A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this engaging, deeply personal and well-researched travelogue, Smith (a PW contributor) journeys to England to soak in the places of Jane Austen's life and writings. The book is sure to ride the wave of Austen-philia that has recently swept through Hollywood and a new generation of Americans, but this is an unusual look at Jane Austen. Readers will learn plenty of biographical details-about Austen's small and intimate circle of family and friends, her candid letters to her sister, her possible loves and losses, her never-married status, her religious feelings, and her untimely death at the age of 41. But it is the author's passionate connection to Jane-the affinity she feels and her imaginings of Austen's inner life-that bring Austen to life in ways no conventional biographer could. Smith's voice swings authentically between the raw, aching vulnerability of a single Christian woman battling a debilitating and mysterious chronic illness and the surges of faith she finds in the grace of a loving God. And yes, she even meets a potential Darcy at the start of her journey. This deliciously uncertain romantic tension holds the book together as Smith weaves her own thoughts, historical research, and fitting references to Austen's novels into a satisfying whole. (Oct. 16)
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Review

“A young woman goes looking for Austen in all the places Austen once lived and many of the places she wrote about. The Austen she finds is a woman of family, and of quiet but sustaining faith. Austen shares these things and many others with author Lori Smith whose book gives the reader the great pleasure of time spent with both. A lovely, intimate read.”
–Karen Joy Fowler, best-selling author of The Jane Austen Book Club

“Sensitively written and carefully paced this memoir takes the reader on a tour of the author’s experiences while journeying around England in the footsteps of Jane Austen. Lori Smith moves seamlessly from romantic daydreams, through a close questioning of her relationship with God, to battles with her mental and physical health. The book reads as an intimate and honest memoir and has enough to satisfy the non-Christian (like myself) if they choose to look beyond the somewhat unexpected (in a mainstream book at least) pairing of Jane Austen and Christianity. Above all else, this is a book about searching–for love, meaning, peace with oneself, health, a good night’s sleep, and a decent cup of coffee that wasn’t made with that freeze-dried-instant-powder–and these are experiences that anyone of any faith can relate to.... A welcoming read. Lyrical and questioning...perfectly pitched.”
–Emma Campbell Webster, actress, author of Lost in Austen, and founder of lostinaustenblogspot.com


“With wit, charm, and rare honesty–of which I have to believe Jane Austen would have thoroughly approved–Lori Smith weaves her personal life experiences throughout her journey into the life that was Jane’s. Infused with faith, romance, loss, and a search for self, A Walk With Jane Austen makes for that rare book that keeps popping into one’s thoughts and beckoning one back.”
–Tamara Leigh, author of Perfecting Kate and Splitting Harriet

“With deep and sometimes heartwrenching honesty, Lori Smith weaves her story and Jane’s together into a wholly unique narrative. In the midst of a craze for treating Austen’s novels as little more than glorified bodice-rippers, Lori brings to bear her perspective as a single Christian woman who can identify in many ways with Austen’s own beliefs and experiences, exploring truths and ideas that others gloss over. The resulting book stands out like a beacon.”
–Gina R. Dalfonzo, editor of The Point weblog (http://thepoint.breakpoint.org) and writer for BreakPoint Radio

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (October 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400073707
• ISBN-13: 978-1400073702
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #123,092 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jane would have approved!, October 18, 2007

By	Austin Native (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This is a beautiful book about Lori Smith's real life adventures when she went to England to explore Jane Austen's world. Interwoven with her own stories are fascinating and little-known facts about Jane Austen. Lori lets us into her life, as well as Jane's, and everyone will find something to relate to and learn from. It is a fun and inspiring book, and way too short!

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Braveheart, October 28, 2007

By	Fellow Traveler (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews

I thoroughly enjoyed Lori Smith's "A Walk with Jane Austen," it is unquestionably an enjoyable and thought provoking read. Once again Lori has bravely and generously let the reader sit beside her and hear her thoughts, listen to her humbly own her strengths and goodness, while at the same time actively confront and challenge her growing edges. Such self examination of her own character is an inspiration to the reader. Lori has a veritable gift for meaningfully writing about unquestionably challenging human struggles without making the topic overwhelming or odious---this is because the prose is so absolutely lovely, funny, and honest, that the reader feels completely natural and at ease at every turn.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful addition to the travel memoir genre, November 2, 2007

By	K. Steakley "Avid reader" (Virginia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lori Smith joins the ranks of travel memoirists with the engaging story of her trip through Jane Austen's England and the coinciding Austenian romance that arose during her stay. Lori reveals herself to us as a quintessential Austenian character--charming, essentially good, but honestly and vulnerably flawed. Her struggles with faith and her exploration of Austen's religious roots, her musings on life as a single woman in the 21st and 19th centuries, and her detailed and insightful descriptions of Austen's history and the places that figured in her history will delight both Austen fans and fans of the memoir genre.