The Real Jane Austen audiobook

A strong biography – engaging, nicely structured, with well-researched details and strong interpretations. I'd definitely recommend, though this is probably more suited to those who know a bit about Jane Austen's life already.

In this engaging and scholarly biography of Jane Austen, Paula Byrne successfully dispels many of the myths swirling around her subject. According to Byrne, Miss Austen was a well-traveled, urbane sophisticate who demonstrated a vibrant interest, not just in literature - both classical and contemporary - but in politics, theology and the theater. Byrne identifies objects and relationships that were familiar to Austen and uses them to illuminate important aspects of Austen's personal life and connects them to her plots and the characters in her fiction. As she writes in her prologue: Small things in Jane Austen’s world do not only evoke distant places. They can also be the bearers of big emotions. The intense emotions associated with love and death are often refracted through objects. Letters and tokens are of great importance in the novels: focus upon an object is often a signal to the reader that this is a key sequence in the emotional unfolding of the narrative. This biography is an attempt to write Austen’s life according to the same principle. Byrne draws on her vast knowledge of Austen's prose and her correspondence. While her conclusions are speculative, they are rarely without corroboration. I particularly liked her analysis of Mansfield Park where she argues persuasively about its Abolitionist subtext, and her extensive discussions of the scribblings from the Vellum Notebooks, which provide a window into Austen's earliest literary efforts. The fact that Austen took the time and effort to transcribe them indicates her confidence in her potential for eventual fame. Byne has uncovered a never-before-seen drawing of Austen; she compares it to images of her closest relatives to establish its veracity. It is in sharp contrast to the famous, idealized Victorian portrait commissioned by her descendants, just as this biography counters the sanitized version of her life that they also promulgated.

True fans of Jane Austen can never get enough of reading about her novels or her life, sparse though both may be. This is a book to please true fans, especially those not deeply immersed in the more academic end of Jane Austen research. It might be classed as biography but is not a "starter" bio, being arranged as a series of essays instead of a birth-to-death narrative.Byrne has chosen to focus on a series of objects that belonged to Jane Austen or touched her life in some way, ranging from a laptop desk to a velvet cushion, as jumping-off points for her chapters, each devoted to one aspect or another of Austen's life. The book proceeds more or less chronologically but not linearly. I have read several Austen biographies but few of the more recent ones, so Byrne's narrative contained many details previously unknown to me, especially those drawn from the study of her extended family and friends.Byrne's scholarship appears respectable and I saw little reason to question her rendering of facts about Austen's life and times. She is unusually well read in the literature, especially plays, that would have been known to Austen and her family. Byrne also is unafraid to take issue with some of the received wisdom of JA scholarship, sometimes in convincing fashion (I agree that Austen gave up writing The Watsons for artistic reasons not because the story hit too close to her personal experience and that the presumption that she hated living in Bath can be challenged) and sometimes less convincingly (the idea that Mrs. Knight paid for the publication of Sense and Sensibility rests on the flimsiest of bases). Fair enough; biographers should speculate. Many biographers go much further into speculative psychologizing than Byrne does.This book is not for everyone but should please many.

I listened to this for a month on my drive back and forth from work and it was delightful. I learned a lot about Jane Austen and I'm even a bigger fan now.

A biography of Jane Austen with a wonderful host of details. The author has a tendency to theorize and assume beyond the facts; she has too many little stories that she just made up, or thoughts she thinks Austen definitely had. On the other hand, there's a luminous quality to the writing at points and I love learning about all of the little details of life around Austen, from a cousin's escape from the Terror to the make of her writing desk.

Not a traditional biography, but the format of this book conveys a wealth of information about Jane Austen, her sources of inspiration, and the times in which she lived.Pictures or illustrations depict many items which featured in both Austen's fiction and in her life — such as the card of lace, the cocked hat, and the crimson velvet cushions. There are also the Vellum notebooks, in which Jane wrote and revised her earliest works, and the bathing machines located on beaches, in which ladies changed into their dipping attire before being wheeled into the waves.One of my favourite sections, called "The Laptop," discusses the laptop desk or portable writing desk used by Jane to write letters and all her major novels. Oh, how I want one of these!I also learned that some of the money used to support the Austen family came from drugs — specifically the opium trade.For readers who love reading about favourite writers this book will be a delight. For someone who doesn't know very much about Jane Austen or isn't already familiar with the characters of all her major novels, this book might be in places hard to grasp.Here is something that made me smile, because often I am so amusingly dense. A holiday destination in Wales was being discussed, and a major attraction of Teignmouth "were the 'Amazons of Shaldon' — muscular women who pulled fishing nets while 'naked to the knee'." I had first imagined that "naked to the knee" meant they were only wearing rubber boots! It took me some time to realize that naked to the knee meant their legs were bare, with ankles and calves daringly exposed.There is much in this wonderful book to enjoy, and now I feel a little closer to dear Jane and love her even more.

A splendid read! This is up there with my other favorite biography about Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. What I love about Jane Austen’s life is that it was both remarkable and unremarkable. Byrne captures both these things brilliantly. Jane was an ordinary woman, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend. She was concerned like every other human about what she wore and ate, what she could earn by writing, the safety and well-being of her large family and acquaintance, etc. And then there is her genius and the fascinating tension of nature and nurture. This is another line Byrne walks brilliantly. She explores the effects of Jane’s family and friends and situation on her writing while also holding fast to her innate talent as a writer. Byrne is also able to flesh out a picture of Jane’s world and the people and objects in it without losing sight of Jane herself. I feel like my sense of Jane and her family and connections is richer. The Georgian era comes alive as well along with its contrast to the later Victorian period that wanted to make Jane much more demure than she actually was. Byrne mentions that it can be hard to get at Jane’s real thoughts in her letters because of how snarky her tone is. This is true in her fiction as well. I really do feel that Austen’s style is unique. John Mullan has said that a Jane Austen sentence can only be hers. I agree. So much more I could write and maybe I will add more later. It’s enough to say for now that I ordered my own copy of this book before I had even finished it.

This insightful, fascinating perspective on Britain’s most beloved novelist is a must-read for all literary fans and aficionados! Reading ‘Pride and Prejudice’ or ‘Northanger Abbey’ from a young age are some of my fondest memories, as my childhood, teenage years and adulthood have been interlaced with Austen’s elegance, erudition and perception on romance. Her stories (read in books and watched on film in numerous adaptations) are as dear to me as history itself, for they speak of truth and are a perfect example of acute character-study. Austen understands people so well that regardless of whether it is 1800 or 2013, we are able to relate to her works and as a result can spot a Cornel Brandon or a Lizzie Bennett anywhere. This beautiful, exquisite book is a delight to behold and is something that many an adoring fan of Jane Austen will treasure for all-time. This landmark biography reveals the woman behind her works, by painting a vivid picture of this iconic writer whose entire person has altered and defined our lives (for I cannot think of anyone who has not herd of Austen?!). In this new biography, bestselling author Paula Byrne 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 in this biography 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…Utterly absorbing, vibrant and beautifully detailed this captivating, enchanting read is just wonderful and is something that certainly brought a sense of nostalgia to mind. Austen’s stories are so familiar to so many and if asked ‘do you think that he is like a Mr. Darcy or a Willoughby?’ most of us would be able to reply, but it does beg the question- what about Jane. This non-fiction narrative (that reads like a novel) is full of rich detail, extensive research and fascinating facts on a woman who captured the hearts of many and yet who remained unmarried herself. Highly readable, warm and witty this brilliant book is a must-read and one that I guarantee you will find incredibly hard to put down!!

Every scholar approaches their subject with their own interpretations and insights. There is always something new to learn about Jane Austen, no matter how many books I read about her. Byrne's book is interesting, and I had a good time reading it. She examines Austen through the perspective of real items that have had an impact on her life. Yes, the renowned amber cross given to her by her brother is one, as is her writing desk given to her by her father. Also included are the lace card her aunt was accused of stealing and the bathing machines Austen would have used while staying at her favorite oceanfront resorts. Each object represents a different part of Austen's life that is explored in the chapter.Of particular interest are insights into Austen's novel Mansfield Park (which is really great timing for me because I joined the Mansfield Park read-along for the Jane Austen July Challenge).Jane had visited the genuine Lord Mansfield's estate, where they had adopted a niece as their heir. Dido, the illegitimate daughter of Mansfield's nephew and an enslaved black woman, raised her. Byrnes delves into Jane's understanding of slavery through Mansfield, close and distant relatives, and her naval brother Franks' interception of slave ships and abolitionist ideas. Norris was also the name of a prominent slave dealer, thus the family name had implications.Byrnes dissects the novel's plot's background as reflecting what was going on in Antigua, such as the dependency on slave labor, soil depletion, and simmering discontent. She observes that Fanny is the sole person who wishes to question Mr. Bertram about the slave trade.I was one of those who liked Mansfield Park. The morally superior, powerless, and sensitive Fanny stood her ground, which impressed me. But I did not consider what Byrnes addresses: that the word 'home' was used 140 times in the novel. She asserts that the importance of home is a main theme. "Is it a place or is it a family?", she queries. One of the transformative events in my life was moving at age ten, leaving me homesick and forever wondering about true homes and the homes we make out of necessity.We can only know Austen through her surviving letters, her novels, and one authenticated portrait--of her back. I appreciate Byrne's deep exploration of these sources which helps to further fill out our understanding of the 'real' Jane Austen.

I have never really been a big Austen fan, which along with my relative indifference to Shakespeare and Chaucer when I began my first degree reaaaally made other lit students look at me askance. I still think that those three are pushed upon us to a ridiculous degree, and often its not even their best work that is touted as The Book To Read (for example, I favour Troilus and Criseyde over The Canterbury Tales, and pretty much anything over Romeo and Juliet). But anyway, I've slowly come to appreciate them a little bit more, which will probably horrify my mother (at least where Austen is concerned). Sorry, Mum.Paula Byrne's biography of Jane Austen is quite a common sense one. Instead of looking first to her fiction and then trying to extrapolate out to her life, it looks at the objects that surrounded her or inspired her and teases out things from there. I'm not really a scholar of the period in any sense, so I can't speak as to the accuracy of it, but it reads well and I appreciated this view of Jane Austen as a practical, witty and determined woman, fully supported by her family and with no doubts about her chosen course in life. It debunks ideas like the picture some people have of her being very sheltered and not in contact with the world, putting us in touch with the politics she would have been aware of and the places she went. It has some nice inserts with some of the objects mentioned pictured in colour.I'm not keeping this book, but I'm certainly donating it to my library -- I know that someone who is more of an Austen fan than me will doubtless appreciate it even more, and I'm willing to bet there's a member of even our tiny little library who fits the bill.

This was a really enjoyable biography - such an excellent idea to have 18 chapters, each one beginning with an different object. This object (also photographed in colour) becomes the theme of the chapter, telling us more about Austen, her family and her life.Byrne is at pains to shatter the myth of the lonely spinster never stirring far from home and unaware of the 'bigger picture' of her times. She produces plenty of evidence to show that not only was Austen well travelled, but her wide network of friends and relatives kept her well informed of events and happenings right across the world.A family tree would have been invaluable!

Have been savouring this book over the last month or two and was so sad when it came to an end. It's so special, giving intimate details of Jane Austen's life that I had not read elsewhere. I feel like I know the person, the author, the sister so much better now. I loved, loved it.