Description
Book SynopsisThe only best-selling authors in Jane Austen's league in the English language today are Shakespeare and Dickens. In the twenty-first century her boundless appeal continues to grow following the enormously successful television and film adaptations of Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility. This illuminating, entertaining, up-to-date companion is the only general guide to Jane Austen, her work, and her world. Josephine Ross explores the literary scene during the time Austen's works first appeared: the books considered classics then, the horrid novels and romances, and the grasping publishers. She looks at the architecture and decor of Austen's era that made up the profusion and elegance of modern taste. Regency houses for instance, Chippendale furniture, and picturesque scenery. On a smaller scale she answers questions that may baffle modern readers. What, for example, was hartshorn? How did Lizzy Bennet let down her gown to hide her muddy petti
