Jane Austen was a great novelist and one of the central figures of English literature, but she herself lived a quiet and uneventful life, mostly in the two Hampshire villages of Steventon and Chawton. Jon Spence’s new biography focuses its attention away from the wider literary and intellectual currents that informed her writing and instead concentrates on the immediate influences on her life and work. Becoming Jane Austen shows how Jane Austen’s own personal experiences resonated... (show more)
Reviews (80)
A little laborious and very in depth. Over all very informative and gives insight into Austen's world
Probably the most richly detailed and entertaining biography of Jane Austen.
I really enjoyed reading about the life of Jane Austen. It makes the themes, events, and characters in her books make more sense.
This book certainly had a lot of facts but was rather clinical and dry. I was looking for a biography and it seemed more of a scholarly analysis of Austen and her work.
I really liked this book. I do think the author may have been stretching his assumptions about certain things, but that's what happens when writing a book about someone who has been gone for so long. I recommend this for anyone who likes Jane Austen. It was nice to learn about her and her family background.
A well researched book, this tome gives the background necessary to more fully enjoy the Jane Austen novels. By understanding Jane's life, you will notice those small and large inserts into her novels that come from her experience.
In a short experience with Tom Lefroy, you have the seed of the idea for Becoming Jane (movie).
This is a must read for those who are serious Jane Austen connoisseurs.
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