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Jane Austen's Country Life
Jane Austen lived for nearly all her life in two Hampshire for 25 years in her birthplace of Steventon, and then for the last 8 years of her life in Chawton, during which she wrote and published her great novels. While there are plenty of books describing her periods of urban life in Bath, Southampton and London, and the summer holidays in Lyme Regis and other West Country seaside resorts, no consideration has been given to this rural background to her life. Her father was not only the rector of Steventon but a farmer there as well, managing a property of some 200 acres. Her brother Edward, in addition, was a large landowner, holding the three estates of Godmersham in Kent, Steventon and Chawton in Hampshire. Agriculture in all its aspects was even more important to Jane than clerical life or the naval careers of her younger brothers.
This book fills a gap in the Austen family background, discussing the state of agriculture in general in the south of England during the wartime conditions which lasted for most of Jane Austen's life, and considering in particular the villages and their inhabitants, the weather conditions, field crops, farm and domestic animals, and the Austens' household economy and rural way of life. All appear in Austen's letters, and appear also unobtrusively in her novels, lending that air of verisimilitude for which her works are famous. Apart from these obvious sources, there are other Austen family manuscripts, as yet unpublished, which provide particular and unique information.
Richly illustrated with contemporary depictions of country folk, landscapes and animals, Jane Austen and Country Life conjures up a world which has vanished more thoroughly than the familiar regency townscapes of Bath or London, but which is no less important to an understanding of this most treasured writer's life and work.
This book fills a gap in the Austen family background, discussing the state of agriculture in general in the south of England during the wartime conditions which lasted for most of Jane Austen's life, and considering in particular the villages and their inhabitants, the weather conditions, field crops, farm and domestic animals, and the Austens' household economy and rural way of life. All appear in Austen's letters, and appear also unobtrusively in her novels, lending that air of verisimilitude for which her works are famous. Apart from these obvious sources, there are other Austen family manuscripts, as yet unpublished, which provide particular and unique information.
Richly illustrated with contemporary depictions of country folk, landscapes and animals, Jane Austen and Country Life conjures up a world which has vanished more thoroughly than the familiar regency townscapes of Bath or London, but which is no less important to an understanding of this most treasured writer's life and work.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2013
4 people are currently reading
542 people want to read
About the author
Deirdre Le Faye
31 books33 followersDeirdre Le Faye was an English writer and literary critic.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 28 reviews
January 3, 2017
Original review....Unless your name is Mary Crawford, I recommend this book! The subtitle is "Uncovering the rural backdrop to her life, her letters, and her novels". I would almost suggest changing the first word to "Discovering....". I enjoyed the many wonderful pictures. There were many passages from the novels quoted and at length too. Occasionally abit dry in spots. 4.75 Regency Teacups out of 5.
First read June 21-26, 2014. Reread for discussion group 1/2/17
First read June 21-26, 2014. Reread for discussion group 1/2/17
January 22, 2015
I went through this wonderful volume at warp speed, and will go back to take extensive notes on it later. An invaluable resource for anyone who wants to understand rural southern England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries! It absolutely answered nearly every question I have ever had about agriculture and country life.
For all Jane Austen fans, this is a must-read: there are so many context-setting passages that we modern readers mostly just skip over or don't fully register, but in her own day these same passages would have revealed a great deal about her characters and their circumstances. And for those who take an increasing interest in JA's own life, you will find a wealth of information about how she and her family lived.
I am writing a series of stories set in Surrey in the year 1800, and I have to thank Deirdre Le Faye for having done so much of my research for me! Just a brilliant volume.
For all Jane Austen fans, this is a must-read: there are so many context-setting passages that we modern readers mostly just skip over or don't fully register, but in her own day these same passages would have revealed a great deal about her characters and their circumstances. And for those who take an increasing interest in JA's own life, you will find a wealth of information about how she and her family lived.
I am writing a series of stories set in Surrey in the year 1800, and I have to thank Deirdre Le Faye for having done so much of my research for me! Just a brilliant volume.
September 3, 2016
This is not a novel nor is it a biography of Jane Austen's life. Instead, Deirdre Le Faye has passionately written and researched the life of The Austen Family while keeping the focus on how the rural aspect of their life influenced their family dynamic. It is fascinating and challenging reading very well researched while taking great strides to include not only excerpts from Jane and her siblings but her parents Mr. and Mrs. Austen as well. I cannot say how much I loved reading Jane's mother's letter's and descriptions of tending her garden throughout all four seasons, her livestock, her family dynamic as a wife and mother as well. If that is not enough, you also get the male perspective on rural family life with the religious undertone of the head of the family, Mr. Austen himself!
This is a beautiful hardcover book, illustrated throughout with period paintings, maps,engravings and etchings from famous artists of the eighteenth century. How lovely it was to turn page after page and see a rural painting next to the letters of The Austen Family living in two Hampshire towns i.e. Steventon and Chawton. Also, as an American and glorified Anglophile, the British or English countryside cottage vs. township aspect of rural life was not lost on me. Real history and familial relationships are discussed and preserved with respect in, Jane Austen's Country Life.
This is a beautiful hardcover book, illustrated throughout with period paintings, maps,engravings and etchings from famous artists of the eighteenth century. How lovely it was to turn page after page and see a rural painting next to the letters of The Austen Family living in two Hampshire towns i.e. Steventon and Chawton. Also, as an American and glorified Anglophile, the British or English countryside cottage vs. township aspect of rural life was not lost on me. Real history and familial relationships are discussed and preserved with respect in, Jane Austen's Country Life.
August 4, 2016
I cannot possibly get enough of anything Austen so when a book is published, using previously unused sources, I had to buy it immediately.
I actually could not put this down. Deirdre Le Faye is famous for her knowledge of all things Austen and, even though I might not be in agreement with exactly where she thinks some parts of Cheesedown Farm were, I was entranced from beginning to end.
One part I found particularly interesting was the account of the 'Year without a Summer' in 1816, due to a huge volcanic eruption the previous year.
The book has plenty of good illustrations throughout and the tone is cheerful and chatty. I was sad when I had finished it!
I actually could not put this down. Deirdre Le Faye is famous for her knowledge of all things Austen and, even though I might not be in agreement with exactly where she thinks some parts of Cheesedown Farm were, I was entranced from beginning to end.
One part I found particularly interesting was the account of the 'Year without a Summer' in 1816, due to a huge volcanic eruption the previous year.
The book has plenty of good illustrations throughout and the tone is cheerful and chatty. I was sad when I had finished it!
January 5, 2018
"[I]t has not yet been specifically noticed that of Jane's brief life span of forty-one years, three-quarters of this... was spent in the Hampshire countryside..."
Deirdre Le Faye's charming exploration of Austen's country upbringing is a unique perspective on how the land shaped her life as well as her writing. The physical books itself is handsomely designed and accompanied by helpful images displayed alongside the text. Historical information, letters, and Austen's stories are all drawn on to flesh out the major British locations the author called home.
Annotations
In Emma... there are references which show that the Donwell Abbey Estate, near Richmond in Surrey, has been enclosed for some time past, and is presently run as two farms... Mr Knightly keeps in hand the home-farm and manages it himself. He can therefore tell his brother John 'what every field was to bear next year... the plan of a drain, the change of a fence, the felling of a tree, and the destination of every acre for wheat, turnips, or spring corn'; he also has an 'idea of moving the path to Langham, of turning it more to the right that it may not cut through the home meadows' – but will not do this 'if it were to be the means of inconvenience to the Highbury people'. The village of Highbury is part of the Donwell Abbey property, and Mr Knightly is as always considerate of other people's feelings. On the other side of Highbury, in contrast... old-fashioned and unenterprising, since there is still a 'bleak common-field' outside the village... the road passing this field and leading to Mr Weston's adjoining small state is liable to become impassable in snowy weather. (pg. 13-14)
From 1777 to 1804 the Revd William Gilpin was vicar of Boldre, a Forest village only a few miles away from Southampton, and while there wrote several books praising what he called the 'picturesque' qualities of rough untamed landscapes – 'that kind of beauty that is agreeable in a pictures' – illustrated by his own aquatint engravings. His books became popular very popular, and soon tourists in search of the 'picturesque' views he recommended were going to the Forest to admire the variety of its wild scenery – changing from thick clumps and avenues of very old oak and beech trees, threaded through by peaty brown streams which created moors and bogs in the lower-lying parts, with tangled patches of dark yew trees and holly bushes bound together by honeysuckles, to scattered groups of tall windblown pine trees above sandy tracks criss-crossing through the purple heathland and golden gorse bushes. (pg. 15)
Mr Austen taught his sons Latina and Greek with a view to entering and obtaining a degree from Oxford or Cambridge universities, without which no gentleman could hope to make a satisfactory career... Girls were not supposed to learn Latin, but Jane evidently listened to her father and the boys as they discussed their lessons, and so was able to bring Latin tags and classical allusions into her letters in later life. (pg. 47)
"It was a sweet view – sweet to the eye and the mind. English verdure, English culture, English comfort, seen under a sun bright, without being oppressive. (pg.98)
No fewer than four of Jane's novels start their main action in September: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Persuasion. This is not accidental, but tacitly acknowledges that the slight pause after the hectic and anxious time of harvesting gave the opportunity for both farmers and gentry to plan for agricultural and social life respectively. (pg. 105)
When Jane Austen introduces her characters into the storyline, she usually slips in a reference to the carriages and horses which they own, as this would immediately have given her contemporary readership an insight into their social standing without any need on her part to provide long detailed descriptions.
(pg. 188)
Now that she was living in Chawton, Jane was no longer a farmer’s daughter but instead the squire’s sister – a difference in status and outlook; and this is subtly reflected in her later novels. The first three, those composed at Steventon, are set in rather lower and poorer ranks of society than the three written at Chawton. Catherine Morland is merely the daughter of a country parson, and her childhood spent running about the countryside and joining in boys' games with her brothers is probably quite similar to what Jane's must have been; in Sense and Sensibility Mrs Dashwood and her daughters have been dispossessed of their wealthy life at Norland Part and have become the poor relations of Sir John Middleton, learning how to live in Barton Cottage with its few plain rooms, dark narrow stairs and smoky kitchen – perhaps not unlike Steventon rectory. Pride and Prejudice is very much a small-town story: the excitement caused by the arrival of a new family in the neighborhood, inhabited as it is by Sir William Lucas, the tradesman and former major, who earned his knighthood merely by 'an address to the King, during his mayoralty'; Mrs Long, who is too poor to keep her own carriage and has two nieces to marry off; the Bennet girls' Uncle Gardiner the London merchant, and Uncle Phillips the fat stuffy local attorney, with his wife as noisy and gossipy as their own mother – Jane must have seen plenty of such people in Basingstoke and Odiham. When the novel was first published some readers considered Lizzy Bennet's background to be deplorably vulgar and she herself ill-mannered, impertinent and quite unsuitable for Darcy.
After Jane's experience of life at Godmersham, amongst just such rich landowners as her brother and his neighbors, the novels of her maturity – Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion – are written much more from the point of view of that rank of society: the domestic lives of the men who have the responsibility of managing large estates and leading their local communities. In the social structure of the time, it was expected that landowners would employ the villagers who lived on their estates, and villagers in turn would expect to be employed by the landowner, either as indoor domestics or outdoor labourers.
(pg. 252)
Deirdre Le Faye's charming exploration of Austen's country upbringing is a unique perspective on how the land shaped her life as well as her writing. The physical books itself is handsomely designed and accompanied by helpful images displayed alongside the text. Historical information, letters, and Austen's stories are all drawn on to flesh out the major British locations the author called home.
Annotations
In Emma... there are references which show that the Donwell Abbey Estate, near Richmond in Surrey, has been enclosed for some time past, and is presently run as two farms... Mr Knightly keeps in hand the home-farm and manages it himself. He can therefore tell his brother John 'what every field was to bear next year... the plan of a drain, the change of a fence, the felling of a tree, and the destination of every acre for wheat, turnips, or spring corn'; he also has an 'idea of moving the path to Langham, of turning it more to the right that it may not cut through the home meadows' – but will not do this 'if it were to be the means of inconvenience to the Highbury people'. The village of Highbury is part of the Donwell Abbey property, and Mr Knightly is as always considerate of other people's feelings. On the other side of Highbury, in contrast... old-fashioned and unenterprising, since there is still a 'bleak common-field' outside the village... the road passing this field and leading to Mr Weston's adjoining small state is liable to become impassable in snowy weather. (pg. 13-14)
From 1777 to 1804 the Revd William Gilpin was vicar of Boldre, a Forest village only a few miles away from Southampton, and while there wrote several books praising what he called the 'picturesque' qualities of rough untamed landscapes – 'that kind of beauty that is agreeable in a pictures' – illustrated by his own aquatint engravings. His books became popular very popular, and soon tourists in search of the 'picturesque' views he recommended were going to the Forest to admire the variety of its wild scenery – changing from thick clumps and avenues of very old oak and beech trees, threaded through by peaty brown streams which created moors and bogs in the lower-lying parts, with tangled patches of dark yew trees and holly bushes bound together by honeysuckles, to scattered groups of tall windblown pine trees above sandy tracks criss-crossing through the purple heathland and golden gorse bushes. (pg. 15)
Mr Austen taught his sons Latina and Greek with a view to entering and obtaining a degree from Oxford or Cambridge universities, without which no gentleman could hope to make a satisfactory career... Girls were not supposed to learn Latin, but Jane evidently listened to her father and the boys as they discussed their lessons, and so was able to bring Latin tags and classical allusions into her letters in later life. (pg. 47)
"It was a sweet view – sweet to the eye and the mind. English verdure, English culture, English comfort, seen under a sun bright, without being oppressive. (pg.98)
No fewer than four of Jane's novels start their main action in September: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Persuasion. This is not accidental, but tacitly acknowledges that the slight pause after the hectic and anxious time of harvesting gave the opportunity for both farmers and gentry to plan for agricultural and social life respectively. (pg. 105)
When Jane Austen introduces her characters into the storyline, she usually slips in a reference to the carriages and horses which they own, as this would immediately have given her contemporary readership an insight into their social standing without any need on her part to provide long detailed descriptions.
(pg. 188)
Now that she was living in Chawton, Jane was no longer a farmer’s daughter but instead the squire’s sister – a difference in status and outlook; and this is subtly reflected in her later novels. The first three, those composed at Steventon, are set in rather lower and poorer ranks of society than the three written at Chawton. Catherine Morland is merely the daughter of a country parson, and her childhood spent running about the countryside and joining in boys' games with her brothers is probably quite similar to what Jane's must have been; in Sense and Sensibility Mrs Dashwood and her daughters have been dispossessed of their wealthy life at Norland Part and have become the poor relations of Sir John Middleton, learning how to live in Barton Cottage with its few plain rooms, dark narrow stairs and smoky kitchen – perhaps not unlike Steventon rectory. Pride and Prejudice is very much a small-town story: the excitement caused by the arrival of a new family in the neighborhood, inhabited as it is by Sir William Lucas, the tradesman and former major, who earned his knighthood merely by 'an address to the King, during his mayoralty'; Mrs Long, who is too poor to keep her own carriage and has two nieces to marry off; the Bennet girls' Uncle Gardiner the London merchant, and Uncle Phillips the fat stuffy local attorney, with his wife as noisy and gossipy as their own mother – Jane must have seen plenty of such people in Basingstoke and Odiham. When the novel was first published some readers considered Lizzy Bennet's background to be deplorably vulgar and she herself ill-mannered, impertinent and quite unsuitable for Darcy.
After Jane's experience of life at Godmersham, amongst just such rich landowners as her brother and his neighbors, the novels of her maturity – Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion – are written much more from the point of view of that rank of society: the domestic lives of the men who have the responsibility of managing large estates and leading their local communities. In the social structure of the time, it was expected that landowners would employ the villagers who lived on their estates, and villagers in turn would expect to be employed by the landowner, either as indoor domestics or outdoor labourers.
(pg. 252)
May 18, 2018
For lovers of the Hampshire countryside, there can be no greater joy than rediscovering it under the guidance of one of the greatest English female authors of all time, Jane Austen, and that is exactly what this wonderful portrayal of country life, as seen from her perspective, allows us to do. As Deirdre le Faye is keen to tell the reader from the outset, Austen spent three-quarters of her relatively brief lifetime of 41 years in just such a tranquil rural setting. The insular nature of the society in which Austen lived and wrote, and which runs as a common thread throughout her work, can be seen as circumscribing it to such an extent that there was little else on which to dwell than on property, whether of an animate or inanimate kind. However, what might be seen as a demerit by some might just as easily be seen as a merit by others.
Indeed, the nature and use of land is of prime interest throughout Austen’s writings. Little wonder, then, that such is a central theme of this work, from the impact of land enclosure to a focus on those who worked and managed the land. Le Faye’s vivid and clear descriptions, placing Austen’s work within the historic agricultural context, are so vibrant and full of life that they buoy the spirit up, as well as helping to familiarize foreign readers with the settings in which she wrote.
For those who are already well acquainted with Le Faye’s other works on the life and writings of Jane Austen, among which the most notable are Jane Austen: A Family Record and Jane Austen: The World of her Novels, it comes as no surprise that this guide to the rural backdrop of her life, her letters and her novels is so well illustrated with numerous full-color portrayals of a countryside that is both beautiful and moving, in both a spiritual and an aesthetic sense. Despite the petite bourgeois nature of Austen’s own family and setting, she was closely familiar with the more rustic scenes of working class life, allowing for the inclusion of pictures of laborers' activities to form an intrinsic part of this study. Instances of such artwork appear in the form of, among others, such reproductions as William Bigg’s “Sunday Morning, a Cottage Family going to Church,” John Boys’s “Ploughman at Work,” and Thomas Rowlandson’s “Labourers at Rest.” Austen’s warmth and involvement with her characters, which in no way, however, prevented her from criticizing their flaws, albeit in the gentlest of ways, is clearly reflected in this highly articulate text, which shows, at every turn, the close intimacy that Le Faye has with all aspects of her subject matter. The landed estates of the aristocracy are also revealed in all their magnificence, with the great sweeping vistas of “The Country round Dixton Manor” and Thomas Sandby’s “View of Box Hill from Norbury Park, Surrey” being only two instances of the reproduction of a multiplicity of grand and gracious paintings and drawings.
All round, Jane Austen’s Country Life: Uncovering the Rural Backdrop to Her Life, Her Letters and Her Novels is a most insightful volume, and deserves to have much success, both among Janeians and among all those who love the English countryside, and who wish to be transported back to a time when they could ramble more freely, in both body and spirit, about its verdant meadows.
Indeed, the nature and use of land is of prime interest throughout Austen’s writings. Little wonder, then, that such is a central theme of this work, from the impact of land enclosure to a focus on those who worked and managed the land. Le Faye’s vivid and clear descriptions, placing Austen’s work within the historic agricultural context, are so vibrant and full of life that they buoy the spirit up, as well as helping to familiarize foreign readers with the settings in which she wrote.
For those who are already well acquainted with Le Faye’s other works on the life and writings of Jane Austen, among which the most notable are Jane Austen: A Family Record and Jane Austen: The World of her Novels, it comes as no surprise that this guide to the rural backdrop of her life, her letters and her novels is so well illustrated with numerous full-color portrayals of a countryside that is both beautiful and moving, in both a spiritual and an aesthetic sense. Despite the petite bourgeois nature of Austen’s own family and setting, she was closely familiar with the more rustic scenes of working class life, allowing for the inclusion of pictures of laborers' activities to form an intrinsic part of this study. Instances of such artwork appear in the form of, among others, such reproductions as William Bigg’s “Sunday Morning, a Cottage Family going to Church,” John Boys’s “Ploughman at Work,” and Thomas Rowlandson’s “Labourers at Rest.” Austen’s warmth and involvement with her characters, which in no way, however, prevented her from criticizing their flaws, albeit in the gentlest of ways, is clearly reflected in this highly articulate text, which shows, at every turn, the close intimacy that Le Faye has with all aspects of her subject matter. The landed estates of the aristocracy are also revealed in all their magnificence, with the great sweeping vistas of “The Country round Dixton Manor” and Thomas Sandby’s “View of Box Hill from Norbury Park, Surrey” being only two instances of the reproduction of a multiplicity of grand and gracious paintings and drawings.
All round, Jane Austen’s Country Life: Uncovering the Rural Backdrop to Her Life, Her Letters and Her Novels is a most insightful volume, and deserves to have much success, both among Janeians and among all those who love the English countryside, and who wish to be transported back to a time when they could ramble more freely, in both body and spirit, about its verdant meadows.
June 17, 2014
Before reading "Jane Austen's Country Life," I didn't realize that Jane Austen had really not traveled anywhere outside of a couple places in the English countryside. I guess I had a picture of Austen being much more traveled being such a famous writer. Writers always have to travel, right? However, in looking at Jane Austen's books, the English countryside definitely factors heavily into the settings. In this book, Le Faye draws parallels between Austen's real life and the lives that she wrote about in her books.
This book would be a really good pick for anyone who is interested in where famous authors like Austen get their ideas from. Austen was considered a great writer in her day and really did quite well for being a woman in a time that was not always so friendly for women. She definitely has staying power as Austen's books are still beloved today.Le Faye does a really good job of explaining where Austen may have been inspired by her surroundings. She draws on letters and other correspondence to show where Austen's mind was in her writing love.
The book is also filled with gorgeous illustrations that show what life would have been like during Austen's life. I really liked that these were included because it allowed me to more clearly see what Austen saw. The illustrations also make this a very pretty book that would be great for someone who really loves Jane Austen! Overall, this is a good book to both look at and read!
This book would be a really good pick for anyone who is interested in where famous authors like Austen get their ideas from. Austen was considered a great writer in her day and really did quite well for being a woman in a time that was not always so friendly for women. She definitely has staying power as Austen's books are still beloved today.Le Faye does a really good job of explaining where Austen may have been inspired by her surroundings. She draws on letters and other correspondence to show where Austen's mind was in her writing love.
The book is also filled with gorgeous illustrations that show what life would have been like during Austen's life. I really liked that these were included because it allowed me to more clearly see what Austen saw. The illustrations also make this a very pretty book that would be great for someone who really loves Jane Austen! Overall, this is a good book to both look at and read!
May 28, 2014
*I won this book through the GOODREADS GIVEAWAY program*
Well, let me just say, if you are at all interested in 18th century country life then this book is definitely for you. I found this book somewhat difficult to get through at times because it was a little bit dry reading. However I was very impressed with how in depth and informative the book was. I'm also a huge Jane Austen fan so it was interesting to read about how she may have lived her life (and did!) and put into more definite vision of how the characters in her book lived as well.
I would like to thank the author for taking the time to send me the book.
Well, let me just say, if you are at all interested in 18th century country life then this book is definitely for you. I found this book somewhat difficult to get through at times because it was a little bit dry reading. However I was very impressed with how in depth and informative the book was. I'm also a huge Jane Austen fan so it was interesting to read about how she may have lived her life (and did!) and put into more definite vision of how the characters in her book lived as well.
I would like to thank the author for taking the time to send me the book.
April 25, 2015
An extensively researched book focused specifically on the places Jane Austen lived and knew in the countryside. Le Faye includes a number of passages and examples from the novels to help illustrate and give greater context. I do wish it had gone a little more into money and incomes related to all of these farming activities, but overall a very good read.
March 1, 2019
This book is amazingly well researched and written. Having done research into Jane Austen and the time period in which she lived, I must confess that I have not done much in terms of the agricultural aspect of her life. Mainly because I was too focused on politics, and other issues that I felt would be more interesting when writing my own novel. However, I was mistaken and am glad this book exists. The author has done an extremely through job of not only explaining the issues of agriculture as how they relate to the politics and laws of the day, but also how this knowledge made it's way into Austen's novels as well. I enjoyed the way she wove bits of each of the novels (that pertained to farming or country life) to highlight real world issues. Such as the raising of livestock or the significance of apples (different varieties are grown art different times of year). She even points out how farming was a daily part of Austen's life and the costs involved with it (that it could assist in becoming richer, or create hardships if crops were bad just once). This is a book that I must purchase for myself as I had read this from a copy I borrowed from the local library.
December 12, 2024
"What are men to rocks and mountains?"
This book provided a fantastic insight into Jane Austen's life in the country and how her lived experiences coloured her writing.
The chapters were overflowing with information gleaned from deep research into Jane's letters and her family's notes, supplemented by historical data found in newspapers, census and tax records, poems, letters, and other artifacts. Combined, these provided detailed descriptions of the agricultural seasons Jane experienced, the animals she would have seen and those her family raised, communities she passed through and lived in, neighbours she visited, and landscapes she loved. This book enriches her writings and I look forward to reading them again with this rich understanding of country life.
This book provided a fantastic insight into Jane Austen's life in the country and how her lived experiences coloured her writing.
The chapters were overflowing with information gleaned from deep research into Jane's letters and her family's notes, supplemented by historical data found in newspapers, census and tax records, poems, letters, and other artifacts. Combined, these provided detailed descriptions of the agricultural seasons Jane experienced, the animals she would have seen and those her family raised, communities she passed through and lived in, neighbours she visited, and landscapes she loved. This book enriches her writings and I look forward to reading them again with this rich understanding of country life.
July 22, 2018
I really enjoyed this book! It offers a detailed look at what life was like for Jane Austen and her family and neighbors. The author also quotes from Austen's novels to show the many places where Austen's environment affected her stories. I highly recommend this book for any Jane Austen fans. If for some reason you aren't familiar with Austen's novels, all the quotations will be very confusing to you.
January 13, 2017
Well researched and very accessible writing, it added greatly to my visualisation of the time period. Even the quality of the paper was impressive.
November 17, 2021
Love this book. Le Faye was one of the best Jane Austen scholars (she died earlier this year.) I will use this book for reference for many years to come.
December 11, 2022
Useful for my purposes
July 12, 2024
Thick with Jane Austen herself for Austen geeks!! This is a great book if you’ve recently read one or two of her books (or seen one of the movies)! Great fun!
May 10, 2019
One unfortunate side effect of Jane Austen’s explosion in popularity in the past twenty years has been a deluge of biographies and semi-historical books, documentaries, and movies describing her life. (Looking at you, and judging you hard, Becoming Jane.)
Most of these have either centered on her love life (and, like said movie above, exaggerating it into nonsense) or given a cloyingly sweet picture of her life.
Thankfully, Deirdre Le Fay’s Jane Austen’s Country Life doesn’t do that.
She depicts the idyllic beauty of an English countryside, but doesn’t shy away from the gritty realities of an agricultural society. I wasn’t aware that Jane Austen’s early home was a farm, along with being a rectory and a school. Le Fay does an excellent job of combining information about Jane Austen’s personal life in this atmosphere with more general information about the state of English agriculture and small village living.
Agriculture was changing during Jane Austen’s life. Enclosures cut people off from the common lands used for grazing livestock and feeding pigs, but it was vastly improving the ability to grow more crops, both for food and for industry. However, it could still be a struggle for almost everyone directly involved. Even our modern innovations can’t entirely end this struggle (as evidenced by the crops wiped out by the massive spring flooding here in Iowa); it was much harder in an age where agricultural innovation still required the direct strength of human and animal labor. Much of life depended on the vagaries of weather. A lengthy winter, or a rainy summer, could bode ill for the coming year, and mud could prevent travel entirely.
Despite these issues, Le Fay makes it clear that Jane Austen enjoyed the country, and that enjoyment is peppered throughout her novels. Her heroines tend to share an enjoyment of nature, whether “picturesque” or not (and despite liking the picturesque herself, she didn’t mind describing Marianne’s sensibilities in a very tongue-in-cheek fashion).
Overall this is an excellent book that depicts both Jane Austen’s life (what we know of it) as well as a specific period of history and its changes very well.
Most of these have either centered on her love life (and, like said movie above, exaggerating it into nonsense) or given a cloyingly sweet picture of her life.
Thankfully, Deirdre Le Fay’s Jane Austen’s Country Life doesn’t do that.
She depicts the idyllic beauty of an English countryside, but doesn’t shy away from the gritty realities of an agricultural society. I wasn’t aware that Jane Austen’s early home was a farm, along with being a rectory and a school. Le Fay does an excellent job of combining information about Jane Austen’s personal life in this atmosphere with more general information about the state of English agriculture and small village living.
Agriculture was changing during Jane Austen’s life. Enclosures cut people off from the common lands used for grazing livestock and feeding pigs, but it was vastly improving the ability to grow more crops, both for food and for industry. However, it could still be a struggle for almost everyone directly involved. Even our modern innovations can’t entirely end this struggle (as evidenced by the crops wiped out by the massive spring flooding here in Iowa); it was much harder in an age where agricultural innovation still required the direct strength of human and animal labor. Much of life depended on the vagaries of weather. A lengthy winter, or a rainy summer, could bode ill for the coming year, and mud could prevent travel entirely.
Despite these issues, Le Fay makes it clear that Jane Austen enjoyed the country, and that enjoyment is peppered throughout her novels. Her heroines tend to share an enjoyment of nature, whether “picturesque” or not (and despite liking the picturesque herself, she didn’t mind describing Marianne’s sensibilities in a very tongue-in-cheek fashion).
Overall this is an excellent book that depicts both Jane Austen’s life (what we know of it) as well as a specific period of history and its changes very well.
November 7, 2016
This volume is well-illustrated with both color and B/W photos and paintings to give an idea of what country life was like during Austen's life. Though the title states "Country Life" the book does cover her residence in Bath ("Urban Interlude"); by the time one comes to this chapter, having read about Jane's life from her letters and those of her family and friends, I could see why life in Bath was, for her, so circumscribed even though it was not a large city and there was quick access to country lanes for walking round about.
The writing was very competent, discursive, but also quite detailed. La Faye mentions the common people Austen knew and the work relationship they had with the family. I have a better idea of the "social rank" her father had in the Steventon parish and why Edward's adoption by the Knight family was quite an elevation for the young man.
La Faye briefly mentions in the chapter "A Year in the Countryside" some of the church celebrations of the parish, e.g. Rogation Sunday. What is missing, however, is a description of what a typical church service was like in the country, any church controversies that did/did not affect the typical country church, etc.
Anyone engaged in writing serious regency romances (i.e. not soft/hard porn that could be set in any period, so typical of "regency" romances today) will find this book very useful in developing a plot in the countryside.
The writing was very competent, discursive, but also quite detailed. La Faye mentions the common people Austen knew and the work relationship they had with the family. I have a better idea of the "social rank" her father had in the Steventon parish and why Edward's adoption by the Knight family was quite an elevation for the young man.
La Faye briefly mentions in the chapter "A Year in the Countryside" some of the church celebrations of the parish, e.g. Rogation Sunday. What is missing, however, is a description of what a typical church service was like in the country, any church controversies that did/did not affect the typical country church, etc.
Anyone engaged in writing serious regency romances (i.e. not soft/hard porn that could be set in any period, so typical of "regency" romances today) will find this book very useful in developing a plot in the countryside.
December 13, 2016
This book included two of my interests--English history and Jane Austen, and I enjoyed how it focused on the country life of England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries through a look at the letters and novels of Jane Austen as well as primary sources dealing with agriculture and village life. Definitely a "niche" book and worth reading if these are your interests, too!
November 21, 2014
Pleasant, fairly quick read that would probably be of especial interest to Regency writers and Austen fans, and little interest to others. Loved all the illustrations and bits of letters from those in Austen's world, if not directly family members and friends.
October 24, 2016
I found this book to be extremely helpful in putting the sequence of events in Jane Austen's life in order. The wealth of information on country life in England and its effect on Austen helps to put the context of her stories in perspective.
June 28, 2015
What a wonderful book describing the times in England in which Jane Austen lived, and tying-in so nicely, words from her letters or books, to observations about those times. I loved the descriptions of the lands and estates, especially, but also of the village life, etc. I highly recommend.
March 31, 2022
I found this book a bit hit or miss. I found some things very interesting and quite compelling, and other parts dull and a bit monotonous. If you're interested to learn more about Jane Austen, some interesting details.
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June 3, 2014LJ
Very interesting, Austen fans would love this.
Very interesting, Austen fans would love this.
March 12, 2015
I loved this book with so many details about life during Jane Austen's time. Filled with history and great descriptions of life as it was in England. Loved the art used to illustrate this book.
June 12, 2015
Interesting and enjoyable, but I find it curious and a little distressing that there are no footnotes, or even a bibliography.
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