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A review by amycm
Jane Austen, the Secret Radical by Helena Kelly
4.0
4 stars for pure enjoyment and an interesting argument about how the world has misread Jane Austen's books.
Whilst I did not always agree with the author and I do think she was reaching in some instances (the scissors incident in S&S comes to mind), I think it is a valuable addition to any fan of Austen. Austen seems to be often put down and trivialised by the so-called heavy-weights and this book goes a way to showing why this is a massive disservice to skeptics. There is more to her writing than genteel romance with some social commentary thrown in on the insular live of the middle classes at the turn of the 18th-19th century.
However, those that came to reading this due to the marketing around the book that not only was it a massive departure of conventional discussion but a revelation will be disappointed. Much discussed here has been in the discourse for a long time; what comes to mind foremost is that of Mansfield Park in the context of slavery. Where it really does shine though is the way Kelly builds her case - she really does present her case well and the frequent use and variety of external evidence to build on her points are effectively deployed. The chapters on Sense and Sensibility and Emma are particular highlights, and the author does a good job of tracing hints in the novels of Austen's subtle criticisms of the church.
Of course, there are also some quite out there interpretations of her works, which did not always convince me despite Kelly's conviction. I (usually) enjoyed reading about them all the same even when I completely disagreed, some of which has also been discussed in other reviews (e.g. the cabinet scene is a metaphor of female masturbation? Fanny's father maybe molested her sisters because of.. I'm not really sure? Apparently because he hugged his daughter after not seeing her for years/Fanny's sisters share a knife? Edward Ferrars and his supposed sexual violence on Lucy Steele because he cuts up the scissor sheaf? Harriet Smith and Jane Fairfax are half-sisters?)
Further, like other readers have noted here, the author's strange narrative decision to include fictional excerpts of Jane Austen's life at the beginning of each chapter seemed a bit out of place. It did not really add anything either. It is odd but the vignettes are thankfully short-lived and it does not take long to get reabsorbed in the content.
Despite these flaws, I really enjoyed reading this book and it definitely achieved its mission statement: I now really want a reread of all Austen's novels.
Whilst I did not always agree with the author and I do think she was reaching in some instances (the scissors incident in S&S comes to mind), I think it is a valuable addition to any fan of Austen. Austen seems to be often put down and trivialised by the so-called heavy-weights and this book goes a way to showing why this is a massive disservice to skeptics. There is more to her writing than genteel romance with some social commentary thrown in on the insular live of the middle classes at the turn of the 18th-19th century.
However, those that came to reading this due to the marketing around the book that not only was it a massive departure of conventional discussion but a revelation will be disappointed. Much discussed here has been in the discourse for a long time; what comes to mind foremost is that of Mansfield Park in the context of slavery. Where it really does shine though is the way Kelly builds her case - she really does present her case well and the frequent use and variety of external evidence to build on her points are effectively deployed. The chapters on Sense and Sensibility and Emma are particular highlights, and the author does a good job of tracing hints in the novels of Austen's subtle criticisms of the church.
Of course, there are also some quite out there interpretations of her works, which did not always convince me despite Kelly's conviction. I (usually) enjoyed reading about them all the same even when I completely disagreed, some of which has also been discussed in other reviews (e.g. the cabinet scene is a metaphor of female masturbation? Fanny's father maybe molested her sisters because of.. I'm not really sure? Apparently because he hugged his daughter after not seeing her for years/Fanny's sisters share a knife? Edward Ferrars and his supposed sexual violence on Lucy Steele because he cuts up the scissor sheaf? Harriet Smith and Jane Fairfax are half-sisters?)
Further, like other readers have noted here, the author's strange narrative decision to include fictional excerpts of Jane Austen's life at the beginning of each chapter seemed a bit out of place. It did not really add anything either. It is odd but the vignettes are thankfully short-lived and it does not take long to get reabsorbed in the content.
Despite these flaws, I really enjoyed reading this book and it definitely achieved its mission statement: I now really want a reread of all Austen's novels.