Edited by Anne Newgarden
More than two centuries ago, Jane Austen, a clergyman’s daughter in Hampshire, England, wrote six major novels, beginning with the classic Pride and Prejudice. Despite the fact that she lived just 41 years and never married or left England, Ms. Austen wrote about the relationships between men and women in a way that still resonates many decades later. Although she didn’t make much money from them at the time, today her novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, adapted into movies, sequels, plays, ballets, (and more!), and have never been out of print.
Almost two hundred years later, Jane Austen is more popular than ever.
In addition to being a huge fan of Austen’s work, I’m also intrigued by the story of her life, which was recently dramatized in the film Becoming Jane (starring a likeable Anne Hathaway and a dapper James McAvoy, pictured on the cover.) In a time when women were not supposed to think for themselves, Jane Austen had the courage to put her thoughts on paper. In a time when women were not supposed to think of money, Jane Austen was earning money, no matter how small the amount, on her own. In a time when most women had to marry for financial reasons instead of love, Jane Austen refused to mindlessly follow the rules of society. She was determined to either marry for love or live by her pen. She was afraid the demands of a traditional family life would deter her dream of becoming a great writer, a dream that would only be fully realized many years after her death.
This slim book is a collection of quotations from her novels and letters. It also contains a bit of biographical information, just enough to give the reader a sense of what Ms. Austen’s life was like, without being scholarly or overwhelming.
The editor seems to have a genuine appreciation for Austen’s work and writes, “Austen’s men and women – ball gowns, bonnets and breeches aside- are not so very different from men and women today. While they face completely different obstacles in their pursuit of marital happiness, Austen’s favorite subject, their feelings and failings, their vices and vulnerabilities provoke in modern-day readers (or viewers, as the case may be) a nod of recognition.”
She calls Austen a “master of human observation,” adding, “And what do we human creatures love more than to hold a mirror up to ourselves? Reveling in the first blush of love or mourning its loss – remembering who we once were or impatient for who we hope to become – we turn to our own reflection for knowledge, for solace, for pity, for hope, or for the sheer pleasure it gives us. It’s no wonder we keep coming back to Jane Austen over and over again.”
Recommended for Austen fans.
