Jane and Dorothy

by Marian Veevers

Overview

Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth were born just four years apart, in a world torn between heady revolutionary ideas and fierce conservatism, but their lives have never been examined together before. They both lived in Georgian England, navigated strict social conventions and new ideals, and they were both influenced by Dorothy’s brother, the Romantic poet William Wordsworth, and his coterie. They were both supremely talented writers yet often lacked the necessary peace of mind in their search for self-expression. Neither ever married. Jane and Dorothy uses each life to illuminate the other. For both women, financial security was paramount and whereas Jane Austen hoped to achieve this through her writing, rather than being dependent on her family, Dorothy made the opposite choice and put her creative powers to the use of her brilliant brother, with whom she lived all her adult life. In this probing book, Marian Veevers discovers a crucial missing piece to the puzzle of Dorothy and William’s relationship and addresses enduring myths surrounding the one man who seems to have stolen Jane’s heart, only to break it . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681777221
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	04/03/2018
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Marian Veevers lives in the Lake District, just five miles from Grasmere, and works for the Wordsworth Trust. She lectures on Dorothy Wordsworth for the Wordsworth Trust and is the author of several novels set in Georgian England under the pseudonym Anna Dean, including Bellfield Hall and A Gentleman of Fortune.

Editorial Reviews

★ 02/15/2018
Veevers, who works for the Wordsworth Trust, anchors her admirably researched, sensitive study of authors Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth in an allusion to two of Austen's best-loved heroines, the Dashwood sisters of Sense and Sensibility. By referring back to Elinor and Marianne throughout this work, Veevers provides a cultural shorthand that she suggests—as does Austen in that novel—is never as simple as it first may seem. Readers familiar with Austen will easily fall in love with Wordsworth as a character in this storied version of the women's lives, and scholars will discover new ways of looking at both women's relationships with their families. Veevers illuminates the interpenetration among control, self-preservation, sensitivity, social awkwardness, and loyalty in their lives, and sheds light on specific passages from their letters that, like Lucy Worsley's recent Jane Austen at Home, complicates some deep assumptions readers have about these women. As Veevers notes, we discover women who "made choices about their lives [that] defined them." VERDICT Striking a balance between specialized knowledge and general interest, this will be a great fit for Austin fans who want to delve deeper into her life or expand their views on women's roles during the Regency period.—Emily Bowles, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison

Library Journal

"Beautifully written. Characters one cares about immediately and a mystery which becomes more urgent with every page."

Ann Perry (Praise for BELLFIELD HALL)

"Captured the tricky business of presenting a clever and resourceful woman, hedged in by a tight-laced society, who turns those limitations to her own benefit. Decorative and thoughtful, Bellfield Hall is a worthy addition to the historical crime tradition."

Laurie R. King