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A review by sarahapze
Jane Austen: A Brief Life by Fiona Stafford
3.0
“If during her teens, Jane Austen had considered herself as being, like Catherine Morland, ‘in training for a heroine’, it was perhaps now dawning on her that she was more suited to take on the role of author.”
While the book makes you want to (re)read Austen’s work, I found the biographical parts too concise (given the title). Stafford focuses more on Austen’s oeuvre, on how Austen found her voice as a female author, her inspiration and her writing processes. Although this is extremely interesting, it should be noted that if you are reading this without background knowledge of Austen’s works, you will find spoilers everywhere and you might find some analyses difficult to understand.
While the book makes you want to (re)read Austen’s work, I found the biographical parts too concise (given the title). Stafford focuses more on Austen’s oeuvre, on how Austen found her voice as a female author, her inspiration and her writing processes. Although this is extremely interesting, it should be noted that if you are reading this without background knowledge of Austen’s works, you will find spoilers everywhere and you might find some analyses difficult to understand.