Jane Austen at Home: A Biography

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Among the Austens, cousins frequently married, and brothers sometimes married an older sister and then, if she died, the younger one. Inclosure’ and the great changes to the countryside in Georgian times, affecting the lives of some for good but others for ill, would in time crop up in Jane’s novels – tangentially, it’s true, but always there in the background. She shows readers a passionate Jane Austen who fought for her freedom, a woman who had at least five marriage prospects, but--in the end--a woman who refused to settle for anything less than Mr. The grief and apparent injustice of a child’s sudden removal from a customary or beloved home (Fanny in Mansfield Park, Anne Elliot in Persuasion) are reminders of a defining incident in Jane’s own life when, with her sister Cassandra, she hears without any warning of her father’s decision to hand over the rectory at Steventon to his son James and to move his own wife and daughters to the city of Bath. Worsley seeks to place Jane Austen “into her social class and time” while admitting that, as an Austen reader and biographer, she has a vision of the beloved author that allows Jane to speak for her and to her circumstances.

Jane Austen at Home: A Biography, by Lucy Worsley — A Review Jane Austen at Home: A Biography, by Lucy Worsley — A Review

Backed by extensive source documents, letters, and full-color and black and white images, Jane Austen at Home shines with engaging storytelling and enthusiasm. Resta solo la possibilità di sfruttare al massimo la ridotta documentazione e di credere che nelle eroine dei suoi libri si nasconda qualcosa di lei.She understood that a man like George Austen wanted – no, needed – a woman to keep his household running. This meant that George wouldn’t have to go through the arduous business of collecting his tithes in kind from each individual family. Mr Austen, never a sentimental man, would even go so far as to refer to Mrs Austen to third parties as ‘my housekeeper’. A really brilliant biography, so thoughtfully put together, so well written, with just the right amount of historical and social context.

Jane Austen At Home - Jane Austen Centre Bath Jane Austen At Home - Jane Austen Centre Bath

But George later claimed that this Uncle Stephen had treated the three siblings ‘with neglect’, and ‘a determination to thwart the natural tastes of the young people’. There were lots of surelys and no wonders, and a lot of rhetorical questions, which yeah, didn't really work. I have yet to read a single Jane Austen book so why did I pick this hugely enjoyable and insightful read? It has been suggested that with these clever layers of meaning, Jane was perhaps even more subversive than we give her credit for.

Georgian society is typified by joie de vivre, dancing and theater, as well as dissipation and extravagance, for those with means. In Jane Austen at Home, historian, author, and BBC presenter Lucy Worsley looks at the author’s life through the lens of Austen’s homes. The only picture we have of Jane is drawn by her three-year older sister, Cassandra; this drawing has however been improved upon when Jane gained fame. This creates a fascinating background to the people who live and work in the homes Jane lived in or visited. I especially appreciated the details about Jane's relationship with her parents and siblings, the joy of when she got her first writing desk (which I was lucky enough to see on display at the British Library), and the details about how her work finally got published.

Jane Austen at Home - Current Collections - Fabric | Riley Jane Austen at Home - Current Collections - Fabric | Riley

Throughout her life Austen was uprooted countless times due to the changes in the fates and fortunes of various family members upon whom she was completely financially dependent. Despite the fact that there is not an over-abundance of source material regarding Jane’s personal life, numerous letters – in particular those to her sister, still exist and shed much light on the novelist’s daily activities as well as her sparkling personality. Era soprattutto un rischio: nel suo ambiente l’amore significava matrimonio e matrimonio voleva dire una serie interminabile di parti. Steventon Rectory, as Jane’s parents knew it, had a carriage drive, or ‘sweep’, at the front to bring in vehicles off the road, an important mark of gentility.Definitive source material concerning some aspects of Jane Austen’s person and life are lacking, but there remains still much information to study.

Jane Austen Fabric Collection from Riley Blake, UK - Cotton Patch Jane Austen Fabric Collection from Riley Blake, UK - Cotton Patch

What she shows us instead is their subtle effect upon the hearts and minds and daily lives of individuals. What I really liked was the quotes from diaries and letters of Jane Austen's contemporaries to give a better sense of what was going on at the time and what other women's lives were like. This power game can be played well or poorly, and in these 48 laws culled from the history and wisdom of the world’s greatest power players are the rules that must be followed to win.A refreshingly unique perspective on Austen and her work and a beautifully nuanced exploration of gender, creativity, and domesticity. Here I would give guided tours, occasionally feed the llamas, and look for important pieces of paper that my boss Anthony had lost.