novels were first published.
Whether it is her sharp, ironic gaze at the Gothic genre invoked by the adventures of Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey; the diffident and much put-upon Fanny Price struggling to cope with her emotions in Mansfield Park; her delightfully paced comedy of manners and the machinations of the sisters Elinor and Marianne in Sense and Sensibility; the quiet strength of Anne Elliot in Persuasion succeeding in a world designed to subjugate her very existence; and Emma - 'a heroine whom no one but myself will like' teased Austen - yet another irresistible character on fire with imagination and foresight. Indeed not unlike her renowned creator.
Jane Austen is as sure-footed in her steps through society's whirlpools of convention and prosaic mores as she is in her sometimes restrained but ever precise and enduring prose. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Complete Novels of Jane Austen
This book has been great to have the completed works of Jane Austen.The price is good, and the ability to have all the works right at your finger tips in one volumn is wonderful to have.Makes school a lot easier for the kids. ... Read more

Book Description
Step into a Life of Grace
At thirty-three, dealing with a difficult job and a creeping depression, Lori Smith embarked on a life-changing journey following the life and lore of Jane Austen through England.
With humor and spirit, Lori leads readers through landscapes Jane knew and loved–from Bath and Lyme, to London and the Hampshire countryside–and through emotional landscapes in which grace and hope take the place of stagnation and despair. Along the way, Lori explores the small things, both meanness and goodness in relationships, to discover what Austen herself knew: the worth of an ordinary life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Wonderful!
This is a wonderful book!I absolutely love it!It is a great read for anyone who loves Jane Austen!

So good I ripped through it in 1.5 days!
I read a review of this book before buying, so I went into it with the knowledge that it was journalistic, and as much about the author as it was about Jane Austen. I'm also a Christian, and of similar age to the author, and in addition, have traveled to England and seen some of the same sights. For all these reasons, I loved it.

Lori Smith is very honest regarding her struggles with her health, unfulfilled desires, and especially her faith.To say it was "engaging" is not enough--I really couldn't put it down.I came away encouraged by her reminders of God's grace, freely given, grace not given in exchange for anything I've done or can ever do.She also exhorts one, using Jane's example, to be faithful in the little, everyday things--that this is what makes an extraordinary life.

Regarding Jane Austen, I learned many "factoids" that I had never encountered, and enjoyed the seamless comparisons Smith made to her own experiences.The descriptions of the Austen sites are excellent and have me scheming...how can I get back to England ASAP?

An excellent, addicting, journal-type read!Women: get some comfort food, a quilt and this book--instant English "vacation."

A nice walk
I read this book fairly quickly - it was an interesting combination of memoir and biography.I think I struggled a bit as I have hypothyroidism as well and my mother has lyme disease so my heart goes out to the author who struggles with this - and I grieve that the lyme disease may rob her of her dream of having her own children (as lyme can be passed to the fetus with disasterous consequences).As someone who knows first hand the harsh realities of marriage - it was hard to read the yearning for love (which many married women STILL have - Christian or not).I apprecitaed her honesty with her struggle for faith - more based on expression than truth. Sometimes it was more based on emotion than truth though too which is troublesome.The book also made me long to return to Great Britain and the beauty of that country.A nicely written book that doesn't put itself down once it's done.

Enjoyable travelogue/memoir
This is a well-written travelogue/memoir that struck me as Blue Like Jazz for single Christian women. Or even married Christian women. So many of the things she talks about made me relate to women's struggles about being the Proverbs 31 woman, or the conflict around being like faithful, conservative Elisabeth Elliot (Passion and Purity) and also trying to be a 21st century Christian woman.

Since it is a memoir, there are some personal things mentioned, and I have to honestly admit I didn't feel any interest in some of them. But her romance with Jack and the mono-like virus was a strong thread through the book that held my interest and played an intriguing, significant role in her faith journey.

I got a favorite quote from this book:

"With my apologies to the stellar Christian single guys I've met in the last few years, it's a truth universally acknowledged among single Christian women that single Christian guys beyond a certain age are weird."

How true is that!

I think that readers who are Jane Austen fans will enjoy this more than those who are not. There are lots of quotes and references that won't have much meaning for people who haven't read the novels, although I don't think a non-Austen person would have difficulty following any of the narrative. It just has much more depth of meaning for someone who loves Jane Austen's works.

Someone hoping to only find out about Jane Austen should read a biography. This is an intimate travelogue that delves into some of the events in Jane's life, relating it to real life, real faith, and the author's own conflicts and struggles.

I enjoyed this book a lot, learned a little more about Jane Austen, and felt renewed in my own faith and identity in Christ. This is a winner for any postmodern Christian woman.

Pleasing
I liked this book.If you are looking for an in-depth account of Jane Austen's life, this isn't the book.But if you like Jane Austen and would like to gain some insight into her life and writings, this is a good place to start.You also, however, need to be willing to read about Lori Smith.I found this enjoyable (although at times it did seem like she was a bit self-focused) because I felt like Lori is a person I would like to know.Her observations about singleness and Evangelical Christianity are very honest and insightful.By reading this book, I almost felt that I had met a new friend.In addition, I learned some things about Jane Austen that inspired me to read a bit more about her. ... Read more

Book Description
Jane Austen was a great novelist and one of the central figures of English literature, but she herself lived a quiet and uneventful life, mostly in the two Hampshire villages of Steventon and Chawton. Jon Spence's new biography focuses its attention away from the wider literary and intellectual currents that informed her writing and instead concentrates on the immediate influences on her life and work. Becoming Jane Austen shows how Jane Austen's own personal experiences resonated throughout her work, from her juvenilia to Sanditon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Everything you ever wanted to know and more

If you are looking for every detail of Jane Austen's life and works, this is the book for you.For me, there was so much detail that it made for slow reading, but if I was an Austen fanatic (instead of an enthusiast), this would be the book for me.

Loved It!
I was skeptical about this book when I got it. But I ended up loving it.The information is presented in a way that makes it very interesting.You get to know more than just Jane, you get to know her family and friends too.I would recommend it to any Jane fan.

Wonderful!
This is a wonderful book.It also arrived quickly and in perfect condition!Good Work.

Becoming Jane Austen
Very good book---I have read 6 other bios on Jane Austen this book was one
of the best.

Very engaging pop-history woven with lit crit
Spence is a scholar but here he is writing for the public. He appearsto draw heavily from published anthologies of Austen's letters, the Austen family will, etc., rather than primary sources themselves. This is information that readers could have sought out on their own or found in another biography. Where Spence shines is in his inter-weaving of family biography with literary critique, and, perhaps more controversially, his attempts to explicitly link events/people in Austen's life to her fictional characters and senarios.

I would consider this a fairly edgy enterprise relative to the work of "traditional" historians. Still, the discipline has, like others, changed over the past several decades, and not only recognizes the impossibility of objectivity, but allows for more explicit individual interpretation. And in fact, most of Spence's extrapolations are not only fascinating but well-supported; for example, his contention that Austen's own family history laid the groundwork for the three Ward sisters' differing marriages (in Mansfield Park) makes perfect sense. A minority of his contentions appears to have involved a bit too much creative interpretation, but one can simply research those on one's own or come to one's own conclusions.

To read this book is to be impressed by the very fragility of life--especially for childbearing women--in early 19th century England. The book is riddled with so many early (under 30) and childbirth deaths, it appears amazing women agreed to marriage in the first place. But that, of course, is Spence's second achievement: impressing upon us the deeply precarious financial position in which women found themselves, unable to earn their own keep and forced to rely on the support of a brother, husband, or the bequest of a dying relation.

My only problem with the book is the slightly prosaic writing style, the repeated use of slangy words (i.e. tetchy) and the puzzling reliance on second-person address (i.e. "You see.." "You read this and feel..."). I have never read a work by a professional historian to refer directly to readers and not to the general populace ("one feels..." "one can see...").

Novel-like in its readability, thoughtful and unafraid of contention, Becoming Jane Austen deserves a place on the shelf of every English lit or history fan, Austenite or no.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nice Balance of Popular Interest and Scholarship
This little book, while infinitely readable, was also packed full of wonderful scholarship. I read the book after I finished the last of the 6 main publications of Jane Austen and found its organization so conducive to bringing together themes and tropes in the novels. Dr. Hannon has found a very fine balance between interesting and salacious details (like the romantic interests in Austen's too-short life) to literary scholarship (most interestingly for me, her discussion of the treatment of parents in the novels, and how they don't paint a very fine picture of marital bliss). With Jane Austen, you either get silly books full of fluff, or boring attempts to keep the work as scholastic as possible, but Dr. Hannon has found a nice way to blend these two situations for both types of readers -- serious scholars and Janeites.

I didn't expect to read this book as a narrative, straight through from beginning to end, but I did, and loved the way information was organized and presented. There is a references page, but very little citation within the text. Most of what I read, though, was familiar, and only really revolutionary in the way it was brought together to concentrate on recurring images, themes, and tropes in the works (including all the Juvenilia and other unpublished/unfinished novels). Section headings include "Bad Boys," "Prudence and Romance," and four sections on "Fine Naval Fervour." Inbetween are also sections frm Austen's life rather than her novels, such as "Arrested for Shoplifting," and "Dedicated to the One I Hate." There is also a ton of accessible information on publishing and the market (from the gothic to marriage market novels). Fine book, and any fan of the the novels or new-to-the-field scholar would find it packed full of fun information and prompts for further study. ... Read more

Book Description
'She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older - the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.'Anne Elliot seems to have given up on present happiness and has resigned herself to living off her memories.More than seven years earlier she complied with duty: persuaded to view the match as imprudent and improper, she broke off her engagement to a naval captain with neither fortune, ancestry, nor prospects. However, when peacetime arrives and brings the Navy home, and Anne encounters Captain Wentworth once more, she starts to believe in second chances. Persuasion celebrates romantic constancy in an era of turbulent change.Written as the Napoleonic Wars were ending, the novel examines how a woman can at once remain faithful to her past and still move forward into the future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Anne's Appeal?
Anne is the middle daughter of a snobbish and foolish lord living in Victorian England.Her mother died when she was a young teenager, and she has very little in common with her older sister or her younger sister.Anne's older sister is a carbon copy of their father, and the two of them managed to spend beyond their means, to the point that they now have to rent out their home and move someplace more affordable.Anne's younger sister has made a decent match in marriage and is now settled into a life that requires near constant attention from others, especially when one of her frequent imaginary illnesses pops up.

Anne is mostly ignored by her family, and they don't know that she once had a brief attachment to a young naval officer, Frederick Wentworth.A family friend, Anne's surrogate mother figure, thought Anne would be able to find someone better, and advised her to break off her commitment.Anne took the advice, which resulted in devastation both for herself and for the young man.

Now, seven years later, Wentworth's sister and her husband are renting Anne's family home.When the now-Captain Wentworth visits, he and Anne find themselves thrown into the same social circle, and spend many months trying to decide if they still have the same feelings for each other that they did so long ago.

I liked this story, with its insight into the amount of effort it took for Victorians to make proper matches and ensure their way of life would continue.I liked the social rankings and the elaborate rules of behavior, which must have been absolutely stifling for someone living through this time.

However, I didn't identify at all with Anne as a protagonist.I understand that rules of etiquette were different in those days, and it is difficult for me to read this book without looking through a modern-day filter.However, Anne had no sense of self-value, and only seemed to see herself as important when she was being "useful" to others.It is true that her family treated her as a tool, but I couldn't see how she could see herself that way and still have been attractive to the men who vie for her attention.

An investment in pleasure.
Any person considering reading PERSUASION by Jane Austen must have several thoughts in mind before beginning.This book isa classic, written by a master.It requires an investment of your time, your patience, your understanding and your attention.It is a book to be savored, not galloped through as if it were a modern fiction bodice ripper.If you are willing to approach this book with an open mind, expecting only to receive pleasure from the written word, you will most likely enjoy it tremendously.

I read a lot of modern romance fiction.One of the things I have noticed on researching a book through the Amazon review system before I buy it is that so often reviewers state that they were able to finish the book in two hours, three hours, four hours.Do they honestly think that is a compliment to the author?One thing I can guarantee here, you will never be able to say that about PERSUASION.Slow down, read for pleasure, read for the pure joy of observing Jane Austen's manner of combining words.Her punctuation style is totally different from modern fiction.It requires that you hold thoughts in your mind long enough for her to have completed her lengthy and complicated sentence structure.

Fans of Jane Austen often say that one specific book is their favorite.My favorite is the one I happen to be reading at the time.I've read them all multiple times and am always able to find nuggets of pleasure either not noticed before or now understood from a fresh perspective.PERSUASION is a book which shows very clearly Miss Austen's feelings on the English class system and how appearances are very often deceiving.Anne Elliot's own family is (in their minds at least) in the top strata of society.In actual fact, they are very small fish in a wide pond and do not amount to much except when within their own corner of England.Anne spends much time with the Musgrove family and all those surrounding that happy, boisterous group.Although lower in the social standings, they are loving, kind and generous, traits which are totally lacking in her own father and older sister.Anne is considered of no consequence to her family yet is loved and admired by those outside her social set who can see her value and worth.This is a story of young love lost with the opportunity to reclaim that love when maturity has given new insights into reasons, details and personalities.This book does not specifically leave you with a "happily ever after" feeling.Anne will never be mistress of Kellynch-hall, probably never even live there again.Captain Wentworth is a career naval officer with all that implies in his future service during wars.And yet, you cannot help but feel that Anne and Frederick will be quietly, calmly, gloriously happy for their remaining days.Partially because of the eight long years of separation which allowed them both to mature and grow and partially because they are just so very right for each other.

Do not begin reading this book expecting a "romance" novel as written today.If you do, you are doomed to be disappointed.

Read Twice, or Not At All.
I hold very firmly to the belief that this book cannot be fully appreciated in a first reading.It is necessary to read it at least twice, and preferably more.
It's not as immediately pleasing as some of Ms. Austen's other works, Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility etc., but those who take the time to appreciate this book will find it well worth the effort.

great story but it took a little while to get into the rhythm of the language
Loved it!

Thanks!
This came in a timely faschion. It was sent for next day though we had a big storm it was not anyones fault!Came quickly and was in excellent condition!!! Would order from here again and again! ... Read more

Book Description
'I doubt whether it would be possible to mention any author of note, whose personal obscurity was so complete.'James Edward Austen-Leigh's Memoir of his aunt Jane Austen was published in 1870, over fifty years after her death.Together with the shorter recollections of James Edward's two sisters, Anna Lefroy and Caroline Austen, the Memoir remains the prime authority for her life and continues to inform all subsequent accounts.These are family memories, the record of Jane Austen's life shaped and limited by the loyalties, reserve, and affection of nieces and nephews recovering in old age the outlines of the young aunt they had each known. They still remembered the shape of her bonnet and the tone of her voice, and their first-hand accounts bring her vividly before us.Their declared partiality also raises fascinating issues concerning biographical truth, and the terms in which all biography functions.This edition brings together for the first time these three memoirs, and also includes Jane's brother Henry Austen's 'Biographical Notice' of 1818 and his lesser known 'Memoir' of 1833, making a unique biographical record. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

AMemoir of Jane Austen:and Other Family Recollections
You provided excellent service in processing our order.We received it, it seemed, very quickly for Christmas.My daughter loved the book.Thank you very much for your prompt service.

Enjoying Jane
If you enjoy Jane Austen novels, you really should read this memoir from her nephew.It is like meeting his aunt and adds a special touch to the reading of her novels.

Not what I hoped it would be
I've read this book three times (all three times while the electricity was out and only a lantern or flashlight at hand) and all three times I've been totally disappointed. This book gives no insight. Nothing interesting crops up. It's boring. But I give it three stars because at least it exists. I suggest if forced to read by candlelight, you turn to the Bronte bios.

All Personal memoirs brought together, nice to read with the letters
Primary sources to Jane Austen's life are few and far between. This version includes the few personal family accounts which were published. James Edward Austen-Leighs is the largest of these, although still not very substantial. His two sisters also published them.

This includes four memoirs of Aunt Jane, all written much after her death by Caroline Austen, Anna Lefroy, James Austen_leigh and Henry Austen.Some are better reads than others but they add to the sparse amount of biographical and family information on Austen.

Handily, there is a family tree provided as well as a chronology. There are also useful explanatory notes.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone but a keen Austen fan - one of the excellent biographies available are much more readable and entertaining. For an avid Janeite this book provides a substantial source of primary information. I would highly recommend reading this with the collected letters which have been collected and edited by Claire Tomalin.

It is a nice collection and it is great to see all these published, as they ought to be together in one volume. ... Read more

Book Description
Jane Austen published her first novel in 1811, but today she's more popular than ever. Film adaptations of her books are nominated for Academy Awards. Chick lit bestsellers are based on her plots. And a new biopic of Austen herself Becoming Jane arrives in theaters this spring.

For all those readers who dream about living in Regency England, The Jane Austen Handbook offers step-by-step instructions for proper comportment in the early nineteenth century. You'll discover:
How to Become an Accomplished Lady
How to Run a Great House
How to Indicate Interest in a Gentleman Without Seeming Forward
How to Throw a Dinner Party
How to Choose and Buy Clothing

Full of practical directions for navigating the travails of Regency life, this charming illustrated book also serves as a companion for present-day readers, explaining the English class system, currency, dress, and the nuances of graceful living. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Good service and product
I bought the cheapest copy of this book I could find and it hardly looks used.

A Waste of Time and Paper
Oh Dear.Well, I have something to say about this book all right.

In my opinion this book should never have been published.Where is the judgement these days?Another 'publisher gone wild' thinking that if its Austen-related, people will buy it.

There is very little in here that is new that you don't already know from reading Austen's writings themselves.It seems to be primarily one person's digestion of what she has learned from the books with a lot of quotes or references to the books.There is very little real information added.It fails at being useful, educational, clever, or entertaining.

A better choice if you are interested in learning more about the societal context would be "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew".

Sorry to be harsh to any author...but there it is.

Too light
I was really disappointed with this book - I have read every Jane Austen novel at least twice, many of them several times. This book simply tells you what you know when you read the books. I had been hoping that the author had done some deeper background research to explain the why's behind the facts. It's an attractive book, and for someone who hasn't read Jane Austen, well, it might prove to be educational, but, then, why would you buy this for someone who hasn't read Jane?

Psst, Jane Austen Never Wore Panties
Yes, it honestly says so in this book, on page ninety-two.

Okay, actually it doesn't quite, but after a lengthy discussion of undergarments of the Regency, what it truly does say is:

"That means we may assume, with a high degree of probability, that Jane Austen went commando."

And I don't think that means that the authoress of Emma (which inspired the movie Clueless, y'know) was involved in special forces military operations during the Napoleon Wars.

All righty, now that my title and opening paragraphs have alienated Austen scholars everywhere while also nicely hemming in Amazon's male readership, I'll try for the other half of the public by mentioning that this bite-sized robin's egg blue book is great as a resource for describing the minutia of morals, manners, social customs, dining habits, drinking practices, religion, travel arrangements, and much else of Englishwomen and Englishmen from the period in which Austen set her novels. Far from the boring and dusty tomes that too frequently tackle subjects like these, The Jane Austen Handbook is fast-paced and fun. I can't fairly describe myself as a great admirer of Jane Austen's sex-`n-violence-lacking tales but I thought Margaret C. Sullivan's work was absolutely first-rate. I enjoyed tremendously reading about the background facts of exactly how life would have been played out for those who peopled Persuasion, or who truly lived two centuries ago in rural England.

To highlight a few of the eye-opening revelations:

Back then almost everyone was on opium at one time or another.

Like the former pop stars of today, women didn't wear underwear. (Oh, wait, I already covered that..)

Gentlemen could be more elaborately dressed than women without being thought the slightest bit light in the wrist.

Eloping to Scotland was an option for those seeking the Vegas wedding of the day. In one infamous Scottish town, Gretna Green, girls as young as twelve or boys as ancient as fourteen could seek out the local blacksmith and be legally wed without a license, certificate, or even a pastor. Cool!

"Flattering a gentleman's vanity" was the best all-purpose come-on there was in Miss Austen's age.

Female hypochondria was de rigueur and skilled hypochondriacs were much-respected. (While the garden variety practitioners like Mary Musgrove were less lauded.)

There were but four acceptable professions for a gentleman to enter--the church, the law, the military, or medicine---and strangely not one of them involved music, sports, or acting.

So, whether you want to know the difference in a hack, a gig, or a curricle, wish to know how to fold your next letter "just so" or if you're one of those types who just can't get enough Jane ("Why can't she have her own twenty-four-hour cable network?" you've sincerely remarked) Austen this is the reference book for you!

For someone who hasn't read Jane Austen
This book is an interesting companion book for someone who is reading Jane Austen for the first time and does not know much about the Regency period. It will clear up many incidents in the book, specially those where a character behaves contrary to the etiquette of the period. Since most of the formalities are no longer in practice, they can be very confusing to a modern reader.

People who have read most of Austen's work or are more familiar with the Regency will quickly realize that this book is strictly tied to Austen. No other sources are sited and all examples are from Austen books.

I found this limitation very irritating. The book did not expand my views on the subject at all and did not explore any of the more subtle social tensions in the book. It quickly became a game of spot the reworked Austen quote. ... Read more

Book Description
Austen scholar Deirdre Le Faye first gives a met- iculously researched overview of the period, from foreign affairs to social ranks, from fashion to sanitation. She goes on to consider each novel individually, explaining in detail its action, its setting, the reaction of public and critics and Jane's own feeling about it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Jane Austin made clear
For anyone who wants to know more about the period Jane Austin lived and wrote her novels about, this is the book for you; very informative of that period.

My favorite Austen introduction
As a longtime student of Jane, this book absolutely riveted me. you learn so much about her life, her times, her works, and her influences, and the style of this beautiful book is enchanting. LeFaye skillfully weaves together pieces of biography, history, and plot to create a fascinating Austen portrait. It is also lavishly illustrated and printed on lovely paper, which helps make it one of my favorite books, period. A must have for any Jane lover.

The Fascinating World of Jane Austen
Jane Austen's novels are endlessly layered and this book does a fascinating job of peeling the onion so we have full understanding of her world.

More plotthan we need!
On the one hand, this book is very useful because the writer is a top expert on Austen. But while she gives a lot of information on Austen's culture, she spends too many pages givng long plot summaries. I recommend JANE AUSTEN FOR DUMMIES as a great alternative: the author of that gives a great sense of the culture, characters, and Austen, herself, in a witty, clear style.

A bit on the disappointing side
Being a bit of a Jane Austen magpie and already owning other books by Le Faye, I looked forward to gaining more background to the time period with this book.While there was much of interest, I'd have to say that overall I wouldn't recommend it.There were some inaccuracies in the plot summaries (minor, but there all the same), but the biggest problem for readers who may be new to Jane Austen was the lack of delineation between the real people (family members, friends) mentioned and characters from the books.I could see this becoming fairly confusing for someone who hasn't already read other biographical material.Still, it's a decent read and the information presented may stimulate a person's interest enough to want to find out more. ... Read more

Book Description
In this Jane Austen–inspired comedy, love story, and exploration of identity and destiny, a modern LA girl wakes up as an Englishwoman in Austen’s time.

After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up and finds herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy?

Not only is Courtney stuck in another woman’s life, she is forced to pretend she actually is that woman; and despite knowing nothing about her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. But not even her love of Jane Austen has prepared Courtney for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condomless seducers, and marriages of convenience. Enter the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, who fills Courtney’s borrowed brain with confusing memories that are clearly not her own.

Try as she might to control her mind and find a way home, Courtney cannot deny that she is becoming this other woman—and being this other woman is not without its advantages: Especially in a looking-glass Austen world. Especially with a suitor who may not turn out to be a familiar species of philanderer after all. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

I laughed out loud

It's been a while since I laughed out loud at a book, but this is one.When a 21st lady, Courtney Stone, finds herself in Jane Austen's world, her modern sensibilities run head long into the straight-laced society of early 19th Century.The passages regarding hygiene, or the lack thereof, are hysterical, especially when she is required to descend into a bathing pool at Bath or "eau de typhus" as she calls it.I have to admit that I wasn't all that interested in the problems of the modern Courtney Stone but loved to read about her getting her sea legs in Regency society.

My wife loved this book
My wife enjoyed this book.I was glad to be able to give this to her.

Clever and entertaining
This was a delightful book which I enjoyed reading. I would whole-heartedly recommend it to both Jane Austen addicts and those new to the Jane Austen world.

Get it from the library...
I've been spoiled by the literary prowess of Diana Gabaldon. If you want to read a fantastic story of time travel, check out her Outlander series.

Thus said, I was drawn to Confessions because of a) a time traveling protagonist and b) the connection with Jane Austen.However, the plot line was flimsy and the characters lacked depth. I found myself annoyed by the fact that Courtney couldn't seem to get it into her head that she wasn't in the 21st century anymore. Her interactions with others and general outlook kept causing me to wonder if she was truly an idiot, confused or just selfish- perhaps a little of each. I was also turned off by the ending, which probably isn't even the correct term since it just sort of wandered off into the subconscious instead of actually offering any sort of resolution.

Overall, it wasn't the worst thing I've ever read, but certainly leaves a lot to be desired. I suppose it would be beneficial for aspiring writers to read to get a sense of what underdeveloped fiction looks like.

This is a Wonderful book!
I am also a Jane Austen addict and have tried to read a few of the new books that attempt to carry on the tradition of Jane Austen....I didn't think any of them were worthy until this one!I couldn't put it down. It was funny,insightful and romantic with pitch perfect tone. I wholeheartedly recommend this book..I loved it!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com
The author of Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and other comedies of manners gets a biography similar in tone to her own books: intelligent but not intellectual, witty without being nasty. Claire Tomalin, author of four previous biographies of notable British women, treats Jane Austen (1775-1817) with the respect her genius deserves. Tomalin eschews gossip and speculation in favor of a sober account of the writer's life that nonetheless sparkles with sly humor. Perceptive analyses of each of Austen's novels, with autobiographical links suggested but never insisted upon, add to the value of Jane Austen: A Life.Book Description
Here, firmly rooted in her own social setting for the first time, is the real Jane Austen--the shy woman willing to challenge convention, the woman of no pretensions who nevertheless called herself "formidable," a woman who could be frivolous and yet suffer from black depressions, who showed unfailing loyalty and, in the conduct of her own life, unfailing bravery. In an act of understanding and brilliant synthesis, Claire Tomalin reveals Jane Austen with a clarity never before achieved, one which makes us look upon her novels with fresh and even greater admiration.

The world she wrote about--that place of civility and reassuring stability--was never quite her own. As Tomalin shows, Jane Austen's family existed on the very fringe of the world she described in her fiction, struggling to get ahead with little money and no land in the competitive society of Georgian England, sometimes succeeding but often failing with painful consequences. New research in family papers has yielded a rich, tragicomic picture of the Austen clan--their ambitions, their matrimonial alliances, their exotic connections with India and France. At the same time, Tomalin's explorations in local archives reveal a surprising view of the neighbors the family lived among in Hampshire, more extravagant and eccentric by far than anyone depicted in Austen's books. We realize how much closer her genius lies, in its splendid artifice, to the great comic operas of Mozart than to the main tradition of the English novel.

But it is in the deeply human portrait of Jane Austen herself that this biography excels. The honesty and directness of her personality (perfect heroines made her "sick and wicked"), her strength in giving up a chance at marriage to follow the path her vocation as a writer required her to take, the warmth and long consistency of her relationship with her sister, Cassandra, the poignancy of her death--Claire Tomalin here captures, with unforgettable skill, the living character of a great writer who is read, reread, read again, and adored, now more than ever.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Jane Austen, A Life by Claire Tomalin
Although there have been many biographies of Jane Austen, few of them are as good as this one. I bought the book both because I love Jane Austen's novels and because I had just read Tomalin's biography of Thomas Hardy (Thomas Hardy, The Time-Torn Man) and hadn't been able to put it down. It's easy to see why she is considered Britain's foremost biographer. Her subjects are fully imagined and consequently come to life on the page as real people, rather than remaining dry studies. In this book, Tomalin's approach is to take issue with the received wisdom that Jane Austen's life was remarkable only in that nothing of importance happened in it.

hard to find biography
I could not find a good biography of Jane Austin at any of our local bookstores....this item was exactly what I was looking for.It arrived quickly and in excellent condition.

Interesting peripheral material, mediocre to poor biography
I find it impossible to trust any would-be interpreter of Jane Austen who, in her analysis of Pride & Prejudice, writes the line: "Her [Mrs. Bennet's] restored faith that Lydia and Wickham will turn out very well is wonderfully brought to pass". This is easily my least favorite among the seven or so biographies that I have read; I was particularly disappointed after marvelous beginning that Tomalin made in describing Jane's birth and earliest life. I made myself read it a second time in order to be fair.

I am left with the feeling that while Tomalin genuinely admires Jane Austen, she has considerably more pity for her life than sympathy for her point of view. Ms. Tomalin places a great emphasis on the importance of passion and enthusiasm that I doubt Austen so uncritically shared.Indeed, Ms. Tomalin has to interchange JA's heroes and villains in order to come up with interpretations of the book that please her, and in several cases, insist that JA got things wrong in her epilogues. This leads to some odd juxtapositions that fit right in with Tomalin's somewhat overwrought thinking.Tomalin cannot accept that Marianne could move on and love Colonel Brandon, but she is also upset that Cassandra Austen spent the rest of her life mourning her dead fiance.Isn't perpetual mourning for a lost love what Tomalin would have Marianne doing, given that Willoughby married someone else?Consistently inconsistent, Tomalin lambastes Fanny Price for declining to marry someone that she doesn't love (or like or trust), at least while there her true love remains available.Claudia Johnson, in her book Jane Austen: Women, Politics, and the Novel, has some acerbic and apropos remarks about the tradition of women remaining true to their first love, generally by dying, as Marianne almost did.

Tomalin is apparently one of those who feel that it is not enough of an achievement for Austen to be one of the very few authors who, after two hundred years, remain both critical and popular successes.No, she wants to convert JA to a heroine suitable for the late 20th century.This is particularly ironic since she faults the Victorians for their attempts to remake JA in their own image.She attempts, failing dismally in my case, to convince us that JA had an eventful life.She turns to posthumous psychoanalysis for this, interpreting eventful as traumatic and finding psychic wounds from the Austens' childrearing techniques.The book rapidly takes on a whiny quality that I found tedious and annoying.

I comment on this being 52, having been born in 1953.As such, I can remember when "experts had proven" that the child is born a blank slate through the present day when parents are held to have little effect on their children's psychological development except for the responsibility to keep them alive and healthy.I am also well aware that "expert" child-rearing advice has changed over the centuries, some eras recommend techniques that in other eras were considered certain to produce psychopaths.(readers might want to read Sarah Hrdy's Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Species or Stephen Pinker's The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature). While my own tastes in childrearing certainly would align more with Tomalin's, I find it foolish and irritating for her to excoriate Mrs. Austen for raising their children according to the accepted pattern of their day. (And for all that Tomalin may bring in feminist interpretation, she is clearly engaging in mother-blaming here: all decisions that she doesn't like are charged to Mrs. Austen.) While her arguments of how this affected JA may seem logical, does it make sense when considering that so many other people of the time shared similar experiences? The reader may want to read Elizabeth Jenkin's arguments in her 1938 book, Jane Austen: A Biography, that Jane Austen was in fact writing through most of her "years of silence", as well as David Nokes arguments in his 1997 biography, Jane Austen: A Life, that Jane was having too good a time to write as much, before accepting Tomalin's explanation of Jane as falling into a severe depression after a repetition of childhood trauma.

I think in her efforts to make JA into a martyr, Tomalin slights her as a social critic.She also fails to fully appreciate the problems of dependent daughters in interlocked families, the tension between wanting and needing family unity, and the desire for personal autonomy. I have no doubt that JA keenly felt and resented the disadvantages imposed upon her as a younger unmarried daughter, but this is not a unique problem imposed by her particular family.The conventions of the time meant that Jane and Cassandra really were financial drains on their family: their society had failed to make any accomodation to the realities of making women financially dependent but expecting companiate marriages.I wouldn't be surprised if some of the popularity of JA derives from her