Description
Book SynopsisA study of Jane Austen's life and writings, this work surveys two centuries of editing, censorship, and fiction that created a pious, wistful, romantically pining, and frustrated Austen. It serves up an antidote to that icon - a dynamic, brave, and buoyant writer - by examining subtle self-portraits in the author's works.
Trade Review[Auerbach's] detailed knowledge of Austen's sources [gives] us a more complete impression of Austen's wide and eclectic interests. - New York Review of Books ""The Austen sketched here is an ambitious novelist, confident in her superior talent, with a subversive and biting sense of humor.... Readers who enjoyed the novel The Jane Austen Book Club will find similar pleasures here."" - Publishers Weekly ""Emily Auerbach's approach to Jane Austen is lively, engaging, and thoroughly modern. Like Austen, Auerbach wears her wide learning lightly and imparts a great deal of information in a most enjoyable manner. A witty, approachable introduction to Jane Austen for today's readers, using modern analytical techniques to reveal new aspects of a great writer."" - Margaret Drabble, editor of the Oxford Companion to English Literature ""This 'search' for Jane Austen finds the playfulness and irreverence of her early writings present, to varying degrees, in all of the novels, but also finds a daring and powerful artist polishing her craft. Novel by novel, Auerbach overturns patronizing concepts about Austen's tiny canvas and limited view."" - Booklist
