Jane Austen at Home: A Biography - Softcover

Worsley, Lucy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1473632242 ISBN 13: 9781473632240

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 2017

Synopsis

On the eve of the bicentenary of Jane Austen's death, step back into the world in which our best-loved novelist lived. Historian Lucy Worsley visits Jane Austen's childhood home, her schools, her holiday accommodation, the houses both grand and small of the relations upon whom she was dependent, and the home she shared with her mother and sister towards the end of her life, where she wrote her many of her famous novels. This new telling of the story of Jane's life shows us how and why she lived as she did, examining the rooms, spaces and possessions which mattered to her, and the way in which home is used in her novels to mean both a place of pleasure and a prison. Jane famously lived a 'life without incident', but with new research and insights Lucy Worsley will reveal a passionate woman who fought for her freedom. A woman who, far from being a lonely spinster, in fact had at least five marriage prospects, but who in the end refused to settle for anything less than Mr Darcy.

About this title

Review:

This is my kind of history: carefully researched but so vivid that you are convinced Lucy Worsley was actually there at the party - or the parsonage. (Antonia Fraser)

Jane Austen at Home offers a fascinating look at Jane Austen's world through the lens of the homes in which she lived and worked throughout her life. The result is a refreshingly unique perspective on Austen and her work and a beautifully nuanced exploration of gender, creativity, and domesticity. (Amanda Foreman)

A vivid portrait of Jane Austen. A must for any Austenite. (Red magazine)

Brilliant and very moving, this book is a fascinating and original exploration of Jane Austen with lots of new material - Worsley brings Austen to life superbly, through her pages she is a flesh and blood woman, intelligent, powerful, contradictory, loving, loved. A magnificent book. (Kate Williams)

Rarely, if ever, will you encounter a historian so in command of their material. Truly, this is a dazzling exercise in persuasion, written with sense and sensibility. (Saturday Express)

A deep, prolifically researched dive into the houses, vacation homes, and schools where the author spent her life. (Vogue magazine)

Worsley offers us much that Austen's admirers wish to know... [she] is entirely convincing. (New York Times)

An interesting portrait of Georgian and Regency material culture. There's much intriguing historical detail. (Literary Review)

A sprightly new take on Austen's life. (Mail on Sunday)

Book Description:

Historian Lucy Worsley visits Jane Austen at home, exploring the author's life through the places which meant the most to her.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1473632242
• ISBN 13: 9781473632240
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400