REVIEW: 101 Things You Didn’t Know About Jane Austen by Patrice Hannon
We must confess that we expected something rather different from 101 Things You Didn’t Know About Jane Austen. We expected something more like a list of overlooked scenes from the novel, or explanations of references to commonplace items or ideas from Jane Austen’s time, long since forgotten. We are glad to have our preconceptions destroyed in this case, because what we received is much richer: a book truly about Jane Austen.
The author, Patrice Hannon (author of Dear Jane Austen), has put together a book packed with biographical information and insights into Jane Austen’s novels. We often are asked to recommend a first Jane Austen biography, and we think this beautifully-presented volume would be an excellent choice for any new or longtime Janeite.
The book is organized in sections relating to Jane’s childhood, young adulthood, her writing career, her later life, and her legacy. Each of the 101 Things explores an aspect of Jane’s life or work, following the timeline of her life and how the things and people she knew are reflected in her novels. As in her first book, the author shows her deep knowledge of and insight into her subject. Ms. Hannon has an engaging writing style, and the book is easy to read without being lightweight; scholarly but not stuffy. Any biographical work about Jane Austen requires a certain amount of authorial speculation, and Ms. Hannon occasionally indulges, but her speculation is intelligent and knowledgeable, which must disarm reproof.
Like many of the Jane Austen-related books currently being published, this book is being positioned as a companion volume for the film Becoming Jane. We hope that viewers of Becoming Jane who are curious to learn more about her will find this volume and discover, as the subtitle claims, the truth about Jane Austen.
AustenBlog is giving away a copy of 101 Things You Didn’t Know About Jane Austen. E-mail us at editor AT austenblog DOT com and tell us the date of Jane Austen’s birth to be entered in a drawing. All entries received by Sunday, March 25, at 5 p.m. EST will be entered in the drawing.
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:38 pm
If I don’t win the drawing (hint hint Editrix, can I bring you more tea?) I will buy this book anyway, it looks promising. I especially like the subtitle “the World’s Most Intriguing Romantic Literary Heroine”, though I don’t think of her as a literary heroine so much as an creator of literature. That she is intriguing is her charm, which is why attempts to “pretty up” her portrait bother me…we want to create her in our image rather than allow that she is mysterious. Since we have no other portrait of her we usually try to create our own…
March 24th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Well one might argue that Becoming Jane has her as a literary heroine.
I’ve entered too, but alas I have no tea to offer.
March 24th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Exactly, one of the 101 things I am sure we did not know was that she played cricket and hung with prostitutes as she contemplated her elopement.
And Ina I am sure Mags is above such boldfaced bribery. (A wee bit more Tullamore Dew in your Babboo Mug, dear, hot bath is ready in a minute….)…Sigh, sycophantic back scratching attempts never do pay off….though by no means am I a self-seeking, servile flatterer; nor fawning parasite, as the word implies. Just another Middle Aged Austen Whore looking for a free handout.
March 25th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
LOL Jessica Irene. Free seems to be everybody’s favorite word.
March 27th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Yes, and not the last reason why they are capitalizing on so many Jane Austen re-makes: free copyright!