Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10555 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Synopsis
The novels of Jane Austen depict a world of civility, reassuring stability and continuity, which generations of readers have supposed was the world she herself inhabited. Claire Tomalin's biography paints a surprisingly different picture of the Austen family and their Hampshire neighbours, and of Jane's progress through a difficult childhood, an unhappy love affair, her experiences as a poor relation and her decision to reject a marriage that would solve all her problems - except that of continuing as a writer. Both the woman and the novels are radically reassessed in this biography.

Customer Reviews

Definitive and fascinating
This is a biography that works as a fascinating and moving story in its own right. Claire Tomalin uses every available scrap of evidence to put together a surprisingly convincing portrait of Jane Austen as a (then) largely unrecognised genius and thoroughly professional writer, who was nonetheless an active member of a large and interesting family. The book dispels a lot of myths - including the long-held notion that Jane was writing about her own life in those six perfectly-crafted novels. Far from being a quietly contented domestic being, she is shown to be an observer, almost an outsider, in Regency society - someone who could be quite uncomfortable to have around, with her sharp observations and witticisms - but deeply appreciated by close family members and friends.

It's surprising to learn that her cousin had an affair with Warren Hastings, that their daughter's husband was guillotined in the French Revolution, that a brother founded a bank which crashed, that Jane knew about the slave trade and was in sympathy with abolition, and had probably read Mary Wollestonecraft on the rights of women. This is not an uneventful, sheltered life as so often portrayed! Claire Tomalin lifts the veil and shows Austen to be a modern woman making her way in an uncertain and changing world. The unrelenting pressures of money - or the lack of it - make Jane Austen's meagre and belated earnings from her novels especially poignant, bringing her finally some small measure of financial independence and wider recognition.

Whether you're coming to this book fresh from an Andrew Davies TV adaptation, or are a more serious scholar, this is a fascinating read and a very convincing portrait of a much-loved but still misunderstood genius.

Sensitive yet truth-seeking
Tomalin's portrait of Jane Austen is sensitive and yet does not shy away from seeking the truth behind the myth. Well written, I found this an engaging read and, also having read Jane Austen's letters, was interested in Tomalin's drawing of Jane's close relationship with her sister Cassandra which Tomalin investigates in depth.

After reading this biography, it is easier to feel closer to Jane Austen and her life, and yet somehow, some mystery remains.

Much Truth Is Spoken In Jest
Sensitively written with a wry sense of humour, this book re-examines all the evidence of Jane Austen's life and seeks to find the truth behind the family tradition. Austen is revealed to be very un-prim, constantly concerned with money (shades of Sense and Sensibility) and heavily patriotic (in a way that her lack of historic references in her books belies). The episode of her engagement and her cancelling of it is well covered here to show her in a different light as is her doomed love affair which I'd never heard of before reading this. What is most startling though is the lack of consideration her family seem to have shown her again and again moving her from pillar to post and using her as a drudge despite the fact they apparently held her in affection.

I loved this book and the author's teasing out of harsh truths from platitudes and her consideration of the family as a whole as well as the individual personalities. Most convincing was Tomalin's discussion of whether Austen's brother (who was a failure as a writer) unconsciously or consciously denied her publicity and fame in her life and in the aftermath of her death. Certainly the destruction of nearly all of her letters by various family members was a tragedy that leaves so many gaps in Austen's life it takes great dexterity to piece the remaining evidence together, dexterity which Tomalin is fortunately blessed with.