Product Description

From her study of the Austen family papers, Claire Tomalin paints a rich, tragi-comic picture of the Austen clan and their neighbours, reaching the conclusion that the facts of Jane Austen's life were even more extravagant and romantic than her fiction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10131 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

About the Author
Claire Tomalin was literary editor of the NEW STATESMAN and SUNDAY TIMES. Her two previous books (both in Penguin) were the highly acclaimed and award-winning THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (about Dickens' mistress) and MRS JORDAN'S PROFESSION. She is married to Michael Frayn and lives in Camden Town, north London.

Customer Reviews

GET TO KNOW THE REAL JANE AUSTEN AND HER BOOKS BETTER
I first read this book shortly after watching the television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. I wanted to learn more about the creator of Mr Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet and Pemberly.

The book gives a clear readable account of Jane Austen's life. Remarkable, as most of her letters were destroyed after her death and she never kept a diary. It gives a strong flavour of Regency life in England as it follows the fortunes of the extended Austen family.

What I loved most was the way in which Austen's novels were discussed and possible inspiration for characters or plots given. I very soon "got into" this biography, becoming immersed in the life of Jane and the family; caring about what happened to them.

Even if you have only read one of Jane Austen's books you will enjoy reading Claire Tomalin's biography. Jane was not the prim-and-proper shrinking violet we have been led to believe. Although a dutiful daughter she could have a wicked sense of humour and a biting wit. Claire Tomalin suggests that Austen would have been a modern and forward-thinking writer if transported to the present day.

Newly available evidence on the cause of her death makes interesting reading as does Jane's family tree; the Austens are kept track of right down to the present day.

All in all a good read and a delve into society life at the turn of the nineteenth century.

Could this be the last word on Jane Austen?
Jane Austen's stocks rise higher and higher as the years go by. Several of her novels continue to feature in bestseller lists, film and TV adaptations of them abound, and biographies appear regularly. This masterly biography, by Claire Tomalin, is the seventh Jane Austen biography I have read in the past twenty years.

Claire Tomalin examines her elusive subject from very possible perspective. The Austen genealogy is probed, every known neighbour, witness, and every witness's evidence is weighed and balanced, Jane Austen's writings are examined and assessed, and the situations of her brothers' living descendants are sometimes mentioned. Publishing and republishing histories are given, a family tree is included, and the many illustrations are given punchy captions. Gracing (or disfiguring) the cover is the only known pictorial representation of Jane Austen, an unfinished sketch done by her sister Cassandra, a sketch that was not discovered until long after Jane and Cassandra had died and which a niece said was "hideously unlike" her aunt.

Don't assume from all this that the book is merely an exhaustive effort of plodding detection. Sensitive and intelligent guesswork is here. Brilliant deductions are made. What is known, for example, is that the Austen daughters and their parents had no permanent home during the "unproductive" decade when Jane was in her 20s and early 30s. What is also known is that Jane Austen had drafted three of her novels before this, as well as the novella "Lady Susan". The deduction that Claire Tomalin makes from this evidence is that Jane Austen must have protected and cared for her manuscripts like a mother with newborn babies. Carriers would have been unreliable, cases of paper could break and spill, and a penniless young woman could hardly command premium quality cartage.

Other known facts are sometimes given a creative spin. You will read an especially creative and imaginative account of Jane Austen receiving, accepting and then rejecting a proposal of marriage from Harris Biggs.

While all this is very satisfying, the effect of this substantial biography is to leave me still unable to perfectly "place" Jane Austen, an effect that will probably prompt me to read a further seven biographies of her.

Wonderful fantasy
This is a special book, written in Tomalin's fantastic style. It leaves you with the impression that you know exactly who Jane Austen is; this achievement can't be improved upon. Claire covers each of Jane's books, with perhaps her finest analysis reserved for Mansfield Park (Penguin Popular Classics), but taking us fully through each of the six. We find her upbringing carefully explored (draw your own conclusions about Jane's mother) and her engagement, which she broke off. It is a fascinating story, one that ends with Jane's sad, early death.

No doubt Ms Austen would be amazed, perhaps horrified, to find her work still read today, turned into movies and televised, although her quiet authority comes through. Tellingly, of Emma (Penguin Popular Classics) she says, 'I have created a heroine that only myself will like.' It is true that many readers don't quite get Emma. Jane seems to have enjoyed her success and reputation, and perhaps Mansfield Park really is the key to her soul.