Synopses & Reviews
Review
"The great value of this new Austen biography is that it incorporates into the work a wealth of information from new Austen family manuscripts. The intention of the biographer is to use these data to generate a more comprehensive depiction of Austen's family circumstances. This Honan certainly accomplishes. What may jar on some readers, however, is that the mode of presentation is far from a chronicle: those who enjoy attempts at imaginative reconstructions of social situations based upon documentary evidence will get their money's worth. We see, for instance, Portsmouth in 1787 through the eyes of Frank Austen, Jane's seaman brother, and London in 1811 through the eyes of a Frenchman, Louis Simond, who had a close-up look at the enemy. Many i'eaders will simply find this technique immensely irritating, an unfortunate impulse on the author's part that should have been expended in some yet-to-be written historical novel." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Synopsis
The best biography Jane Austen has ever received. Newsweek
Park Honan s highly acclaimedJane Austen: Her Lifeis the biography that Austen and her readers have long deserved.Readers have long cherished the brilliant, ironic novels of Jane Austen and critics have ranked them with the masterpieces of world literature, but surprisingly, there had been no major biography of the novelist in more than seventy years.
Drawing on a treasure of new material, Honan reveals an Austen surprising in her knowledge of the Napoleonic Wars (two of her brothers fought in the British Navy and rose to the rank of admiral) and surprising as well in her romantic entanglements an engagement that lasted but a night, a bold flirtation that very nearly erupted into scandal. Above all, Honan sheds new light on Austen s social experience, giving new prominence to her large and fascinating family, and the Regency society in which she moved.
Readers of Jane Austen: Her Life will return to the novels not only with new understanding of the person who created them but with a vivid sense of the society from which they were drawn.
A triumph . . . the only biography of Austen that she would have liked. The Philadelphia Inquirer"
Synopsis
In this definitive biography, Honan recreates Jane Austen's life and world, providing glimpses into her loneliness and frustration, the lively flirtations of her youth, and the warmth and affection of her family. 16-page photo insert.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 420-435) and index.