Thursday, August 5, 2010

Jane Austen's Selected Letters


Title: Selected Letters (Oxford World's Classics)
Author: Jane Austen (Introduction by Vivien Jones)
Category: Non-fiction, Biography


"Little Matters they are to be sure, but highly important."
- Jane Austen, in a letter to her sister Cassandra, Dec 1808

Jane Austen's Selected Letters are all about the "little matters", yet they provide a fascinating insight into her life. She was a gossip, always ready and eager to share the latest news of her acquaintances with others, especially her sister Cassandra. In one letter she even joked how she was so tired of Cassandra "knowing nobody" and having little gossip to provide in return.

Jane Austen's letters reveal a preoccupation with clothes and fashion, social functions and expectations, family events, politics, reading, and - of course - her novels. Such private correspondence reveals just how clever and astute Jane Austen was, and how much of a tragedy it is that she died so young and so unexpectedly.

Recommended to all true Austenites and those interested in the daily lives of women in Georgian England.

5 out of 5 stars.

1 comment:

  1. Glad you liked it! Haven't read my copy yet, but hopefully soon.

    Jenny

    ReplyDelete

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