Paula Byrne

The Real Jane Austen (eBook, ePUB)

A Life in Small Things

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Who was the real Jane Austen? A spinster who sat in a vicarage confining her novels to the small canvas of village life? Or a woman who knew the turbulent world around her and who took the bold decision to remain unmarried and fashion herself as a professional writer?

In this new biography, best-selling author Paula Byrne (Perdita, Mad World) explores the forces that shaped the interior life of Britain's most beloved novelist: her father's religious faith, her mother's aristocratic pedigree, her eldest brother's adoption, her other brothers' naval and military experiences, her relatives in the East and West Indies, her cousin who lived through the trauma of the French Revolution, the family's amateur theatricals, the female novelists she admired, her residence in Bath, her love of the seaside, her travels around England and her long struggle to become a published author.

Byrne uses a highly innovative technique whereby each chapter begins from an object that conjures up a key moment or theme in Austen's life and work-a silhouette, a vellum notebook, a topaz cross, a laptop writing box, a royalty cheque, a bathing machine, and many more.

The woman who emerges is far tougher, more socially and politically aware, and altogether more modern than the conventional picture of 'dear Aunt Jane' would allow. Published to coincide with the bicentenary of Pride and Prejudice, this lively and scholarly biography brings Austen dazzlingly into the twenty-first century.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: HarperCollins Publishers
• Seitenzahl: 400
• Erscheinungstermin: 10. Januar 2013
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780007358335
• Artikelnr.: 38086056

Autorenporträt

Paula Byrne is the author of eight acclaimed works of non-fiction, most recently Hardy Women: Mother, Sisters, Wives, Muses. Earlier books include The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym, The Genius of Jane Austen, and Kick: The True Story of Kick Kennedy. Paula wrote a tie-in book to the award-winning movie Belle. In 2013, to coincide with the bi-centenary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, Paula wrote an innovative biography The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things. Other books include Mad World (about Evelyn Waugh and the writing of Brideshead Revisited) and Perdita: A Life of Mary Robinson which was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Award. She is the author of two novels, Look to Your Wife and Blonde Venus and was the historical consultant for PBS series Sanditon. She is founder of ReLit, a charity devoted to the mental health benefits of reading. She is married to Sir Jonathan Bate.

Rezensionen

"[Byrne] breathes yet more life into Austen and her works by considering the objects that populated her days.... [The] thematic approach offers a revealing picture of Austen and a lively social history....paints a fresh and vivid picture of an inimitable woman." The Economist

'The perfect companion to the novels ... Tremendous' Joanna Trollope, Sunday Telegraph

'Brilliantly illuminating ... Its great merit is [that] by focusing on one thread or another of Austen's experience, Byrne allow us to grasp the richness of Austen's inner life' Guardian

'A neat approach to biography, allowing Byrne to burrow deep beneath the surface of Austen's existence. The result is a delightful and engrossing portrait' Sunday Times

'Byrne's essays add up to a fine appraisal of the novelist's environment, truly Austenish in the way they burrow into a sequestered and often secretive private world' Observer

'A perceptive and energetic guide to Austen and her surroundings ... Byrne's critical study consists of a series of beautifully written, interrelated essays ... [her] style gives fresh charms to her subject matter. "The Real Jane Austen" is bold, fast-moving and accessible' Daily Telegraph

'Engaging, compelling, a delightful and engrossing book. Of course we all know that the "real" Jane Austen will forever be a mystery, but most 21st century Janeites will adore this one. Byrne's passion is nothing if not persuasive' Sunday Times

'What is fresh in Byrne's biographical approach is her use of a succession of contemporary objects that Austen owned, or that might be seen in intimate connection with her interests ... this adds an attractive immediacy to a well-known story ... Byrne's affectionate study paints a pleasingly lively picture of Austen's life' Independent

'Brilliantly illuminating ... riveting. By focusing, chapter by chapter, on one thread or another of Austen's experience, Byrne allows us to grasp the richness of her inner life' Simon Callow, Guardian

'The portrait of Austen that emerges is sparklingly multi-faceted, catching the light in intriguing ways ... her Jane is far less likely to go for a quiet walk in the garden than she is to be whisked into town in search of a velvet cushion, a necklace or a smart new dress' Irish Mail on Sunday