What Jane Austen Taught Me About Love and Romance [Paperback]

Debra White Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2007

Debra White Smith, bestselling author of the Jane Austen Series (more than 89,000 copies sold) explores the lessons about love and romance revealed through Austen’s beloved stories—Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility, and others.

Alongside wisdom from 1 Corinthians, Debra reveals love truths reflected in the lives of couples and characters from Austen’s created worlds.

• George and Emma (Emma)—Love is patient
• Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth (Pride and Prejudice)—Love is not proud
• Colonel Brandon and Marianne (Sense and Sensibility)—Love always hopes

This beautiful presentation of lessons of the heart is a perfect gift for the Austen lover and fans of Debra White Smith’s contemporary fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Smith, the bestselling author of the Jane Austen series (contemporary faith fiction novels based on Austen's books) works hard to show how Austen's themes parallel scriptural imperatives about love, particularly 1 Corinthians 13:4–8. The result is a compilation of recapped scenes from Austen novels with Smith drawing strong moral lessons for the reader. "Love is patient" is shown by George Knightley's patience for Emma Woodhouse in Emma; "Love is kind" through Fanny Price's treatment of others in Mansfield Park. Plenty of excerpts from Smith's own series and victorious triumphs from her personal life also help illustrate her points. Smith becomes almost gushy at times ("I adore the movie rendition of this scene") and the writing tends to ramble, including a three-page anecdote about her family's trip to Mt. Rushmore. Some of the comparisons are forced: "Fanny is merciful, just as her heavenly Father is merciful"; "Just as Lynda drew boundaries with Dora, we need to learn that living Christ is a gutsy undertaking." This book may appeal to conservative Christian women who appreciate a strong moral lesson, are already Jane Austen fans and have read Smith's own modern Austen series. (Jan.)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736918892
• ISBN-13: 978-0736918893
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,746,577 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 What DOES Jane Austen know about love and romance?, July 21, 2009

By 

Meredith "Austenesque Reviews" (Wilmington , NC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What Jane Austen Taught Me About Love and Romance (Paperback)

Despite the fact that she remained single and never married, Jane Austen understood what makes a relationship successful and strong. Her novels are full of wisdom, advice, and guides. Her characters teach us what to do, what not to do, and exemplify the many different forms and facets of love. Debra White Smith (author of many Christian Romance novels and a Modern Christian series on the novels of Jane Austen), takes one of the most famous passages in the Bible on love and marriage (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) and illustrates how it is followed in all of Jane Austen's novels.

"Love is patient, love is kind . . ." these words from 1 Corinthians describe love, pure and perfect love. As the daughter of a clergyman, it is conceivable that Jane Austen would believe and heed the words in the Bible about love and marriage. Jane Austen must have believed this passage to be the recipe for a satisfying and successful relationship. Characters in Jane Austen's novels learn valuable lessons about love, and we, in turn, can learn from their growth and follies.

In "What Jane Austen Taught Me About Love and Romance," Debra White Smith divides the 1 Corinthians Bible passage into fourteen different chapters and each chapter focuses on a different phrase. For example, the first chapter is called "Love is Patient" and depicts how Emma and Mr. Knightley's experiences teach us about patience (in this instance, it is really Mr. Knightley who is the example of patience). Ms. Smith integrates the chapter with the Christian faith and her own personal anecdotes and stories. Sometimes she hands out awards for characters, for example: Emma Woodhouse - "Queen of Sass," Maria and Julia Bertram - "The Slime Sisters," Mr. Darcy - "Foot in the Mouth Award."

I enjoyed this book in so many ways. I have read Debra White Smith's Austen Series, they are wonderful modern adaptions of all Jane Austen's novels, and I also read a lot of Christian Inspirational novels. I found this book very interesting, inspirational, and learned a lot about how to make a relationship loving and lasting! I enjoyed the connections and comparisons Debra White Smith made between the Bible and Jane Austen's novels. In addition, I commend Debra White Smith for her excellent research and just conclusions. I sometimes liked her personal stories, but I also found some of them to be weak analogies. (i.e. comparing Knightley's love and patience for Emma to her sixth grade crush on a boy).

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the love and romance of Jane Austen's novels or if you would like to learn more about the relationships between her heroes and heroines. If you like this book I also recommend you try The Austen Series by Debra White Smith:

First Impressions (The Austen Series, Book 1)

Reason and Romance (The Austen Series, Book 2)

Central Park (The Austen Series, Book 3)

Northpointe Chalet (The Austen Series, Book 4)

Amanda (The Austen Series, Book 5)

Possibilities (The Austen Series, Book 6)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous non-fiction read!, April 21, 2007

By 

Michelle Sutton (Arizona) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: What Jane Austen Taught Me About Love and Romance (Paperback)

I'm not necessarily a Jane Austen fan, but I do love the movie Sense and Sensibility. Now that I've read this book I'm considering reading Debra White Smith's series based on Austen's books. I have a copy of First Impressions, which is the first book and is based on Pride and Prejudice. I think I'll read it within the next year.

This book has definitely whetted my appetite for Austen's prose. I've heard from many authors that Pride and Prejudice is one of their favorite novels, but now that I've read Smith's non-fiction book What Jane Austen Taught Me About Love & Romance, I have a better understanding as to why. The characters are deep and the lessons Smith uses are good ones. She brings out some fabulous points about what love is, and what love is not, all based on 1 Corinthians and Austen's insights into the human heart.

In short, Smith's presentation of lessons of the heart is a perfect gift for both the Austen lover, and fans of Debra White Smith's contemporary fiction.

5.0 out of 5 stars things aren't all that different, May 4, 2007

By 

Reader Views "Reviews, by readers, for readers" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Jane Austen Taught Me About Love and Romance (Paperback)

Reviewed by Lori Plach for Reader Views (4/07)

What does Jane Austen know about love and romance? Didn't she live many years ago and is not with the times of the 21st century? She is probably best known for her writings of "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility." She wrote more books but they might not be as well known as these two. Debra White desires to show the timeless beauty and relationship qualities of the 1800's to today's. You just might realize that things aren't all that different or perhaps we should go back to the basics.

Debra White Smith has written a Jane Austen fiction series before embarking on writing this book. She has created a book that shows so many aspects of the word we simply say: love. She breaks each chapter into a writing of its own. She takes a verse of the chapter about love in the Holy Bible: 1 Corinthians 13; she then draws out how one of Jane Austen's books bring out that aspect of love. Oftentimes she uses her own experiences to both enhance her book with humor but also say that she has been there and that is how she draws her conclusions.

In current times, so often it seems like we have forgotten what love and romance should be like. Is it that we were never taught or have we neglected our basic good manners and caring attitudes to interfere with our personal relationships with the ones we say we love?

"What Jane Austen Taught Me about Love & Romance" is a must read for everyone who is in a love and romantic relationship, has ever been in love or romance, or hopes to find themselves in a romantic love relationship further on in life. I found myself agreeing with many points in the book as well as having a few laughs at Debra's encounters with people. If only we knew what we need to know about love and romance and knew where to find the answers. Perhaps we should look back to the centuries past; we may just find out that there is wisdom in those "required" books which can help us today.

Book Received FREE of Charge