Living With Jane Austen

Fanny Price, in Mansfield Park, tells her persistent suitor that 'we have all a better guide in ourselves...than any other person can be'. Sometimes, however, we crave external guidance: and when this happens we could do worse than seek it in Jane Austen's own subtle novels. Written to coincide with Austen's 250th birthday, this approachable and intimate work shows why and how - for over half a century - Austen has inspired and challenged its author through different phases of her life. Part personal memoir, part expert interaction with all the letters, manuscripts and published novels, Janet Todd's book reveals what living with Jane Austen has meant to her and what it might also mean to others. Todd celebrates the undimmable power of Austen's work to help us understand our own bodies and our environment, and teach us about patience, humour, beauty and the meaning of home.

List of contents

Introduction; 1. The Brightness of Pemberley; 2. The Darkness of Darcy; 3. Talking and Not Talking; 4. Making Patterns; 5. Poor Nerves; 6. The Unruly Body; 7. Into Nature; 8. Giving and Taking Advice; 9. Being in the Moment; 10. How to Die; Afterword.

Report

'Intimate, knowledgeable and frequently unexpected, this is a book for all Jane Austen's readers by one of the very best of those readers.' Richard Cronin, Emeritus Professor of English Literature, University of Glasgow

Product details

• Authors: Janet Todd, Janet (University of Cambridge) Todd
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.03.2025
• EAN: 9781009569316
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0956931-6
• No. of pages: 185
• Dimensions: 135 mm x 210 mm x 10 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Biographies, autobiographies; Fiction: special features, Biography: literary, Narrative theme: Social issues, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Biography: writers