5.0

A must read for any Jane Austen lover.... the author is a rare book collector and dealer and becomes interested in the female authors whom Austen read and was influenced by.  Romney chooses 8 authors to focus on and includes biographical detail and analysis of their works.  She completely smashes the myth that Jane Austen was the first and best female novelist and instead paints a moving picture of Austen as just one branch of a literary tree.  At some points, the author includes a few too many details about the rare book trade for my taste, but this is a very small quibble.