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frodomom214's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting, although it didn't quite hold my attention at all times. A good review of Austen's and Wordsworth's lives and legacies, as well as a reminder that we ladies have come a pretty long way since the 18th century. (Although we still have a ways to go for equality.)
kittykornerlibrarian's review against another edition
2.0
I should learn not to try to read any more biographies of Jane Austen. So little is known about her; and that little is well-known. This book was a little too full of how she must have felt and what she must have thought, both with Austen and Wordsworth, and I find that kind of speculation wearisome. I don't know anything about Wordsworth other than what I read here but I am guessing that the details about her life are also scarce. If I want to know anything more about Jane Austen's life, I am going to just read her letters.
bericson13's review against another edition
3.0
I spent an entire semester digging deeper into Wordsworth and here I am reading more about Wordsworth's sister. good grief. what a weird relationship Dorothy and William had.
as far as Jane, her life and her novels have a clear correlation. I'm not sure I completely see the connection between Dorothy and Jane that the author was trying to get to, but it was a good analysis of the two women.
as far as Jane, her life and her novels have a clear correlation. I'm not sure I completely see the connection between Dorothy and Jane that the author was trying to get to, but it was a good analysis of the two women.
catherine_t's review against another edition
3.0
Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth were born just four years apart. Both had a literary presence during what has become known as the Romantic period in English literature. Both remained unmarried, left to rely upon the generosity of their brothers, as was the way of genteel spinsters of the age. But the two had very different personalities. Dorothy championed the side of "sensibility," vowing to live a life of deep feeling. Jane, however, was all cool "sense," more like her Elinor Dashwood than her Marianne.
This is the starting point for Veevers' examination of these two women's lives. Dorothy and Jane never met (which is what I assumed when I first read the title of the book), and they probably wouldn't have liked each other very much if they had. Jane would doubtless have thought Dorothy rather ordinary for subsuming her life to that of her brother, William, the poet.
I expected to want to know more about Dorothy. Of course I'd heard of her, vaguely, in connection with her brother. (I will state right here that I never was much for poetry, and the Romantic poets least of all.) Alas, I have very little desire to read more about her. Her whole life appears to have been devoted to William, whose talent she deemed greater than hers and thus more worthy. I don't think it's the fault of the author, who clearly cares about Dorothy's legacy and wants to bring it into the light, so to speak. But Dorothy Wordsworth doesn't seem to have much of a legacy, apart from some letters and journals.
I'm glad I read the book, if only because it allowed me to see exactly how remarkable Jane Austen was, in that time and place. Dorothy Wordsworth followed the traditional spinster's path; Jane carved a way through the literary jungle for herself.
This is the starting point for Veevers' examination of these two women's lives. Dorothy and Jane never met (which is what I assumed when I first read the title of the book), and they probably wouldn't have liked each other very much if they had. Jane would doubtless have thought Dorothy rather ordinary for subsuming her life to that of her brother, William, the poet.
I expected to want to know more about Dorothy. Of course I'd heard of her, vaguely, in connection with her brother. (I will state right here that I never was much for poetry, and the Romantic poets least of all.) Alas, I have very little desire to read more about her. Her whole life appears to have been devoted to William, whose talent she deemed greater than hers and thus more worthy. I don't think it's the fault of the author, who clearly cares about Dorothy's legacy and wants to bring it into the light, so to speak. But Dorothy Wordsworth doesn't seem to have much of a legacy, apart from some letters and journals.
I'm glad I read the book, if only because it allowed me to see exactly how remarkable Jane Austen was, in that time and place. Dorothy Wordsworth followed the traditional spinster's path; Jane carved a way through the literary jungle for herself.
marziesreads's review against another edition
4.0
Jane and Dorothy is a serious biography of the early lives of writers Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth, who were close in age though living in differing circumstances in Georgian era England. While much has been written about Jane Austen, far less has been published on Dorothy Wordsworth, sister of poet William Wordsworth, and that was part of the lure of this title for me. The central tenet suggested by the title, that one represented Sense and the other Sensibility (as in the Austen novel) is a rather flawed one, as Veevers herself points out. This is, nevertheless, an interesting exploration of these two women's early lives. Both lived with family, Austen happily so, though Wordsworth less happily so in her early life. Following the death of her mother, Dorothy endured a stultifying existence until she was able to leave her grandparents to live with her adult brother, William. Though both Jane and Dorothy wrote, one obviously became quite famous while the other seemed content to have her writing live in the shadow of her brother, one of the most famous poets of the Romantic Period in English literature.
This tandem biography provides insight into the lives of women during this period in English history. To put it mildly, expectations of ladies during the Georgian era were rather narrowly structured. The claustrophobia of Jane and Dorothy's rather constrained lives produced very different women. Jane Austen turned her sharp eye on society and its demands of women. She learned caution and forbearance and just as did many of her wise heroines, and also learned that less intimacy and familiarity in friendships sometimes produced better results. Her sister Cassandra was her true confidant. In contrast, Dorothy for a time almost reveled in her role of suffering while living with her austere grandparents, and once living with William, placed a high value on emotional expression rather than circumspection. While Jane went on to deepen her understanding of the social condition that women, and especially unmarried or late-marrying women, found themselves in, Dorothy languished romantically. The biography manages to tackle the sticky question of whether or not Dorothy and William had an incestuous relationship, and also discusses Dorothy's seeming infatuation with a married man, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who she was later shocked to find was a drug addict and who managed to hurt just about everyone who knew him in one way or another.
An interesting aspect of this biography is their writing and differing expectations of writing for public consumption. While Jane Austen wrote from an early age and achieved great success as a writer, Dorothy Wordsworth seems to have eschewed public attention for her writing. And yet her writing, particularly in her Grasmere Journal, is quite luminous and as more recent scholars have noted, was borrowed from extensively by her brother William. In many instances, Dorothy's writing seems to have strongly informed William's. (One of the revelations of this biography, that William Wordsworth had lost his sense of smell and relied on Dorothy for scent and taste descriptions, is quite fascinating.) The reader can see some newer information about the Grasmere Journal in a Sian Cain's recent article in The Guardian.
Neither Jane nor Dorothy ever married and Veevers probes into their reasons, especially whether Jane's unmarried state, when viewed through the lens of a modern acceptance of a woman having a career, was in fact, a choice that allowed her to keep writing. Veevers questions the stories of a late potential love lost in Austen's life as perhaps contrived by the Austen family to explain Jane's spinsterhood as somehow not her choice. The idea of choosing to remain unmarried for career reasons would be inconceivable in Georgian England. Dorothy's reason for remaining unmarried seems to have been far more easily accepted as a choice to help her brother's career (and indeed, she did!) and family.
All in all, this was an enjoyable read. Veevers provides a wealth of references for the reader.
I received a Digital Review Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This tandem biography provides insight into the lives of women during this period in English history. To put it mildly, expectations of ladies during the Georgian era were rather narrowly structured. The claustrophobia of Jane and Dorothy's rather constrained lives produced very different women. Jane Austen turned her sharp eye on society and its demands of women. She learned caution and forbearance and just as did many of her wise heroines, and also learned that less intimacy and familiarity in friendships sometimes produced better results. Her sister Cassandra was her true confidant. In contrast, Dorothy for a time almost reveled in her role of suffering while living with her austere grandparents, and once living with William, placed a high value on emotional expression rather than circumspection. While Jane went on to deepen her understanding of the social condition that women, and especially unmarried or late-marrying women, found themselves in, Dorothy languished romantically. The biography manages to tackle the sticky question of whether or not Dorothy and William had an incestuous relationship, and also discusses Dorothy's seeming infatuation with a married man, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who she was later shocked to find was a drug addict and who managed to hurt just about everyone who knew him in one way or another.
An interesting aspect of this biography is their writing and differing expectations of writing for public consumption. While Jane Austen wrote from an early age and achieved great success as a writer, Dorothy Wordsworth seems to have eschewed public attention for her writing. And yet her writing, particularly in her Grasmere Journal, is quite luminous and as more recent scholars have noted, was borrowed from extensively by her brother William. In many instances, Dorothy's writing seems to have strongly informed William's. (One of the revelations of this biography, that William Wordsworth had lost his sense of smell and relied on Dorothy for scent and taste descriptions, is quite fascinating.) The reader can see some newer information about the Grasmere Journal in a Sian Cain's recent article in The Guardian.
Neither Jane nor Dorothy ever married and Veevers probes into their reasons, especially whether Jane's unmarried state, when viewed through the lens of a modern acceptance of a woman having a career, was in fact, a choice that allowed her to keep writing. Veevers questions the stories of a late potential love lost in Austen's life as perhaps contrived by the Austen family to explain Jane's spinsterhood as somehow not her choice. The idea of choosing to remain unmarried for career reasons would be inconceivable in Georgian England. Dorothy's reason for remaining unmarried seems to have been far more easily accepted as a choice to help her brother's career (and indeed, she did!) and family.
All in all, this was an enjoyable read. Veevers provides a wealth of references for the reader.
I received a Digital Review Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
bookwormmichelle's review
4.0
Really enjoyed this. I have previously read quite a bit about Jane of course, and several things about various Romantics. But I really enjoyed this from the perspective of what it was like and what choices were open to unmarried women in Georgian/Regency times. Very interesting. FYI I am on Team Jane. LOL. Also found several NEW despicable things about Samuel Taylor Coleridge's character to hate. Good read for Janeites.
marziesreads's review
4.0
Jane and Dorothy is a serious biography of the early lives of writers Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth, who were close in age though living in differing circumstances in Georgian era England. While much has been written about Jane Austen, far less has been published on Dorothy Wordsworth, sister of poet William Wordsworth, and that was part of the lure of this title for me. The central tenet suggested by the title, that one represented Sense and the other Sensibility (as in the Austen novel) is a rather flawed one, as Veevers herself points out. This is, nevertheless, an interesting exploration of these two women's early lives. Both lived with family, Austen happily so, though Wordsworth less happily so in her early life. Following the death of her mother, Dorothy endured a stultifying existence until she was able to leave her grandparents to live with her adult brother, William. Though both Jane and Dorothy wrote, one obviously became quite famous while the other seemed content to have her writing live in the shadow of her brother, one of the most famous poets of the Romantic Period in English literature.
This tandem biography provides insight into the lives of women during this period in English history. To put it mildly, expectations of ladies during the Georgian era were rather narrowly structured. The claustrophobia of Jane and Dorothy's rather constrained lives produced very different women. Jane Austen turned her sharp eye on society and its demands of women. She learned caution and forbearance and just as did many of her wise heroines, and also learned that less intimacy and familiarity in friendships sometimes produced better results. Her sister Cassandra was her true confidant. In contrast, Dorothy for a time almost reveled in her role of suffering while living with her austere grandparents, and once living with William, placed a high value on emotional expression rather than circumspection. While Jane went on to deepen her understanding of the social condition that women, and especially unmarried or late-marrying women, found themselves in, Dorothy languished romantically. The biography manages to tackle the sticky question of whether or not Dorothy and William had an incestuous relationship, and also discusses Dorothy's seeming infatuation with a married man, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who she was later shocked to find was a drug addict and who managed to hurt just about everyone who knew him in one way or another.
An interesting aspect of this biography is their writing and differing expectations of writing for public consumption. While Jane Austen wrote from an early age and achieved great success as a writer, Dorothy Wordsworth seems to have eschewed public attention for her writing. And yet her writing, particularly in her Grasmere Journal, is quite luminous and as more recent scholars have noted, was borrowed from extensively by her brother William. In many instances, Dorothy's writing seems to have strongly informed William's. (One of the revelations of this biography, that William Wordsworth had lost his sense of smell and relied on Dorothy for scent and taste descriptions, is quite fascinating.) The reader can see some newer information about the Grasmere Journal in a Sian Cain's recent article in The Guardian.
Neither Jane nor Dorothy ever married and Veevers probes into their reasons, especially whether Jane's unmarried state, when viewed through the lens of a modern acceptance of a woman having a career, was in fact, a choice that allowed her to keep writing. Veevers questions the stories of a late potential love lost in Austen's life as perhaps contrived by the Austen family to explain Jane's spinsterhood as somehow not her choice. The idea of choosing to remain unmarried for career reasons would be inconceivable in Georgian England. Dorothy's reason for remaining unmarried seems to have been far more easily accepted as a choice to help her brother's career (and indeed, she did!) and family.
All in all, this was an enjoyable read. Veevers provides a wealth of references for the reader.
I received a Digital Review Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This tandem biography provides insight into the lives of women during this period in English history. To put it mildly, expectations of ladies during the Georgian era were rather narrowly structured. The claustrophobia of Jane and Dorothy's rather constrained lives produced very different women. Jane Austen turned her sharp eye on society and its demands of women. She learned caution and forbearance and just as did many of her wise heroines, and also learned that less intimacy and familiarity in friendships sometimes produced better results. Her sister Cassandra was her true confidant. In contrast, Dorothy for a time almost reveled in her role of suffering while living with her austere grandparents, and once living with William, placed a high value on emotional expression rather than circumspection. While Jane went on to deepen her understanding of the social condition that women, and especially unmarried or late-marrying women, found themselves in, Dorothy languished romantically. The biography manages to tackle the sticky question of whether or not Dorothy and William had an incestuous relationship, and also discusses Dorothy's seeming infatuation with a married man, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who she was later shocked to find was a drug addict and who managed to hurt just about everyone who knew him in one way or another.
An interesting aspect of this biography is their writing and differing expectations of writing for public consumption. While Jane Austen wrote from an early age and achieved great success as a writer, Dorothy Wordsworth seems to have eschewed public attention for her writing. And yet her writing, particularly in her Grasmere Journal, is quite luminous and as more recent scholars have noted, was borrowed from extensively by her brother William. In many instances, Dorothy's writing seems to have strongly informed William's. (One of the revelations of this biography, that William Wordsworth had lost his sense of smell and relied on Dorothy for scent and taste descriptions, is quite fascinating.) The reader can see some newer information about the Grasmere Journal in a Sian Cain's recent article in The Guardian.
Neither Jane nor Dorothy ever married and Veevers probes into their reasons, especially whether Jane's unmarried state, when viewed through the lens of a modern acceptance of a woman having a career, was in fact, a choice that allowed her to keep writing. Veevers questions the stories of a late potential love lost in Austen's life as perhaps contrived by the Austen family to explain Jane's spinsterhood as somehow not her choice. The idea of choosing to remain unmarried for career reasons would be inconceivable in Georgian England. Dorothy's reason for remaining unmarried seems to have been far more easily accepted as a choice to help her brother's career (and indeed, she did!) and family.
All in all, this was an enjoyable read. Veevers provides a wealth of references for the reader.
I received a Digital Review Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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