The heroine of any story, George Austen’s daughter Jane would write, really ought to ‘have the misfortune, as many heroines have had before her, of losing her Parents when she was very young’. This was true in real life of Jane’s father, both of whose own parents had died before he was nine. Indeed, his story was even more traumatic than that.

Jane Austen at Home - Lucy Worsley (paperback) - Chawton House

Of course historians have their biases, but shouldn't they at least try to distance themselves from their subject? The rector of a parish has much to do …his parish duties, and the careand improvement of his dwelling.’ If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire.

You may also like…

Last, we learn of the life events which shaped Austen. All of these details are stitched together beautifully throughout this biography and we are given examples of how Austen's life and thoughts about the society in which she lived, the people she knew, and all other aspects of her life were fodder for her beloved novels. We are given many examples of how all of these were worked into the novels, but also how and why she had to be very careful about what she included. Fascinating! This was my favorite part of the biography. Austen wrote about what she knew and even advised a beloved niece aspiring to write a novel to do just that. This is a superb book. The discovery, research and creation of the story of Jane through and within her homes is superb. It is a trademark of Lucy Worsley's that this is so and why she is such a superb historian and communicator. Still, I did find that when Worsley was merely writing about the Georgian era (the lifestyle and traditions of those of Austen's class). There were some interesting tidbits abut their customs and daily routines. In 1764, the year George and Cassandra had married and moved to Hampshire, there had been great rains at Deane: ‘the Wells in the Parish rose to their Tops, and Fish were taken between the Parsonage Yard & the Road’.8 The other freak of nature to be seen in Georgian Deane was its enormous cabbages; a neighbour grew one ‘five feet in circumference in the solid part, and [which] weighs upwards of 32 lbs’.9 Meanwhile, down the lane in the neighbouring parish of Steventon, the high winds of February had blown down the church’s timber steeple.10 A lei piaceva leggere, indossare qualche bel vestito, suonare, danzare, mangiare bene e magari bere anche meglio. L’amore? Era soprattutto un rischio: nel suo ambiente l’amore significava matrimonio e matrimonio voleva dire una serie interminabile di parti.

Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley | Waterstones

Over time, Mr Austen would be a good steward to the Rectory. As the years went by, he ‘added and improved’ many features, enlarging the house ‘until it came to be regarded as a very comfortable family residence’.37 Jane would often show her fictional clergymen, Dr Grant and Edmund Bertram, as well as the horrible Mr Collins, devoting care to this very eighteenth-century clergyman’s concern of the ‘improvement of his dwelling’. Noblemen improved their country houses and parks; clergymen improved their rectories. It was something of a duty: according to Mr Collins, a clergyman ‘cannot be excused from making [his home] as comfortable as possible’. This is my kind of history: carefully researched but so vivid that you are convinced Lucy Worsley was actually there at the party - or the parsonage.' Antonia Fraser This new telling of the story of Jane’s life shows us how and why she lived as she did, examining the places and spaces that mattered to her. It wasn’t all country houses and ballrooms, but a life that was often a painful struggle. Jane famously lived a ‘life without incident’, but with new research and insights Lucy Worsley reveals a passionate woman who fought for her freedom. A woman who far from being a lonely spinster in fact had at least five marriage prospects, but who in the end refused to settle for anything less than Mr Darcy. A refreshingly unique perspective on Austen and her work and a beautifully nuanced exploration of gender, creativity, and domesticity.’ Amanda Foreman Lucy Worsley gives us Jane's life through the places she lived, and her few possessions. She never had a place of her own, as spinsters and widows were dependent on family charity for their survival in the early 19th century. Jane apparently had at least five chances at marriage, but never found her Mr. Darcy, and decided to let her novels be her children. This biography gives a fascinating history of her and her family, and my only complaint was that I would have liked more information about Cassandra, without whom Jane would not have been able to devote time to her novels.

Need Help?

Steventon Rectory, as Jane’s parents knew it, had a carriage drive, or ‘sweep’, at the front to bring in vehicles off the road, an important mark of gentility. There was a pond, and a ‘screen of Chestnuts & firs’. To the sunny south side of the house, behind a thatched mud wall, was ‘one of those old-fashioned gardens in which vegetables and flowers are combined’.38 Overall however I don't recommend reading this if you are looking for to read some informative, or credible, material about Austen. Worsley's constant snubs at her 'competitors' were tiring, especially considering that she seems to do exactly the same thing. I was born in Reading (not great, but it could have been Slough), studied Ancient and Modern History at New College, Oxford, and I've got a PhD in art history from the University of Sussex. This book is a superb telling of 18th century society and life - Jane's life - through her homes and it is ably done with passion and care that brings our subject and her family in to being. We read of early life at home in Hampshire and how the family lived together but with financial challenges that saw her mother and (especially) father try their best for the children. thing to do with the death of Jane’s father, even though his guilt at not providing for her and her elder sister Cassandra is all too obvious to them both.