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A review by berlinbibliophile
Jane Austen, the Secret Radical by Helena Kelly
4.0
I really liked the concept of this book: reading Jane Austen's books for signs of radical thought. I appreciated these readings, which I thought were generally quite convincing, if sometimes taken a bit too far in attributing motives to Jane from very little evidence. The topics are very interesting, especially the analysis of Catherine Morland as a lacking reader, as well as the exploration of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy as a radical utopian relationship.
I thought it was a strange idea to be arguing against viewing Jane Austen as an idealised figure due to popular preconceptions and then make up scenes featuring her out of whole cloth, placing words and thoughts into her mouth which were not her own. I liked these scenes, but they seemed to be contradicting the point of the book in that they portray Jane not through her own words, but through words imposed on her by Helena Kelly.
Nonetheless, the book overall was interesting and well-written.
I thought it was a strange idea to be arguing against viewing Jane Austen as an idealised figure due to popular preconceptions and then make up scenes featuring her out of whole cloth, placing words and thoughts into her mouth which were not her own. I liked these scenes, but they seemed to be contradicting the point of the book in that they portray Jane not through her own words, but through words imposed on her by Helena Kelly.
Nonetheless, the book overall was interesting and well-written.