Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney

 

Title:  Jane Austen’s Bookshelf

Author:  Rebecca Romney

Narrated by:  Rebecca Romney

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 46 minutes

Source: Thank you @goodreads for the physical copy.  Thank-you to @simonaudio for the audiobook.

Do you know what books your favorite author liked to read?  I always find it interesting to find out what authors like to read.

Author Rebecca Romney is a book collector and devotee of Jane Austen.  As she researched Austen and her works, she concluded that she wasn’t a lone female genius author.  She had wrote her books at a time of other great female authors who have been left out of the canon over time.   Who are these authors and what are their works?

My thoughts on this book:

·       JASNA Northwoods picked this book for an August selection.  We all enjoyed it and decided that we will pick some of our future book club picks from the classic female authors discussed in the text.

·       The author has read many of the male authors that were Austen’s favorites, but not the women authors.  Why were these women left out of the canon?

·       There are clues sprinkled throughout Austen’s work from women writers that she admired.  It was interesting how different phrases such as “Pride and Prejudice” in Austen’s works came from other works published at that time and would have been familiar to contemporary reads.

·       The women covered in this book include:  Frances Burney, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Lennox, Hannah More, Charlotte Smith, Elizabeth Inchbald, Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi, and Maria Edgeworth.

·       The book is split up by author.  Each author has a short biography of their life and details about their works. Romney describes her search for each authors works.

·       I loved the author’s nerdy obsession with collecting books.  As a lifelong collector myself, I felt this book.

·       I have always wondered why certain authors are on the canon and not others.  I have collected American and British literature books through time and have noted how authors drop out, especially women.  This book wants you to read beyond the canon.

·       There is an index, book collection list (and notes) at the end of this book.  It’s a great reference.

·       I loved that author Rebecca Romney narrated the audiobook.  It was a very enjoyable book to listen to.

Overall, Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney is an interesting, informative, and enjoyable read.  The audiobook is read by the author and great as well. I recommend this to all lovers of Jane Austen.