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rosedotclark's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
4.0
heather_boo's review against another edition
5.0
Biographies can be tough to read, especially if it’s a jumble of facts and dates. I listened to the audio version of this just in case there were details that could bog me down without having the stamina of a schooled reader of nonfiction. I was pleasantly surprised at the flow and my enjoyment. While there was some digression into her distant relations it is important to know who surrounded my favorite heroine. I finished the book with a sigh or regret that Jane died over 200 years ago, one of only two people in history I wish I had known personally.
owlet's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.25
It's not a bad book, it covers everything on Jane Austen's life, but somehow it didn't really "click" for me. Don't know if it was the writing style and/or the author's bias or something else.
I guess I'd recommend the book to die-hard fans of Austen, but not anyone else.
I guess I'd recommend the book to die-hard fans of Austen, but not anyone else.
beckeal's review against another edition
3.0
Fascinating! And boring! I didn’t know much of Austen’s life before reading this, and kept turning pages to learn what there was to learn. The research was well done, but the writing was pretty dry. And a little bias in a way that crept up on being unreliable. But still, glad I read it and wouldn’t not recommend it.
thenovelbook's review against another edition
5.0
This is a beautiful biography of Jane Austen. I have read several, but I love this one.
I thought I knew what there was to know about Jane Austen's life. As far as I could tell, details were a bit on the sparse side. Many of her letters were destroyed; there are no satisfactory pictures of her (just a sketch or two), and her family filtered her legacy in the decades following her death.
But there is so much in this book! The author has pulled references from letters of all of Jane's friends and family, chance remarks of acquaintances, and contemporary accounts of places and things that Jane would have been familiar with. The result is an extremely satisfying and fairly thorough biography. As the title suggests, it is written in the context of all the places Jane Austen spent time. This is a fascinating new take that allows for freedom of exploration of Jane's world.
Lucy Worsley writes in a spirit of great appreciation for the genius and personality of Jane. One can tell she is intrigued and inspired by the connections she is making and the conclusions she is drawing. Jane Austen could never be entirely known as a person at this remove of over 200 years, but this biography takes a darn good shot at it.
I thought I knew what there was to know about Jane Austen's life. As far as I could tell, details were a bit on the sparse side. Many of her letters were destroyed; there are no satisfactory pictures of her (just a sketch or two), and her family filtered her legacy in the decades following her death.
But there is so much in this book! The author has pulled references from letters of all of Jane's friends and family, chance remarks of acquaintances, and contemporary accounts of places and things that Jane would have been familiar with. The result is an extremely satisfying and fairly thorough biography. As the title suggests, it is written in the context of all the places Jane Austen spent time. This is a fascinating new take that allows for freedom of exploration of Jane's world.
Lucy Worsley writes in a spirit of great appreciation for the genius and personality of Jane. One can tell she is intrigued and inspired by the connections she is making and the conclusions she is drawing. Jane Austen could never be entirely known as a person at this remove of over 200 years, but this biography takes a darn good shot at it.
bhnmt61's review against another edition
5.0
Lucy Worsley is a popular TV personality on the BBC so I was expecting this to be a lightweight, breezy overview of Jane Austen’s life for the casual fan. But Worsley (I found out) is also a historian and a bit of a nerd, and Jane Austen at Home far exceeded my expectations. It certainly isn’t difficult to read, but it’s much more in-depth than the title and pretty cover attest. In fact, I found her “version” of Austen and Austen’s novels more compelling than the far more widely read bio by Claire Tomalin, whose interpretations of the novels seem a bit forced to me. Highly recommended for any Austen fan. Forewarned, forearmed, etc: it starts slowly.
katkaty's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0