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Patchwork: A Graphic Biography of Jane Austen
From acclaimed graphic novelist Kate Evans, author of Red Rosa, comes a graphic biography of Jane Austen. Publishing on the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth.
In the later years of her life, Jane Austen created a quilt. Acclaimed graphic novelist Kate Evans takes the fabrics of this patchwork coverlet and uses them to illustrate a beautiful, brilliantly immersive and compelling comic-book retelling of Jane Austen’s life. Evans patchworks together the narrative from Austen’s own words, seamlessly interweaving snippets from her letters and her stories, and tells her life story from the cradle to the grave, including riotously joyous comic excerpts of her novels.
Kate Evans’s art style – which takes inspiration from James Gillray, Raymond Briggs, Quentin Blake and Beatrix Potter – and her incredible eye for historical detail, costume, architecture, even the fonts on the page, add up to a quintessentially English vision of Austen’s world. There is even an embroidered chapter, where the artwork is created in thread paintings. The whole combines to create a unique and original work of biographical scholarship which gives fresh insights into the impact of the events of Austen’s life on her work.
In the later years of her life, Jane Austen created a quilt. Acclaimed graphic novelist Kate Evans takes the fabrics of this patchwork coverlet and uses them to illustrate a beautiful, brilliantly immersive and compelling comic-book retelling of Jane Austen’s life. Evans patchworks together the narrative from Austen’s own words, seamlessly interweaving snippets from her letters and her stories, and tells her life story from the cradle to the grave, including riotously joyous comic excerpts of her novels.
Kate Evans’s art style – which takes inspiration from James Gillray, Raymond Briggs, Quentin Blake and Beatrix Potter – and her incredible eye for historical detail, costume, architecture, even the fonts on the page, add up to a quintessentially English vision of Austen’s world. There is even an embroidered chapter, where the artwork is created in thread paintings. The whole combines to create a unique and original work of biographical scholarship which gives fresh insights into the impact of the events of Austen’s life on her work.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published October 28, 2025
18 people are currently reading
400 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
November 2, 2025
3 stars for this graphic biography of Jane Austen. While I did learn a few new things about her (esp. her childhood), the style of the illustrations just really turned me off and I struggled with it more than I should have
July 13, 2025
Book Review: Patchwork: A Graphic Biography of Jane Austen
Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for an ARC copy of this book.
It always pains me to read or watch depictions of Jane Austen’s life — which is a bit ironic, considering she’s been one of my favorite authors since I was in middle school. Now, as a PhD student, my admiration for her has only deepened, and so has my heartbreak over the life she lived. Austen's biography is often quietly tragic: the displacement, the instability, the financial precarity, the limited options for women, and how much she had to sacrifice just to write. Even though Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility found success in her lifetime, most of her work only truly flourished after her death. I often wonder how different things might have been had she lived long enough to see her work become the international treasure it is today.
Reading Patchwork — a graphic biography that reimagines Austen’s life through textile, form, and layered history — felt unlike any other Austen biography I’ve encountered. The storytelling through patchwork was so moving, intimate, and visually striking. I loved it — too much, honestly — and found myself crying more than once. The artwork is both bold and delicate, perfectly aligned with the theme and tone of the book. It felt like a love letter to Austen, but also an unflinching look at the world she lived in and the ones she left out of her stories.
What truly set Patchwork apart for me was its willingness to explore the invisible threads — the colonial, racial, and class realities — woven into Austen’s time and legacy. I’ve long felt discomfort about how British imperialism, especially in the Regency era, is so often glossed over in biographies and adaptations. The book did not shy away from confronting this history. It made space for the voices that are usually ignored: the Indian weavers exploited by the East India Company, the Irish peasants dispossessed of their land, the working-class children trapped in brutal labor. These stories were told with such urgency and care.
There’s a section that left me breathless:
“The British East India Company agent stands by the door of the weaver’s hut… He gives less than the debt the weaver already owes… Debt that will be passed on to the weaver’s sons and his sons’ sons…”
Reading those lines, I felt a deep ache — a reminder of how violence is perpetuated through systems that seem mundane on the surface: trade, fashion, domestic life. The muslin so often romanticized in Austen’s novels? It came from this violence. It was made through the labor of people who were robbed not just of their work, but of futures. This biography refuses to let that be forgotten.
I also deeply appreciated the critique of the British entitlement over other lands, and the assumption of racial and cultural superiority — a mindset that defined the empire and its literary elite. Austen may have abhorred slavery, as the book points out, but can we really separate the comforts of her world — and of her characters — from the colonial exploitation that funded it?
The biography also reflects on the Irish resistance — and heartbreakingly, Henry Austen’s role in suppressing it:
“Arraigning, detaining, deporting and executing the United Irishmen.”
These truths are so rarely touched on, even in more scholarly work.
And yet, this isn’t a book that aims to cancel Austen or diminish her genius. Instead, it widens the lens, complicates the narrative, and gently but powerfully challenges us to hold multiple truths at once. Yes, Austen was brilliant. Yes, she crafted characters and novels that endure. But also: the comforts, wealth, and imagined tranquility of her worlds came with hidden costs, often borne by the colonized, the poor, and the voiceless.
This book captures what I’ve always felt — that Jane Austen’s work is beautiful and moving, but also incomplete.
“Did Mr Darcy build Pemberley without income from West Indian investments?”
“Where is the line between imagination and reality, when a legal fiction can, with the stroke of a pen, condemn people to be properties?”
Patchwork doesn’t try to answer all these questions. Instead, it stitches them together, piece by piece, into a biography that is both an ode and an interrogation. It gave me space to love Austen while also reckoning with the world she lived in and the worlds her work left out.
It’s one of the most moving, thought-provoking books I’ve read in a long time. I’ll be returning to it — and weeping — again.
Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for an ARC copy of this book.
It always pains me to read or watch depictions of Jane Austen’s life — which is a bit ironic, considering she’s been one of my favorite authors since I was in middle school. Now, as a PhD student, my admiration for her has only deepened, and so has my heartbreak over the life she lived. Austen's biography is often quietly tragic: the displacement, the instability, the financial precarity, the limited options for women, and how much she had to sacrifice just to write. Even though Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility found success in her lifetime, most of her work only truly flourished after her death. I often wonder how different things might have been had she lived long enough to see her work become the international treasure it is today.
Reading Patchwork — a graphic biography that reimagines Austen’s life through textile, form, and layered history — felt unlike any other Austen biography I’ve encountered. The storytelling through patchwork was so moving, intimate, and visually striking. I loved it — too much, honestly — and found myself crying more than once. The artwork is both bold and delicate, perfectly aligned with the theme and tone of the book. It felt like a love letter to Austen, but also an unflinching look at the world she lived in and the ones she left out of her stories.
What truly set Patchwork apart for me was its willingness to explore the invisible threads — the colonial, racial, and class realities — woven into Austen’s time and legacy. I’ve long felt discomfort about how British imperialism, especially in the Regency era, is so often glossed over in biographies and adaptations. The book did not shy away from confronting this history. It made space for the voices that are usually ignored: the Indian weavers exploited by the East India Company, the Irish peasants dispossessed of their land, the working-class children trapped in brutal labor. These stories were told with such urgency and care.
There’s a section that left me breathless:
“The British East India Company agent stands by the door of the weaver’s hut… He gives less than the debt the weaver already owes… Debt that will be passed on to the weaver’s sons and his sons’ sons…”
Reading those lines, I felt a deep ache — a reminder of how violence is perpetuated through systems that seem mundane on the surface: trade, fashion, domestic life. The muslin so often romanticized in Austen’s novels? It came from this violence. It was made through the labor of people who were robbed not just of their work, but of futures. This biography refuses to let that be forgotten.
I also deeply appreciated the critique of the British entitlement over other lands, and the assumption of racial and cultural superiority — a mindset that defined the empire and its literary elite. Austen may have abhorred slavery, as the book points out, but can we really separate the comforts of her world — and of her characters — from the colonial exploitation that funded it?
The biography also reflects on the Irish resistance — and heartbreakingly, Henry Austen’s role in suppressing it:
“Arraigning, detaining, deporting and executing the United Irishmen.”
These truths are so rarely touched on, even in more scholarly work.
And yet, this isn’t a book that aims to cancel Austen or diminish her genius. Instead, it widens the lens, complicates the narrative, and gently but powerfully challenges us to hold multiple truths at once. Yes, Austen was brilliant. Yes, she crafted characters and novels that endure. But also: the comforts, wealth, and imagined tranquility of her worlds came with hidden costs, often borne by the colonized, the poor, and the voiceless.
This book captures what I’ve always felt — that Jane Austen’s work is beautiful and moving, but also incomplete.
“Did Mr Darcy build Pemberley without income from West Indian investments?”
“Where is the line between imagination and reality, when a legal fiction can, with the stroke of a pen, condemn people to be properties?”
Patchwork doesn’t try to answer all these questions. Instead, it stitches them together, piece by piece, into a biography that is both an ode and an interrogation. It gave me space to love Austen while also reckoning with the world she lived in and the worlds her work left out.
It’s one of the most moving, thought-provoking books I’ve read in a long time. I’ll be returning to it — and weeping — again.
November 27, 2025
Whimsical and folk-artish along with a deep delve into the emotional side of life, Kate Evans takes the readers of Patchwork into a unique experience, a graphic biography with the subject none other than the witty Jane Austen.
In celebration of 250 years of Jane Austen, Patchwork marries historical textiles and quilting with the Austen family. Beginning with Jane’s birth, Patchwork progresses through Jane’s life from Christening gowns to burial shrouds and everything in between all while pulling aside the curtain on the life Jane led in the midst of her Austen family. The artwork and prose explored a ‘how did Jane feel?’ at each given milestone.
Her younger years are shrouded in shadow, but the author didn’t allow this to balk her efforts. There are scenes of Jane as a baby, getting christened, being farmed out to a nearby family for her first years, playing with Cassie, Frank, and Charles her nearest siblings, leaving for boarding school, living at home in a bustling family household, and eventually coming out as a young lady dressed prettily in her muslin gown.
There is a stunning social commentary at the center explaining the darker side of the textile industry and what it took for the cloth goods to make its way from source to completed work (cost to the often slave laborer in the field, the child worker in the factor, etc).
Just as the early half of Jane’s life was delivered with details of interest or amusement so, too, is the latter half right up until her death. Occasionally, Patchwork would be so lively and offbeat that I was distracted, but, on the whole, it was a cohesive, engaging piece.
The artwork has a caricature appearance with strong facial expressions portrayed. The attention to historical detail in the characters and settings was clear. There are a variety of colored pencil/pen drawings and water colors utilized.
The famous quilt fashioned by the Austen ladies at Chawton Cottage was a welcome feature.
In summary, Patchwork, a fabulous giftable edition, was a sensational and one-of-a-kind tribute that those who enjoy a little something different by way of a biography, particularly that of Jane Austen, will appreciate best.
I rec'd a finished print copy from Verso to read in exchange for an honest review.
My full review will post on my Instagram page, @sophiarose1816 11.24.25.
In celebration of 250 years of Jane Austen, Patchwork marries historical textiles and quilting with the Austen family. Beginning with Jane’s birth, Patchwork progresses through Jane’s life from Christening gowns to burial shrouds and everything in between all while pulling aside the curtain on the life Jane led in the midst of her Austen family. The artwork and prose explored a ‘how did Jane feel?’ at each given milestone.
Her younger years are shrouded in shadow, but the author didn’t allow this to balk her efforts. There are scenes of Jane as a baby, getting christened, being farmed out to a nearby family for her first years, playing with Cassie, Frank, and Charles her nearest siblings, leaving for boarding school, living at home in a bustling family household, and eventually coming out as a young lady dressed prettily in her muslin gown.
There is a stunning social commentary at the center explaining the darker side of the textile industry and what it took for the cloth goods to make its way from source to completed work (cost to the often slave laborer in the field, the child worker in the factor, etc).
Just as the early half of Jane’s life was delivered with details of interest or amusement so, too, is the latter half right up until her death. Occasionally, Patchwork would be so lively and offbeat that I was distracted, but, on the whole, it was a cohesive, engaging piece.
The artwork has a caricature appearance with strong facial expressions portrayed. The attention to historical detail in the characters and settings was clear. There are a variety of colored pencil/pen drawings and water colors utilized.
The famous quilt fashioned by the Austen ladies at Chawton Cottage was a welcome feature.
In summary, Patchwork, a fabulous giftable edition, was a sensational and one-of-a-kind tribute that those who enjoy a little something different by way of a biography, particularly that of Jane Austen, will appreciate best.
I rec'd a finished print copy from Verso to read in exchange for an honest review.
My full review will post on my Instagram page, @sophiarose1816 11.24.25.
November 29, 2025
really really loved this !! an excellent biography that contextualises the colonial expansion & violence that was~ whether fans of austen like it or not ~ part of her own life and material well being as well as her imaginative prose. & i loved a lot of other things about it too !! love u grumpy romantic jane
September 13, 2025
Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I liked the art style, but the font was hard to read. If you've read about the life of Jane Austen, a lot of what's in this book will be familiar to you, but it's still worth a read. Though, I think it might be a bit too detailed for anyone who isn't already an avid fan of Austen and the Regency era.
I liked the art style, but the font was hard to read. If you've read about the life of Jane Austen, a lot of what's in this book will be familiar to you, but it's still worth a read. Though, I think it might be a bit too detailed for anyone who isn't already an avid fan of Austen and the Regency era.
November 13, 2025
Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book. My review is voluntarily given, and my opinions are my own.
This is an amazing graphic novel all about the life of Jane Austen. It is perfect for those who would like to learn more about one of their favorite authors but doesn't have the time or patience to read a regular biography. Which, that is totally understandable, especially considering how many amazing books there are too read.
I especially loved the sections that were straight out of her novels and would love to see the author make graphic novels of each individual book. Truly think that would be amazing. I remember reading the Illustrated Classics when I was a child (also read many of the unabridged books) and really enjoyed them.
Definitely would recommend this graphic novel.
This is an amazing graphic novel all about the life of Jane Austen. It is perfect for those who would like to learn more about one of their favorite authors but doesn't have the time or patience to read a regular biography. Which, that is totally understandable, especially considering how many amazing books there are too read.
I especially loved the sections that were straight out of her novels and would love to see the author make graphic novels of each individual book. Truly think that would be amazing. I remember reading the Illustrated Classics when I was a child (also read many of the unabridged books) and really enjoyed them.
Definitely would recommend this graphic novel.
October 18, 2025
I was so excited to read this one! I’ve not yet been a huge fan of Austen’s works (I just tell myself it will still happen one day, because I do understand. the literary merit). so I thought this would be a fun way to dive into her stories and learn about her life. Always a huge supporter of the graphic novel format, I think this was beautifully done. Snapshots of Jane Austen’s life told through pieces of fabric that colored her world. The author clearly did their research and not only provided interesting tidbits, but told the story through such a lens to keep interest level high. I learned a lot, both about Jane Austen and about quilting, and I don’t regret it a bit!
November 21, 2025
Many thanks to Verso Books and NetGalley for the ARC! Patchwork was released on October 28 2025 and is now available for purchase.
I am living for all the Jane Austen books coming out for her 250th birthday! Patchwork is a stunningly illustrated graphic biography that takes the reader through Austen’s life using the metaphor of the patchwork quilt she created with her mother and sister. I’ve read several biographies of Austen, so this book didn’t provide me with any new information about her life. However, it is incredibly well-researched and would be a great starting point to learn more about Austen for someone who is intimidated by the longer, prose biographies.
Though I already knew Austen’s life well, I did learn some things about the wider eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. Toward the middle of the book, there is an interlude that explores the origins of the different fabrics Austen used. Evans takes us to India, Ireland, the American South, and the industrial north of England to see the labor, violence, and pain these fabrics were created from. It’s so easy to see Austen as removed from the many atrocities of the British Empire. This interlude provides a necessary reminder that everything in England, down to the tiniest stitch on a patchwork quilt, was built on these horrors.
What impressed me the most about this book was Evans’s art. Based on other reviews I’ve read, her style is a bit divisive, with some people considering it ugly. I personally thought it was beautiful! It’s very unique and distinguishes the book from other graphic novels and nonfiction I’ve read. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy so I can study the details up close.
Overall, Patchwork is a well-researched and beautiful graphic biography that any Janeite would be happy to have on their shelf.
I am living for all the Jane Austen books coming out for her 250th birthday! Patchwork is a stunningly illustrated graphic biography that takes the reader through Austen’s life using the metaphor of the patchwork quilt she created with her mother and sister. I’ve read several biographies of Austen, so this book didn’t provide me with any new information about her life. However, it is incredibly well-researched and would be a great starting point to learn more about Austen for someone who is intimidated by the longer, prose biographies.
Though I already knew Austen’s life well, I did learn some things about the wider eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. Toward the middle of the book, there is an interlude that explores the origins of the different fabrics Austen used. Evans takes us to India, Ireland, the American South, and the industrial north of England to see the labor, violence, and pain these fabrics were created from. It’s so easy to see Austen as removed from the many atrocities of the British Empire. This interlude provides a necessary reminder that everything in England, down to the tiniest stitch on a patchwork quilt, was built on these horrors.
What impressed me the most about this book was Evans’s art. Based on other reviews I’ve read, her style is a bit divisive, with some people considering it ugly. I personally thought it was beautiful! It’s very unique and distinguishes the book from other graphic novels and nonfiction I’ve read. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy so I can study the details up close.
Overall, Patchwork is a well-researched and beautiful graphic biography that any Janeite would be happy to have on their shelf.
July 9, 2025
For fans of Jane Austen, this book is a great way to better understand her life! It is presented through illustrations and sensible writing, giving you insight into the Austen family, and revealing potential inspiration for her novels. Reading this book, I learned a lot about how Jane lived and what her family was like. I also learned a lot about her books, and her pursuit of becoming a published author. One thing Jane Austen fans might find very intriguing is the Notes section at the back of the book, which provides context for pages within the graphic novel. What a treasure trove of information! I was given the opportunity to read this book through NetGalley, and I hope it finds others who will enjoy it as much as I did.
June 25, 2025
Kate Evans’ Patchwork: A Graphic Biography of Jane Austen kind of left me with conflicting feelings. On the one hand, this truly was something that I feel like I should have enjoyed a lot more than I actually did—and on the other, I was pretty engaged and intrigued by the story being told. And I think, in the end, that back and forth feeling of interest really encapsulates my entire experience reading this graphic novel.
Now, I have always deeply appreciated reading graphic novel biographies. This certainly wouldn’t be the first that I’ve read and I unfortunately have found over the years that these sort of books almost always run into the problem of overloading each page with far too much text. And I think this is largely due to the fact that it can, at times, be rather difficult to tell these stories within the typical format you see for graphic novels—dialogue. And so we end up with blocks of summary text that helps the biography aspect of the story, but does an absolute disservice to the medium in which that biography is being told.
Now, Evans actually did a pretty great job of trying to work around this. She included quiet a lot of dialogue between Jane and others around her and even incorporated quoted text from her novels to give us a few pages of straight dialogue. All of that said, the large blocks of text are still most glaringly one of the biggest issues with this graphic novel. The biggest, however, is the distinct jarring nature of the story’s flow. I just couldn’t help feeling that the book jumped around a lot, something that was most egregious when referencing this patchwork almost-quilt that Jane created with the help of her family. Ironically, the inspiration for the title and the entire thread that the author was hoping would connect each piece of Austen’s life was the number one thing in the book that I just couldn’t help feeling was painfully obvious in how unnecessary it was.
Lastly, though I say this for myself and not as an impact to the book’s overall rating, the artwork just wasn’t for me. It’s not a style that has typically ever appealed to me, featuring characters with outlandishly large heads all throughout. Though I appreciated the bit at the back that went over the look of each of the people alive through Jane’s life and even Jane, herself, even that wasn’t enough to endear me to the artwork as a whole.
All in all, a pretty decent graphic biography and one that I’m sure a great many Jane Austen fans will eagerly pick up and love reading, but it’s definitely the sort of thing that will appeal to specific tastes.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Now, I have always deeply appreciated reading graphic novel biographies. This certainly wouldn’t be the first that I’ve read and I unfortunately have found over the years that these sort of books almost always run into the problem of overloading each page with far too much text. And I think this is largely due to the fact that it can, at times, be rather difficult to tell these stories within the typical format you see for graphic novels—dialogue. And so we end up with blocks of summary text that helps the biography aspect of the story, but does an absolute disservice to the medium in which that biography is being told.
Now, Evans actually did a pretty great job of trying to work around this. She included quiet a lot of dialogue between Jane and others around her and even incorporated quoted text from her novels to give us a few pages of straight dialogue. All of that said, the large blocks of text are still most glaringly one of the biggest issues with this graphic novel. The biggest, however, is the distinct jarring nature of the story’s flow. I just couldn’t help feeling that the book jumped around a lot, something that was most egregious when referencing this patchwork almost-quilt that Jane created with the help of her family. Ironically, the inspiration for the title and the entire thread that the author was hoping would connect each piece of Austen’s life was the number one thing in the book that I just couldn’t help feeling was painfully obvious in how unnecessary it was.
Lastly, though I say this for myself and not as an impact to the book’s overall rating, the artwork just wasn’t for me. It’s not a style that has typically ever appealed to me, featuring characters with outlandishly large heads all throughout. Though I appreciated the bit at the back that went over the look of each of the people alive through Jane’s life and even Jane, herself, even that wasn’t enough to endear me to the artwork as a whole.
All in all, a pretty decent graphic biography and one that I’m sure a great many Jane Austen fans will eagerly pick up and love reading, but it’s definitely the sort of thing that will appeal to specific tastes.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 22, 2025
This was a very fun and unique way of showcasing Jane Austin’’s life through textile and illustration. I really enjoyed the tie ins of fabric and why it was used in the quilt of the story. It was also very informative to add the background on how muslin was made and the process it went through from there. A very enjoyable read.
Thank you NetGalley for my ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you NetGalley for my ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
December 22, 2025
I really liked the artwork! It felt very regency-like and the colors were soft and well utilized. The author did a great job of making the text pop out here and there.
I think there needs be a basic understanding of Jane, her life, and her family before reading this, however. It does explain most of it but does get a bit confusing without prior knowledge.
I think there needs be a basic understanding of Jane, her life, and her family before reading this, however. It does explain most of it but does get a bit confusing without prior knowledge.
December 21, 2025
Hour can I give this gorgeous book anything but 5 stars???
December 25, 2025
Evans is one of the great cartoonist/writers working today. And she takes up Jane Austen? Heaven.
July 12, 2025
Patchwork is a unique biography of Austen. I enjoyed the artwork and the interweaving of the quilt throughout the book. Although I knew quite a bit about Jane's life before reading it, there were enough new tidbits to keep me engaged.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
July 22, 2025
"Patchwork" is a stylized biography of Jane Austen in graphic novel from. I really liked how the quilt was used as a way to structure the story. There are plenty of Easter eggs for Austen fans to find in the text and the art. I'm not the biggest fan of how the humans were drawn, but the settings and objects were drawn beautifully. I could have done without the summaries of the novels since I'm reading them all this year, but I did enjoy that some of the juvenilia was illustrated. Overall, I thought this was a really clever graphic biography.
June 27, 2025
I loved this book so much that after looking at it I preordered it. I am organizing a display for Jane Austen at the local library, showing my Jane Austen quilts on the walls and Austen related ephemera and books in the display case, and I wanted this book included.
Evans offers a full biography of Jane Austen, but also includes the stories in her work, from her juvenilia through her novels.
The book title refers to the paper pieced quilt made by Jane, her sister Cassandra, and their mother. The quilt is a form of medallion quilt, with a larger central floral printed fabric, which is surrounded by diamond shapes sashed with a small dotted fabric, and an outer border of smaller diamond shapers sewn side by side. The fabrics would have been scraps from making clothing and household furnishings.
The method of construction is shown in the graphic novel, how the women cut paper templates and wrapped and sewed the fabric onto the papers before sewing them together. Evans doesn’t end there–she includes a history of where the fabrics were manufactured, and the slave labor behind the cotton plantations.
Also fascinating is how Evans developed her portraits of the Austens. She shares images showing what Jane may have looked like, including Cassandra’s sketch, non-authenticated portraits, and portraits of her brothers.
The images and story bring to life Jane’s world. Jane spent babyhood under the care of a tenant farmers. Returned to her family at age two, her life was busy with farm animals, her siblings, and the students who were tutored by the Rev. Austen. A whole page is dedicated to the siblings rolling down a grassy slope.
Preteen Jane’s love of the novel bloomed while her own family was filled with dramatic stories of hardship and luck and pluck and romance. Jane’s juvenilia is filled with drama and wit, which she read aloud, diverting her entire family. Soon, Jane was writing her first versions of her famous novels, all shared in this book.
Cassandra’s doomed love affair, an aunt’s thoughtless theft, leaving her childhood home and consequent inability to write, the death of her father–it’s all here. And finally, Chawton is offered by Edward, the brother adopted by a wealthy, childless couple. And in this peace and quiet and security, Jane’s words again flow from her pen. Perhaps, a love affair? For certain, the regret and backing off from an unsuitable but sensible marriage proposal.
Jane embroidered a sheer muslin shaw, cotton cloth from India. The British East India Company took over India’s cloth industry. Chintz fabric hand printed with ornate floral designs became the rage–the kind of fabrics seen in the quilt Jane worked on.
We learn about the cotton mills of Lancashire, in which generations of my Greenwood ancestors worked after machines replaced their home weaving industry. A child is shown crawling under the dangerous machine to rejoin a broken thread.
And then we are taken into the cottonfields of the American South where a female slave toils in the field, saving bits of fabric for patchwork. And we learn about the hidden source of wealth of characters in Jane’s books and family, money from trade and plantations in the Americas.
Jane publishes her books, garners her small fortune, finds some minor fame. And then, illness takes her health and life.
Along with her amazing novels, she left a quilt.
An early book on Austen I read pronounced that her life was common and uneventful! It was an image formed by her brother’s first narrative of her life, influenced by Victorian propriety. But there is nothing boring about her life, and I trust that this graphic biography will enthrall many readers.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.
Evans offers a full biography of Jane Austen, but also includes the stories in her work, from her juvenilia through her novels.
The book title refers to the paper pieced quilt made by Jane, her sister Cassandra, and their mother. The quilt is a form of medallion quilt, with a larger central floral printed fabric, which is surrounded by diamond shapes sashed with a small dotted fabric, and an outer border of smaller diamond shapers sewn side by side. The fabrics would have been scraps from making clothing and household furnishings.
The method of construction is shown in the graphic novel, how the women cut paper templates and wrapped and sewed the fabric onto the papers before sewing them together. Evans doesn’t end there–she includes a history of where the fabrics were manufactured, and the slave labor behind the cotton plantations.
Also fascinating is how Evans developed her portraits of the Austens. She shares images showing what Jane may have looked like, including Cassandra’s sketch, non-authenticated portraits, and portraits of her brothers.
The images and story bring to life Jane’s world. Jane spent babyhood under the care of a tenant farmers. Returned to her family at age two, her life was busy with farm animals, her siblings, and the students who were tutored by the Rev. Austen. A whole page is dedicated to the siblings rolling down a grassy slope.
Preteen Jane’s love of the novel bloomed while her own family was filled with dramatic stories of hardship and luck and pluck and romance. Jane’s juvenilia is filled with drama and wit, which she read aloud, diverting her entire family. Soon, Jane was writing her first versions of her famous novels, all shared in this book.
Cassandra’s doomed love affair, an aunt’s thoughtless theft, leaving her childhood home and consequent inability to write, the death of her father–it’s all here. And finally, Chawton is offered by Edward, the brother adopted by a wealthy, childless couple. And in this peace and quiet and security, Jane’s words again flow from her pen. Perhaps, a love affair? For certain, the regret and backing off from an unsuitable but sensible marriage proposal.
Jane embroidered a sheer muslin shaw, cotton cloth from India. The British East India Company took over India’s cloth industry. Chintz fabric hand printed with ornate floral designs became the rage–the kind of fabrics seen in the quilt Jane worked on.
We learn about the cotton mills of Lancashire, in which generations of my Greenwood ancestors worked after machines replaced their home weaving industry. A child is shown crawling under the dangerous machine to rejoin a broken thread.
And then we are taken into the cottonfields of the American South where a female slave toils in the field, saving bits of fabric for patchwork. And we learn about the hidden source of wealth of characters in Jane’s books and family, money from trade and plantations in the Americas.
Jane publishes her books, garners her small fortune, finds some minor fame. And then, illness takes her health and life.
Along with her amazing novels, she left a quilt.
An early book on Austen I read pronounced that her life was common and uneventful! It was an image formed by her brother’s first narrative of her life, influenced by Victorian propriety. But there is nothing boring about her life, and I trust that this graphic biography will enthrall many readers.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.
December 9, 2025
Initial vibes:
A lush, tactile, deeply considered graphic biography that feels as lovingly assembled as one of Jane Austen’s own quilts. It’s scholarly without being stiff, artistic without being self-indulgent, and genuinely one of the most inventive Austen biographies I’ve read.
What it’s about:
Kate Evans reimagines Austen’s life through the metaphor and visual texture of patchwork quilting. Using scraps of cloth, lace, and illustrated sequences, Evans traces the threads connecting Austen’s personal history, her novels, and the broader social and political world of Regency England. It's a biography and an argument about how material culture, domestic labor, and the overlooked textures of women’s lives shaped the writer we revere today.
What I loved:
🪡 Cloth as narrative thread. Evans uses textiles (something Austen loved and referenced) to structure the story. The result is a biography that feels grounded in the sensory world Austen inhabited.
📜 Material realities, unvarnished. The book excels at contextualizing wealth, class, and labor. For example, the Austens sending baby Jane to a wet nurse, a detail often erased in romanticized depictions, quietly demonstrates their class position.
🌏 Acknowledgment of empire. Evans doesn’t sidestep the realities underpinning Regency comfort. She gives space to those harmed by the British Empire—an essential but often absent layer when discussing Austen.
🎨 The art. THE ART. Pastels, whites, and “civilized” Regency tones contrast beautifully with the vibrant, untamed natural world. Evans’s visual language subtly reinforces the tensions in Austen’s novels.
📚 Never stodgy, always alive. Despite the historical density, the book never drags. It’s funny, sharp, compassionate, and visually delightful.
Vibe check:
✓ For fans of graphic nonfiction
✓ For Austen diehards looking for fresh insight
✓ Historically rich but accessible
✓ Gorgeous, immersive artwork
✓ Feminist, nuanced, and gently radical
Final thoughts:
Patchwork is the rare literary biography that feels both reverent and newly illuminating. Evans stitches together Austen’s life with care, humor, and political clarity. If Austen spent her life assembling tiny fabric diamonds, Evans returns the gesture by stitching a portrait that feels complete, textured, and profoundly human.
Rating: 5 stars
Recommend to: Anyone who loves Jane Austen, graphic memoirs/biographies, historical material culture, or beautifully made books.
A lush, tactile, deeply considered graphic biography that feels as lovingly assembled as one of Jane Austen’s own quilts. It’s scholarly without being stiff, artistic without being self-indulgent, and genuinely one of the most inventive Austen biographies I’ve read.
What it’s about:
Kate Evans reimagines Austen’s life through the metaphor and visual texture of patchwork quilting. Using scraps of cloth, lace, and illustrated sequences, Evans traces the threads connecting Austen’s personal history, her novels, and the broader social and political world of Regency England. It's a biography and an argument about how material culture, domestic labor, and the overlooked textures of women’s lives shaped the writer we revere today.
What I loved:
🪡 Cloth as narrative thread. Evans uses textiles (something Austen loved and referenced) to structure the story. The result is a biography that feels grounded in the sensory world Austen inhabited.
📜 Material realities, unvarnished. The book excels at contextualizing wealth, class, and labor. For example, the Austens sending baby Jane to a wet nurse, a detail often erased in romanticized depictions, quietly demonstrates their class position.
🌏 Acknowledgment of empire. Evans doesn’t sidestep the realities underpinning Regency comfort. She gives space to those harmed by the British Empire—an essential but often absent layer when discussing Austen.
🎨 The art. THE ART. Pastels, whites, and “civilized” Regency tones contrast beautifully with the vibrant, untamed natural world. Evans’s visual language subtly reinforces the tensions in Austen’s novels.
📚 Never stodgy, always alive. Despite the historical density, the book never drags. It’s funny, sharp, compassionate, and visually delightful.
Vibe check:
✓ For fans of graphic nonfiction
✓ For Austen diehards looking for fresh insight
✓ Historically rich but accessible
✓ Gorgeous, immersive artwork
✓ Feminist, nuanced, and gently radical
Final thoughts:
Patchwork is the rare literary biography that feels both reverent and newly illuminating. Evans stitches together Austen’s life with care, humor, and political clarity. If Austen spent her life assembling tiny fabric diamonds, Evans returns the gesture by stitching a portrait that feels complete, textured, and profoundly human.
Rating: 5 stars
Recommend to: Anyone who loves Jane Austen, graphic memoirs/biographies, historical material culture, or beautifully made books.
September 4, 2025
I don't read a lot of graphic novels or anything like that, so it took me a little bit to get used to what I was reading. Once I got with the program, it was a charming read. I don't mean 'charming' to imply there is no substance, just that the art made everything enjoyable. The connection to Austen's patchwork quilt was rather loose, in that it was not particularly important in the book, it served as part of the visual presentation that tied the story together with little diamonds of cloth.
Anyone who's read any other books about Austen knows that clothing (the getting of, the making of, the cost of) was important to her and her sister, partly because of their limited finances. An interlude in the center of the book talks about where the fabrics came from that were used in English clothing around 1800. Where cotton came from and how it was produced was not new to me, nor was the source of Irish linen, but I didn't know much about the production of fine muslin in India. This section was a lot of medicine made to go down with spoonfuls of pretty presentation and snippets of songs.
Evans plays up the sharp edge of Jane Austen's sense of humor, and her determination to be her own person, and the parallels between situations and characters in her books and people in her own life. And in this book, you MUST read the endnotes, they are a whole other book in themselves, full of where she found things she said or how she put them together to suit her narrative. She said two things that really stuck with me, even beyond the information about Indian muslin.
First, although everyone in Austen's novels is constantly mending, sewing, or embroidering, never once in any screen adaptation of her books do you ever see anybody at needlework. WHY????
Second - it never occurred to me, but Austen never actually writes a scene of a marriage proposal made and accepted. She sets it up, and then passes over it with the remark that everyone knows what took place. I suppose this is because it's the one thing that happens in her books that she had no direct experience of.
I would not make this my only source of biographical information about Austen, but if you already know something about her, this is a beautifully presented look at her life from a slightly different angle.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read an advance copy of this book.
Anyone who's read any other books about Austen knows that clothing (the getting of, the making of, the cost of) was important to her and her sister, partly because of their limited finances. An interlude in the center of the book talks about where the fabrics came from that were used in English clothing around 1800. Where cotton came from and how it was produced was not new to me, nor was the source of Irish linen, but I didn't know much about the production of fine muslin in India. This section was a lot of medicine made to go down with spoonfuls of pretty presentation and snippets of songs.
Evans plays up the sharp edge of Jane Austen's sense of humor, and her determination to be her own person, and the parallels between situations and characters in her books and people in her own life. And in this book, you MUST read the endnotes, they are a whole other book in themselves, full of where she found things she said or how she put them together to suit her narrative. She said two things that really stuck with me, even beyond the information about Indian muslin.
First, although everyone in Austen's novels is constantly mending, sewing, or embroidering, never once in any screen adaptation of her books do you ever see anybody at needlework. WHY????
Second - it never occurred to me, but Austen never actually writes a scene of a marriage proposal made and accepted. She sets it up, and then passes over it with the remark that everyone knows what took place. I suppose this is because it's the one thing that happens in her books that she had no direct experience of.
I would not make this my only source of biographical information about Austen, but if you already know something about her, this is a beautifully presented look at her life from a slightly different angle.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read an advance copy of this book.
November 13, 2025
Patchwork is a graphic biography of Jane Austen, telling the story of her life and publications, with a motif of the patchwork quilt Jane made with her family carried throughout the novel.
I was really looking forward to reading this one, and I've read another graphic biography of Jane Austen and they both suffer from the same problem: we just don't know enough about Austen's life to be able to give a satisfying biography. This one highlighted certain aspects of Jane's life and you could see how it related to the novels that she wrote, but the connection isn't made very clearly. Her novels are summarized sort of at random and they go quite in depth in the summaries. I'm just not certain if these summaries will be that useful to people who are already seeking out biographies of Austen.
I was also intrigued by the patchwork quilt motif that went throughout the story, but again this felt like it was added in at random. The illustrations are there throughout the story, but the quilt isn't explained until way later in the book. There is also an interlude that discusses the different fabrics that were used during Austen's time that focuses on the social and political repercussions of the British purchasing these fabrics for so cheap. I found this section interesting, but out of place with the rest of the story. If they had been woven in throughout, I think it would have made more sense. I did appreciate the context that they gave to the global issues of the time, but I think it would have been more impactful if they were explored a bit more.
Finally, I wanted to talk about the art style. I really like the cover and I loved the way that fabric was drawn throughout the story. However, the rest of the art I didn't really enjoy. The color palette was nice, but the people looked cartoonish, almost like caricatures. I think that this was sometimes in line with the humorous tone of the book, but I found it to be rather jarring as I was reading. There were also some pages that were incredibly text heavy that maybe could have been edited down or reorganized so that the walls of text were more spread out.
I would recommend this to someone new to Jane Austen and wanting to learn more about her.
Thanks to Verso Books and NetGalley for the review copy.
I was really looking forward to reading this one, and I've read another graphic biography of Jane Austen and they both suffer from the same problem: we just don't know enough about Austen's life to be able to give a satisfying biography. This one highlighted certain aspects of Jane's life and you could see how it related to the novels that she wrote, but the connection isn't made very clearly. Her novels are summarized sort of at random and they go quite in depth in the summaries. I'm just not certain if these summaries will be that useful to people who are already seeking out biographies of Austen.
I was also intrigued by the patchwork quilt motif that went throughout the story, but again this felt like it was added in at random. The illustrations are there throughout the story, but the quilt isn't explained until way later in the book. There is also an interlude that discusses the different fabrics that were used during Austen's time that focuses on the social and political repercussions of the British purchasing these fabrics for so cheap. I found this section interesting, but out of place with the rest of the story. If they had been woven in throughout, I think it would have made more sense. I did appreciate the context that they gave to the global issues of the time, but I think it would have been more impactful if they were explored a bit more.
Finally, I wanted to talk about the art style. I really like the cover and I loved the way that fabric was drawn throughout the story. However, the rest of the art I didn't really enjoy. The color palette was nice, but the people looked cartoonish, almost like caricatures. I think that this was sometimes in line with the humorous tone of the book, but I found it to be rather jarring as I was reading. There were also some pages that were incredibly text heavy that maybe could have been edited down or reorganized so that the walls of text were more spread out.
I would recommend this to someone new to Jane Austen and wanting to learn more about her.
Thanks to Verso Books and NetGalley for the review copy.
November 19, 2025
Patchwork is a graphic biography inspired by the quilt Jane Austen actually made, all those tiny diamond-shaped pieces of paper wrapped in fabric and stitched together by hand. The book uses that idea as a metaphor for Jane’s life, which we really only know in bits and pieces.
The art style is gorgeous, very soft, pencil-style line drawings that give it this gentle, handmade feel. It really suits Austen and the whole patchwork theme. There are lovely little touches throughout: fabric references, muslin mentioned here and there, women spinning, small nods to craft and textiles. And those little diamond motifs (like on page 92) tie back nicely to the quilt she made.
This was actually the first biography of Jane Austen I’ve ever read, and I did learn quite a bit about her early years. You get a sense of her personality, her family, and the world she grew up in. I even picked up on a bit of a rebellious streak toward her mother, just tiny hints, but it added some flavour to who she might have been.
Now, here’s where my personal expectations tripped me up. With a title like Patchwork, I was honestly expecting more actual Patchwork. Maybe some little pattern references, maybe more talk about the quilt itself, perhaps even something crafty woven into the structure of the book.
You can see the quilt influence, but it’s more symbolic than anything. I just thought there’d be a bit more for craft lovers, especially those of us who live in the quilting and stitching world. So because of that, I came away a tiny bit disappointed. Not in the book itself, but in what I hoped it would be.
It’s a lovely book, beautifully drawn, and I know Jane Austen fans, especially those who already know her story, will absolutely eat this up. It’s gentle, accessible, and interesting. It just wasn’t quite what I personally expected going in. I still enjoyed it, though, and I’m glad I read it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Verso Books for the review copy. I’m definitely keen to see what else this publisher puts out.
The art style is gorgeous, very soft, pencil-style line drawings that give it this gentle, handmade feel. It really suits Austen and the whole patchwork theme. There are lovely little touches throughout: fabric references, muslin mentioned here and there, women spinning, small nods to craft and textiles. And those little diamond motifs (like on page 92) tie back nicely to the quilt she made.
This was actually the first biography of Jane Austen I’ve ever read, and I did learn quite a bit about her early years. You get a sense of her personality, her family, and the world she grew up in. I even picked up on a bit of a rebellious streak toward her mother, just tiny hints, but it added some flavour to who she might have been.
Now, here’s where my personal expectations tripped me up. With a title like Patchwork, I was honestly expecting more actual Patchwork. Maybe some little pattern references, maybe more talk about the quilt itself, perhaps even something crafty woven into the structure of the book.
You can see the quilt influence, but it’s more symbolic than anything. I just thought there’d be a bit more for craft lovers, especially those of us who live in the quilting and stitching world. So because of that, I came away a tiny bit disappointed. Not in the book itself, but in what I hoped it would be.
It’s a lovely book, beautifully drawn, and I know Jane Austen fans, especially those who already know her story, will absolutely eat this up. It’s gentle, accessible, and interesting. It just wasn’t quite what I personally expected going in. I still enjoyed it, though, and I’m glad I read it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Verso Books for the review copy. I’m definitely keen to see what else this publisher puts out.
July 25, 2025
I think the only truly positive thing I have to say about this book is that it was incredibly thorough. It dove deeply into the minutia of Jane Austen's life, in my opinion, so much so that it negatively impacted the storytelling.
For a graphic novel, I found the giant blocks of text very distracting and hard to read. And in the cases where Austen's books are being summarized over several pages, I often found myself, as someone who has read her works previously, skimming over large portions of the page.
The middle act of the story, which explored the history and anguish behind the fabrics, felt completely disconnected from the rest of the story. While from the cover, chapter breaks, and name, I would have assumed fabrics and sewing would have played a bigger part in the story, but instead felt shoehorned in. Outside of two instances I can recall, Jane rarely, if at all, interacts with fabrics to the level that the theme felt appropriate.
I also did not find myself able to connect with the art style for the vast majority of the book. Both in part by the art being constantly broken up by the bricks of text, but also because I found the artist's depictions of characters to be grotesque. I cannot argue that they have talent, but how they chose to illustrate the face in particular felt strangely warped and distended. The exception being the center portion of the story that explored the history of the fabrics mentioned, while still not to my taste for some of the illustrations, it had arguably the few moving and beautiful pieces in the entire book.
My favourite part of the whole thing was probably the footnotes at the end, which provided a lot of much-needed context, as well as being laid out in a much easier-to-read format and font.
Not for me as a more casual fan of Jane Austen and her works, but I imagine it may be more enjoyable for those more interested in the nitty-gritty.
For a graphic novel, I found the giant blocks of text very distracting and hard to read. And in the cases where Austen's books are being summarized over several pages, I often found myself, as someone who has read her works previously, skimming over large portions of the page.
The middle act of the story, which explored the history and anguish behind the fabrics, felt completely disconnected from the rest of the story. While from the cover, chapter breaks, and name, I would have assumed fabrics and sewing would have played a bigger part in the story, but instead felt shoehorned in. Outside of two instances I can recall, Jane rarely, if at all, interacts with fabrics to the level that the theme felt appropriate.
I also did not find myself able to connect with the art style for the vast majority of the book. Both in part by the art being constantly broken up by the bricks of text, but also because I found the artist's depictions of characters to be grotesque. I cannot argue that they have talent, but how they chose to illustrate the face in particular felt strangely warped and distended. The exception being the center portion of the story that explored the history of the fabrics mentioned, while still not to my taste for some of the illustrations, it had arguably the few moving and beautiful pieces in the entire book.
My favourite part of the whole thing was probably the footnotes at the end, which provided a lot of much-needed context, as well as being laid out in a much easier-to-read format and font.
Not for me as a more casual fan of Jane Austen and her works, but I imagine it may be more enjoyable for those more interested in the nitty-gritty.
June 25, 2025
I received this graphic biography via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
This book is my first experience with a "graphic biography" so I was quite enthralled by the discovery of a new genre as well. I really appreciated the effort that the author put in collecting sources on Jane Austen's life and in merging them to create a new narrative: the extent of her passion for this great English novelist is truly visible and shine through every page. I also really enjoyed the literary ploy of using the actual and metaphoric concept behind her patchwork blanket to "sew" together all people and events of her life.
With regard to the development of the story, the narration of Jane Austen's life itself did not really caught my attention, probably also because the pages are really packed with text, written in characters that are too small even for my taste. The general feeling was that the pages were too crowded, with some notable exceptions. I have to admit that the art style is not really my cup of tea as well.
However, given the fairly average tenor of the content, I was really pleasantly surprised when the author decided to devote several pages to those who were really involved in creating the famous fabric that acts as a narrative thread throughout the book. I really appreciated the prominence she gave to the themes of colonialism, slavery and child labour (as well as the taboo surrounding neurological diseases, in relation to one of Jane Austen's brothers and nephew).
I think I would recommend at least part of this book, which was a pleasant reading all in all.
This book is my first experience with a "graphic biography" so I was quite enthralled by the discovery of a new genre as well. I really appreciated the effort that the author put in collecting sources on Jane Austen's life and in merging them to create a new narrative: the extent of her passion for this great English novelist is truly visible and shine through every page. I also really enjoyed the literary ploy of using the actual and metaphoric concept behind her patchwork blanket to "sew" together all people and events of her life.
With regard to the development of the story, the narration of Jane Austen's life itself did not really caught my attention, probably also because the pages are really packed with text, written in characters that are too small even for my taste. The general feeling was that the pages were too crowded, with some notable exceptions. I have to admit that the art style is not really my cup of tea as well.
However, given the fairly average tenor of the content, I was really pleasantly surprised when the author decided to devote several pages to those who were really involved in creating the famous fabric that acts as a narrative thread throughout the book. I really appreciated the prominence she gave to the themes of colonialism, slavery and child labour (as well as the taboo surrounding neurological diseases, in relation to one of Jane Austen's brothers and nephew).
I think I would recommend at least part of this book, which was a pleasant reading all in all.
August 2, 2025
Patchwork is a remarkable biographic graphic novel retracing the life of Jane Ausen in a delicate all-encompassing way, setting her clearly in her time so we have a very good idea of what she saw, lived through and what it meant.
It is beautifully researched, clever, and gives plenty of food for thought, which is so much more than most lengthy biographies give.
The fact there is many unknowns in the life of Austen probably helps, as the author was able to fully explore a number of influences exerted on all women living in that time era: such as neurodivergence, the horrendous fabric trade, short life expectancies, dependence...
And all of it was supported by incredible art. The illustrations are very personal, and while many might find them hard to appreciate, I found them absolutely perfect, as they didn't cater to today's expectations. They felt like they were lifted directly from the 1800s, from those historical notebooks where you see sketches made by people of the time with coloured pencils or art supplies very much like it.
It looked like it came from across time. The work done is remarkable in integrating a number of different techniques too; there is pieces that were sewn from fabric, others cut out in paper... also reflecting what higher-class ladies would have been doing in their spare time. I can't say how much it added to the experience.
Highly recommended addition to the library of any fan of Jane Austen or the Regency period. I've never seen any work quite like it, and it really blew me away.
It is beautifully researched, clever, and gives plenty of food for thought, which is so much more than most lengthy biographies give.
The fact there is many unknowns in the life of Austen probably helps, as the author was able to fully explore a number of influences exerted on all women living in that time era: such as neurodivergence, the horrendous fabric trade, short life expectancies, dependence...
And all of it was supported by incredible art. The illustrations are very personal, and while many might find them hard to appreciate, I found them absolutely perfect, as they didn't cater to today's expectations. They felt like they were lifted directly from the 1800s, from those historical notebooks where you see sketches made by people of the time with coloured pencils or art supplies very much like it.
It looked like it came from across time. The work done is remarkable in integrating a number of different techniques too; there is pieces that were sewn from fabric, others cut out in paper... also reflecting what higher-class ladies would have been doing in their spare time. I can't say how much it added to the experience.
Highly recommended addition to the library of any fan of Jane Austen or the Regency period. I've never seen any work quite like it, and it really blew me away.
July 6, 2025
Patchwork is a graphic biography of Jane Austen written and illustrated by Kate Evans using the motif of a patchwork coverlet sewn by Jane and other family members to narrate not just her life story but also give a perspective on the history of British colonisation in various parts of the world through the various fabrics used in the project, which I thought was a clever and unique idea and one I really appreciated. I also appreciated the thread of humour that was deftly woven through the project, there was a wry tone that really appealed to me and in some ways was reminiscent of the subject's own writing style. The illustrations are deceptively simple, looking like pencil drawings but with further scrutiny there is a good level of detail, however in some parts of the book I felt like the illustrations were overshadowed by too many blocks of text. I particularly liked the way that some of the illustrations were made to look like swatches of fabric or sewing projects, it worked well with the theme of the book and added a good extra dimension to the artwork. While the author takes pains to point out that the book, by its nature, is fiction there is a detailed notes section at the back that gives the historical sources used and it is clear that the author has endeavoured to be as faithful to the truth as is possible in a work of this nature.
I read an ARC courtesy of the NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.
I read an ARC courtesy of the NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.
August 9, 2025
Kate Evans writes about Jane Austen's life in a series of patches representing a chapter in her life. Each piece is unique and creatively chosen to represent her life events. At the end of the book, it includes notes and pictures of Jane and her family. The notes give you a deeper insight into her life. In the book, quotes from her novels and letters gave insight into the world during her lifetime. The illustrations are gorgeous and very detailed. They are based on pictures of her and her family. One interesting thing about her life that I did not know was about her brother George, who was sent away because he had a genetic condition.
I liked this unique approach to writing a biography, which highlights the main points in her life through quotes, bringing into focus her quilt, which she sewed together. The author does tell us she changed some of the dates in her biography for dramatic effect, but the notes were correct. Fans of Jane would love this unique biography with excerpts from her letters and reliving the themes and motivations of her books. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
I liked this unique approach to writing a biography, which highlights the main points in her life through quotes, bringing into focus her quilt, which she sewed together. The author does tell us she changed some of the dates in her biography for dramatic effect, but the notes were correct. Fans of Jane would love this unique biography with excerpts from her letters and reliving the themes and motivations of her books. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
October 6, 2025
*I received a free ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review*
This was an excellent medium by which to present a biography of Jane Austen. I felt like I learned more about her in this book than in all of the classes I have taken and all of the books, articles, and forewords I have read. I especially enjoyed reading about her early years - I had no idea that her parents are sent her away to be raised by others until she was a toddler. Knowing more about her relationship with her mother certainly shines a new light on the way in which she wrote her heroines' mothers. One of the most interesting parts of the book was the section about how textiles and the clothing worn by Austen (and her characters) could not really be separated from what was going in the world of international trade. I was not always a fan of the artistic style of the drawings, but once I got used to it I found it was not too bad.
This was an excellent medium by which to present a biography of Jane Austen. I felt like I learned more about her in this book than in all of the classes I have taken and all of the books, articles, and forewords I have read. I especially enjoyed reading about her early years - I had no idea that her parents are sent her away to be raised by others until she was a toddler. Knowing more about her relationship with her mother certainly shines a new light on the way in which she wrote her heroines' mothers. One of the most interesting parts of the book was the section about how textiles and the clothing worn by Austen (and her characters) could not really be separated from what was going in the world of international trade. I was not always a fan of the artistic style of the drawings, but once I got used to it I found it was not too bad.
July 10, 2025
Publishing date: 28.10.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Verso Books for the ARC. My opinions are my own.
I sadly did not like this book
Gripes:
- The artstyle is not my cup of tea. I found the people to be uncanny, the children had morphing forms from page to page and could look like a toddler in one page and a baby in another
- Some pages are wildly text heavy and crowded, could be spaced out or cut down a little
- I didn't always know where to start and continue reading on a page
Goods:
- Seems to be very factual (there are so many sources in the back)
- Would be a great resource for other writers or for education
I think I have to admit that this book isn't really for me. Others may appreciate it more.
Giving it 2 stars for being factual and citing its sources well, losing stars for the arstyle and being a too crowded on the pages.
Thank you to NetGalley and Verso Books for the ARC. My opinions are my own.
I sadly did not like this book
Gripes:
- The artstyle is not my cup of tea. I found the people to be uncanny, the children had morphing forms from page to page and could look like a toddler in one page and a baby in another
- Some pages are wildly text heavy and crowded, could be spaced out or cut down a little
- I didn't always know where to start and continue reading on a page
Goods:
- Seems to be very factual (there are so many sources in the back)
- Would be a great resource for other writers or for education
I think I have to admit that this book isn't really for me. Others may appreciate it more.
Giving it 2 stars for being factual and citing its sources well, losing stars for the arstyle and being a too crowded on the pages.
July 17, 2025
Patchwork is a graphic biography telling the story of Jane Austen's life, loosely following the theme of a quilt that Jane created during her life. I personally did not really enjoy the art style of this book, but found it didn't take away from the story. I didn't know much about Jane Austen's life before reading Patchwork, and even though her life was not necessarily very eventful I found the story gripping. The characters feel very real, and it is very easy to relate to them and sympathise with them.
If you want to know more about Jane Austen's life, this is a really easy read and a great place to start.
There are lots of useful notes at the end of the book referencing where quotes have been taken from and where information for historical events is found.
Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy.
If you want to know more about Jane Austen's life, this is a really easy read and a great place to start.
There are lots of useful notes at the end of the book referencing where quotes have been taken from and where information for historical events is found.
Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy.
November 27, 2025
Information well-told with versatility, sensitivity, intelligence, wit, and entertainment. Beautiful art as well. I learnt plenty of things about Austen, her life, connections, and work, and spent several moments awe-struck at some of the breathtaking art. The one criticism I may have is a few times, especially early on, the experience reminded me slightly of reading a slightly more complex children's book, but that feeling faded as it went on. Probably due to some of the pastel colours and the pages with more images than words.
Having read all but one at the time of writing of Austen's novels, I'm not really her biggest fan, but I really appreciated this and felt it really added to my experience of reading Jane Austen's work. (I read the hardback version of this graphic novel, but there isn't an option of the moment on here of that book with this cover.)
Having read all but one at the time of writing of Austen's novels, I'm not really her biggest fan, but I really appreciated this and felt it really added to my experience of reading Jane Austen's work. (I read the hardback version of this graphic novel, but there isn't an option of the moment on here of that book with this cover.)
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