Jane Austen the Woman: Some Biographical Insights [Paperback]

George Holbert Tucker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1995

By focusing on the woman rather than the author, George Tucker paints a new and welcome picture of Jane Austen: not the spinster recluse of previous biographies, but a vibrant, well-traveled woman who was very much a part of the world in which she lived.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Austen (1775-1817) has been depicted in earlier biographies as a shy and reclusive spinster. Tucker ( A Goodly Heritage: A History of Jane Austen's Family ) argues in this prodigiously researched and heavily footnoted study that Austen was a lively and witty woman who participated fully in the English social life she wrote about. Her romances and friendships, the trips she took throughout England and her enjoyment of dancing, music and theater are described. Her correspondence reveals that Austen was informed about current events and may have fictionalized several real social scandals in her novels. This scholarly study will be of greatest interest to researchers and Austen devotees.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Tucker (A Goodly Heritage: A History of Jane Austen's Family, LJ 4/15/84) aims here to replace the portrait biographers have painted of Austen as a parochial, reclusive, pious woman with a more realistic image that emphasizes Austen's vibrant, satirical, independent temperament. Making no attempt to address Austen's work except in brief passing references, Tucker creates a context for Austen's character and life. He arranges his book not chronologically but topically, devoting a chapter each to Austen's romances, travels, and views of religion and the political events of her time. This arrangement leads to some redundancies. More significantly, the text is at times mechanical, speculation is used rather heavily, and some of the chapters stray quite far from any direct link with Austen's life. Not a place to begin a relationship with Austen or her work, this book is suited for exhaustive Austen collections.
Ellen Finnie Duranceau, MIT Lib.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (September 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312126883
• ISBN-13: 978-0312126889
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 2.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,351,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! New facts and insight on Jane's life, June 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Jane Austen the Woman: Some Biographical Insights (Paperback)

I found this book to be refreshing and quite different from any other biography of Jane Austen which I have read (and I have read many!). Mr. Tucker comes up with a great number of surprising facts that other biographers seem to have missed. The book is also very well-written. It was a disappointment to me to turn the last page and find there was no more. I highly recommend it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars insightful information into Jane Austen's life, January 27, 2008

By 

R. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jane Austen the Woman: Some Biographical Insights (Hardcover)

This is a biography focusing on the personal history of Jane Austen and her environment, i.e. her friends, family, and the social and political atmosphere surrounding her life and her reaction to it.

The book states that the author spent fifty years in research for this book referring to original documents written by Jane or her family members and family. Some of these documents have never before been used in previous publications therefore shedding light on new topics not seen in other biographies. Mr. Tucker's approach is a scholarly one with profuse footnotes and a bibliography. He had previously published another book on Jane Austen before this one.

The arrangement of the book is a narrative arranged by subject, not a chronological rendering of her life. I found this to be a very satisfying arrangement. A reader can go straight to the subject that interests him or her, instead of having to read chronologically, gleaning bits and pieces of what interests him/her. For those people who have seen the recent movie Becoming Jane, they might want to pick up this book for the real story. Romantic attachments comprises one entire chapter of the book.

The book itself is well weighted. It is easy in the hands and written on good quality paper. There are no photos. I would have liked to have seen photos of some of the places the author mentions in the book. He does, however in some circumstances, explain to the reader when he is mentioning specific buildings, what does and does not exist today.

Although this book does give insightful information into Jane Austen's life that one is not likely to find elsewhere, it is not an entertaining book. It reads more like a 268 page term paper. But for the ardent fans of Jane Austen who want to know details of her life, herein they can learn them from Jane herself , her friends and family.

I came away knowing and understanding Jane a little better. Now when I reread her novels I will know the woman behind the story.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Investigation into Jane Austen..., June 26, 2008

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jane Austen the Woman: Some Biographical Insights (Paperback)

In 1994's "Jane Austen The Woman", George Holbert Tucker targets the family portrait of the famous romance novelist as the quiet, reclusive Aunt Jane, who lived a sheltered and uneventful life. As Tucker documents through a prodigious amount of research, Jane Austen had bigger horizons than some earlier biographers were prepared to conclude.

Tucker came to this biography after a previous study of Jane Austen's extended family. In the present volume, Tucker demonstrates how her family connections gave her plausible access to many of the political, military, social, and cultural events of her age. As her surviving letters demonstrate, Jane Austen was a keen and witty observer of the life around her, and made abundant use of her observations in the composition of her novels.

Tucker provides a topical rather than chronological approach to Austen's life, with consideration of her various homes, her family members, her romances, her readings, her travels, and her contacts with scandals, religion, and the events of her day. Through his exploration of these topics, Tucker convincingly portrays a woman whose family, friends, and reading habits provided her with much wider horizons than her limited formal education and status as the unmarried youngest daughter of a country cleric might have indicated.

"Jane Austen The Woman" contains some interesting insights. For example, Tucker's discussion of why Jane Austen never married includes some very pertinent observations about her lack of a dowery, her fears of the consequences of multiple pregnancies, and the example of her spinster sister Cassandra. Oddly, Tucker seems to have overlooked an obvious reason, that Jane Austen wanted to marry for love.

Tucker writes in the style of the experienced journalist that he is. He marshals facts and proceeds to connect the dots. He is however subject to the same limitations of information as other Austen biographers; his willingness to proceed bravely into speculation and assumption will be a mixed blessing for the reader.

"Jane Austen The Woman" is highly recommended to serious students of the life of Jane Austen. Those looking for a more conventional biography may find this book to be a challenging reading experience.