Jane Austen: Her Life, Her Times, Her Novels

by Janet Todd

Overview

With scant information available on their hero, Jane Austen's devoted fans have a bottomless hunger for details about the woman behind the work. This biography feeds that appetite with background on her relationships with family and friends and the contemporary attitudes that shaped Austen's writing. Fifteen removable pieces of memorabilia include facsimiles of personal letters and handwritten drafts of her early works.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780233003702
Publisher:	Welbeck Publishing Group Limited
Publication date:	04/01/2014
Series:	Y
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 11.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Janet Todd is an authority on literature and culture of the early eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She was educated at Cambridge University and the University of Florida and is currently the Professor of English Literature at Aberdeen University and the President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. She is a well-respected author of many books on women in literature, including Mary Wollstonecraft: A Revolutionary Life (W&N) and Jane Austen: In Context (Cambridge University Press).

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2014
Gr 6 Up—This book for the avid Austen fan presents information on the author's work in the context of her own life. The book examines the relationships between Austen's personal experiences and her profession, covering the author's early life and works and the places and people that influenced her. Chapters include "Loves," "The Professional Author" (where readers will find information on Austen's fellow women writers), and "War and Peace" (a look at the influence of ongoing British wars). There are also sections on specific examples of Austen's writings interspersed throughout. Fold-out envelopes contain copies of original documents, including Austen's own writings, maps, and other ephemera. Each section is enhanced by drawings, paintings, and photos, some done by Austen's own family, that illuminate significant aspects of her life. The information is interesting and thorough, although the volume's size and format may appeal more to pleasure readers than researchers. The references to movies based on Austen's writing add to the fan appeal. A lovely title that may not satisfy research demands but that will please readers who love her books.—Marian McLeod, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, CT

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