Product Description

In her lifetime Jane Austen achieved no more than minor literary success, and her fame grew only slowly in the 19th century. Was there anything remarkable about that lady, Sir? a verger at Winchester Cathedral enquired of a Victorian visitor seeking her tomb. Only, so many people ask for her. Today in the English language, only Shakespeare and Dickens are bestsellers in her league, and in the 21st century her appeal seems set to grow further, especially when more television and film adaptations follow the hugely successful Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility of recent years. Josephine Ross explores the literary world at the turn of the 19th century: the books considered classics then, the horrid novels and romances of the time, the lending libraries and grasping publishers. She looks at the architecture and decor which then made up the profusion and elegance of modern taste: Nash houses for instance, Chippendale furniture, picturesque scenery. She shows us the fashions of the time, and the subtle ways Jane Austen used clothes to express character.Courtship, marriage, adultery, questions of class and rank, the ordinary life of mealtimes, travel, doctors and dentists, work, responsibility and amusement all appear, as does the wider political and military world - especially the Navy, in which her brothers served. This book should add depth to the enjoyment of all readers of Jane Austen, whether confirmed devotees or enthralled newcomers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #844742 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

About the Author
Josephine Ross has written on history and social history, and on style, but this is her first book on her lifetime enthusiasm, Jane Austen. She lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Captivating
As elegant, witty and humane as her subject, Josephine Ross has provided a most readable and worthwhile complement to the Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, with which there is barely an overlap. Packed with good detail, well illustrated, these excellent essays written with sense and sensibility should send newcomers scurrying to read Austen's works and stimulate the cognoscenti to take a fresh look. Stylishly and discreetly produced by Austen's own publisher, an unexpected bonus is the fine reproduction of the engraving of Opie's portrait of the beautiful Mary Wollstonecroft.

Captivating
As elegant, witty and humane as her subject, Josephine Ross has provided a most readable and worthwhile complement to the Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, with which there is barely an overlap. Packed with good detail, well illustrated, these excellent essays written with sense and sensibility on a variety of topics should send newcomers scurrying to read Austen's works and stimulate the cognoscenti to take a fresh look. Stylishly and discreetly produced by Austen's own publisher, an unexpected bonus is the fine reproduction of the engraving of Opie's portrait of the beautiful Mary Wollstonecroft.

Captivating
As elegant, witty and humane as her subject, Josephine Ross has provided a most readable and worthwhile complement to the Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, with which there is barely an overlap. Packed with good detail, most aptly illustrated, these excellent essays written with sense and sensibility on a variety of topics should send newcomers scurrying to read Austen's works and stimulate the cognoscenti to take a fresh look. Stylishly and discreetly produced by Austen's own publisher, an unexpected bonus is the fine reproduction of the engraving of Opie's portrait of the beautiful Mary Wollstonecroft.