Jane Austen: A Biography [Paperback]

Elizabeth Jenkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 1996

Elizabeth Jenkins presents this biography of Jane Austen, providing insight into the subject and her works.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-A pleasant and informative audio biography of English novelist Jane Austen joins the wealth of print biographies that have appeared in the last few years. Reader Teresa Gallagher, a well-known voice on BBC radio drama, sets a most appropriate tone here with her expressive and precise British accent. Classical piano music provides an introduction as well as short atmospheric breaks in the reading. Jane Austen, born in late 18th century Southern England, led an active and happy, though not highly eventful life, surrounded by a high-spirited and affectionate family. She began writing as a young girl, and though the four novels that were published during her lifetime (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma) received favorable reviews, she was not celebrated as an author while alive. Listeners will get a clear sense of the relationships and social encounters which were important to Austen's life and inspirations to her writing. Her novels provide a valuable record of the manners of upper middle class English country gentry, and Elizabeth Jenkins' biography similarly depicts the novelist, her class, and the era. School and public libraries will be rewarded with this fine portrait of the life and times of a still popular English woman author.-Marilyn Higgins, Metuchen High School, NJ

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Indigo (September 26, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575400579
• ISBN-13: 978-0575400573
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,442,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent All-Around Biography..., March 24, 2009

By 

D. S. Thurlow (Alaska) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jane Austen (Paperback)

Elizabeth Jenkins's robust 1949 biography "Jane Austen" holds up extraordinarily well fifty years on, an indication that Jenkins did quality research and analysis. Her perspective from 1949 adds a nice counterpart to many of today's biographies, writing in the immediate aftermath of World War II when many young women lacked suitable marriage partners.

Jenkins' approach to Jane Austen's life is a chronological one, into which she interweaves carefully reasoned literary criticism of her novels in the rough order in which they were believed to have been written. What emerges is a nuanced portrait of the author and of her novels. Jane Austen was clearly a gifted writer from an early age, and Jenkins captures her evolving talent, especially as expressed in the six completed novels. While the respective popularity of the novels has changed since 1949, the literary criticism is well worth reading.

There are some items of perhaps particular interest to Jane Austen fans. Jenkins considers that Jane Austen's flirtation with Tom LeFroy in 1796 was just that. She does give full faith and credit to Cassandra Austen's account of the brief relationship with an unknown but apparently suitable young man at Sidmouth in 1802, cut short by his unexpected death. Jenkins sees this as a genuine tragedy in Jane Austen's life, accounting for a period of limited writing and for some of the flavor of "Persuasion." Finally, Jenkins offers an entirely rational explanation for Jane Austen's acceptance and then refusal of Harris Bigg-Withers' marriage proposal.

"Jane Austen" is very highly recommended to fans of Jane Austen and her novels, as an in-depth biography still well worth reading.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jane Austen A Biography by Elizabeth Jenkins, November 4, 2010

By 

jhamilton - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jane Austen (Hardcover)

This used book arrived in good condition. In its former life it had been in a public library then "withdrawn from stock." | enjoyed it thoroughly.