Product Description

With a wealth of details about Jane Austen's life and times, this volume brings to life the world of her novels. Austen scholar Deirdre Le Faye first gives an overview of the period, from foreign affairs to social ranks, from fashion to sanitation. She goes on to consider each novel individually.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32626 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

About the Author
Deirdre Le Faye is an expert on Jane Austen, and the author of several books about her, including the definitive biography Jane Austen: A Family Record for the British Library, and a completely new edition of Jane Austen's letters. She lives in Portishead, North Somerset.

Customer Reviews

Jane Austen's World brought to life
This is without a doubt one of the best Jane Austen related books. Le Faye starts with a concise biography of Jane Austen, to help readers put her life into some sort of historical context. The second part of the book deals with all sorts of Life & Times issues - carriages, clothing, occupations, architecture, coinage, filigree.... and of course she explains that Gowlands Lotion, so heartily recommended by Sir Walter Elliot in Persuasion, was actually a sort of chemical peel!

The third part of the book looks at each of the novels in turn, and includes the fragments The Watsons and Sandition. Le Faye gives a synopsis of the plot of each novel and along the way picks out things for us that would have needed no explanation to contemporary readers, but may now need some enlargement. For example in the Sense & Sensibility chapter she tells us about the places in London where the characters live or lodge, and what this says about them and their status.

On top of all this, the book is beautifully illustrated with period county maps, contemporary portraits that match Austen's character descriptions and of course illustrations of all the Life & Times elements discussed - filigree work, fashion plates, coinage examples, etc. In a word: Excellent!

Interesting background detail
If you want a book which provides in-depth analysis into the wealth of characterisation, psychology etc. in Jane Austen's work, this isn't the book for you. If however, you want something which tells you all about the background behind her writing the novels, both in terms of the circumstances of their compostion, and int erms of life and social trends in that period, I would whole-heartedly recommend this book. Also, this is a book which does exactly what it says on the cover, it tells you abot the world of her novels. le Faye has meticulously extracted every last detail from her novels, to create a comprehensive guide to the settings of her books. For example, when talking about Emma, we are led through the town of Highbury, with Le Faye confidently describing every last building and its relation to the events of the story. Another example would be in Persuasion, where Le Faye gave the correct order of precedence for the charaacters when entering and leaving the room.

This is not just a book about the early 19th century, nor is it just a book about Jane Austen. For anyone who longs to be a character in a Jane Austen novel, this is for you. SOmething drew me to this book, as just being a fundamentally nice book to have. Perhaps not an outstandingly scholarly read, but enjoyable and fascinating nonetheless.

brilliant presentation of Jane Austens world
Le Faye has written an exceptional book which truly sets the reader in the time period Austen was writing.What impressed me most was the very readable style it has been written in with close attention to all details mentioned in her novels truly assisting the reader to have a feel of what was going on in England socially and economically aswell as highlighting world affairs at the time.
A great companion to add depth in ones appreciation of Jane Austen novels as well as detailed explanations to social life and nuiances in Regency England.