Jane Austen, the Secret Radical by Helena Kelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Part of my ongoing research in preparation for my graduate thesis.
This wasn’t originally on my reading list, but my husband spotted it at the Waterstones bookshop in Bath and insisted on buying it. He has a good eye for great resources.
This was the first book on Jane Austen and her works that (1) did not put her on some sort of pedestal; (2) did not blindly accept every detail that is known about her as fact; and (3) did not end up critiquing Jane’s writing and life choices based on present day options available to women.
I was impressed with the work the author committed to offer her readers as much information as possible and to break down those preconceived notions that have surrounded Jane and her reputation for 200 years.
The amount of detail that is presented is remarkable. It provides various and rather different perspectives on Jane’s life and her work. Multiple times I found myself struggling to let go of the assumptions that we have come to believe are facts and realize that, perhaps, Jane was a lot more conscious of what she wrote and how she wrote it in order to get her point across without getting into serious trouble.
The author did a remarkable job lifting this veil of Romanticism about the late 1700’s and early 1800’s in which Jane lived and composed her works.
Also, it filtered out the romantic notion, which had been added by numerous film and television productions to show the true core of Jane’s stories, which aren’t really so much about perfect men professing their love for perfectly lady-like woman, patiently waiting for their true love to take them away into the sunset.
In addition, the social, cultural and historical background information the author provides is enlightening and has educated me more than any other book I have so far been able to find on Georgian customs and manners.
Overall, this is a true gem and I highly recommend it to anyone, who wants to not only enhance their knowledge of Jane’s works, but also go beyond Mr. Darcy’s lake scene.
