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The Worlds of Jane Austen: The Influences and Inspiration Behind the Novels
To coincide with the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth in 2025, this addition to FL’s ‘Worlds of’ series, picking up on the themes and legacy behind one of the worlds most popular writers.
Despite the tranquil, even cosy, image of Austen and her work that still lingers in the popular imagination, her life in fact coincided with a period of intense, immense change, what is still sometimes called the Age of Revolutions. The American Revolutionary War began the year of her birth. By her eighth birthday, Britain had been forced to formally recognise the existence of the United States. The French Revolution broke out in 1789, when she was thirteen, and came close to her cousin Eliza’s French husband died under the guillotine. When she was 22, there was an uprising in Ireland. All through Austen’s teenage years and her early adulthood, the old certainties were being subjected to challenge, new ideas were springing up – about democracy and freedom, about slavery, about poetry, about the position of women.
This book takes a fresh look at Jane Austen’s life, inspirations and legacy, drawing on the latest research in an accessible and lively way. Coupled with a fascinating range of illustrations, the book will be the perfect introduction to Jane Austen for those just encountering her work for the first time to those for whom she is a familiar presence.
Despite the tranquil, even cosy, image of Austen and her work that still lingers in the popular imagination, her life in fact coincided with a period of intense, immense change, what is still sometimes called the Age of Revolutions. The American Revolutionary War began the year of her birth. By her eighth birthday, Britain had been forced to formally recognise the existence of the United States. The French Revolution broke out in 1789, when she was thirteen, and came close to her cousin Eliza’s French husband died under the guillotine. When she was 22, there was an uprising in Ireland. All through Austen’s teenage years and her early adulthood, the old certainties were being subjected to challenge, new ideas were springing up – about democracy and freedom, about slavery, about poetry, about the position of women.
This book takes a fresh look at Jane Austen’s life, inspirations and legacy, drawing on the latest research in an accessible and lively way. Coupled with a fascinating range of illustrations, the book will be the perfect introduction to Jane Austen for those just encountering her work for the first time to those for whom she is a familiar presence.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published September 23, 2025
7 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
About the author
Helena Kelly
10 books29 followersHELENA KELLY grew up in North Kent. She has taught classics and English Literature at the University of Oxford. She lives in Oxford with her husband and son.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 19, 2025
This stunningly beautiful book by Oxford-educated literary biographer, Helena Kelly, is meticulously researched with lively writing and gorgeous art and illustrations that reveal tons about the life and times of the world's most popular novelist. Every Janeite will want a copy, as will any author writing about her or the period in which she lived. A treasure!
October 19, 2025
This year marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth so of course I had to read something about it.
This book covers the whole of her life through her works (both finished and unfinished) and gives insight into the history and culture of her time as well, of which some details I didn't know. We move through the places that may have inspired the settings in her novels to the real people who also had an influence in Jane's work and get to today.
Austen is one of those writers that is still popular today, unlike other important authors from English literature who are often harder to read to the contemporary reader. Maybe this is due to Austen being a pioneer of the novel as a genre, of talking about relations between people of different classes without the need to include what was happening during her time, which is mostly what a lot of Regency romances of today do.
Some criticized her glossing over political stuff of her time etc. but in my opinion though she is writing about the society of her time, it is still fiction, and she didn't need to include everything that was going on for it to be believable. Austen wrote for her amusement too, and her novels are the evidence that you can still write enjoyable stories even though they deal with stuff that could be considered of less importance than the current events, since us readers also read to take a break from the hardness of life. Sure, she could've written about slavery et all, but she didn't have to.
Overall, this book was easy to read and anyone can enjoy it, especially if they are Austen's fans. There were a lot of colorful illustrations and photographs and paintings and I really like looking at pictures of stuff that's been written about, it helps picture it.
Thanks to Quarto Group for letting me read an ARC of this book.
This book covers the whole of her life through her works (both finished and unfinished) and gives insight into the history and culture of her time as well, of which some details I didn't know. We move through the places that may have inspired the settings in her novels to the real people who also had an influence in Jane's work and get to today.
Austen is one of those writers that is still popular today, unlike other important authors from English literature who are often harder to read to the contemporary reader. Maybe this is due to Austen being a pioneer of the novel as a genre, of talking about relations between people of different classes without the need to include what was happening during her time, which is mostly what a lot of Regency romances of today do.
Some criticized her glossing over political stuff of her time etc. but in my opinion though she is writing about the society of her time, it is still fiction, and she didn't need to include everything that was going on for it to be believable. Austen wrote for her amusement too, and her novels are the evidence that you can still write enjoyable stories even though they deal with stuff that could be considered of less importance than the current events, since us readers also read to take a break from the hardness of life. Sure, she could've written about slavery et all, but she didn't have to.
Overall, this book was easy to read and anyone can enjoy it, especially if they are Austen's fans. There were a lot of colorful illustrations and photographs and paintings and I really like looking at pictures of stuff that's been written about, it helps picture it.
Thanks to Quarto Group for letting me read an ARC of this book.
December 3, 2025
Beautifully illustrated, this elegant book describes the milieu in which Jane Austen lived and created her novels … it also moves into the present with the vast popularity of her works and their translation into television series and movies, not to mention countless spin-offs … as the author concludes: Jane Austen “is whatever we want, or need; the glue that has brought people together, a teller of timeless stories, a guide and a comfort, a route back into thinking about the past and a mirror to the present. The worlds she created are there for us to explore and keep exploring, always the same and always changing.”
November 1, 2025
Real Rating: 4.5* of five
The Publisher Says: Explore the extraordinary life of Jane Austen in this fresh and engaging guide that reveals the real woman behind the beloved novels. Featuring expert insight, new research and over 150 photographs and illustrations, this is an essential companion for long-time admirers and first-time readers alike.
Despite the tranquil, even cosy, image of Austen and her work that still lingers in the popular imagination, her life in fact coincided with a period of intense, immense change, what is still sometimes called the Age of Revolutions. The American Revolutionary War began the year of her birth. By her eighth birthday, Britain had been forced to formally recognise the existence of the United States. The French Revolution broke out in 1789, when she was thirteen, and came close to her family: Austen’s cousin Eliza’s French husband died under the guillotine. When she was 22, there was an uprising in Ireland. All through Austen’s teenage years and her early adulthood, the old certainties were being subjected to challenge, new ideas were springing up—about democracy and freedom, about slavery, about poetry, about the position of women.
The Worlds of Jane Austen invites readers to see one of Britain’s most beloved authors in a completely new light. Far from the quiet world of country houses and tea parties, Austen lived through revolution, war and major social change, and her sharp, observant fiction reveals just how engaged she was with the issues of her time.
This lively and accessible guide features expert insight from bestselling author Helena Kelly alongside its over 150 photographs, artworks and illustrations that bring her world vividly to life.
Whether you are discovering Austen for the first time or returning to her novels with fresh eyes, The Worlds of Jane Austen is the perfect companion for curious readers, literature lovers and admirers of classic storytelling.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Jane Austen's 250th birthday is 16 December 2025. If you're among her legions of fans, celebrate joyously; if you're like me (mildly interested, not much bothered to be pro or con), remember how many of your friends love her and her stories...and take this as your cue to add this book to their Yule gifts.
the table of contents...we're going a lot of places!
I'm pretty sure any Janeite would like this as a coffee-table book, as a conversation piece, an ornament...but it's definitely got more than slick prettiness at its heart.
chapter one's opening spread...you see where the book's headed
It's going to be a read, not just a look-and-lust, book, with information abour Austen, about the world around her, about the way she and her English people lived.
the French Revolution happened when Austen was thirteen
In bringing the times of Austen's life into focus, the text is maybe a bit less thrilling than the images, but that's an old guy with tons of history reading behind him. No matter your level of knowledge about the times, you'll find interesting nuggets and fun details to commit to memory. The images of Austen's more local sights are so deeply evocative as to be cultural icons in their own right.
the eternal, fixed image of "English countryside"...thanks in part to Austen
The author doesn't dwell on or avoid controversies rampant in Austen's time. It's astounding to me that we can criticize the decisions about what to write about made by a two-hundred-eight-years-dead woman without even slightly critiquing modern political figures' elisions and silences.
when many in Austen's circle profited from slavery, is it any wonder she kept quiet about it?
I don't think Austen was to be reasonably held to our standards not because she was Above Criticism as a Genius, but because we are not capable of understanding how it felt, what pressures there were on her to need to write for a wide audience as a woman in a terribly repressive patriarchal system. (And NO this not remotely similar to today's repressive patriarchal system any more than it is similar to Classical Athenian or Roman patriarchal systems. Every era has its own iteration of the same horrors.)
That she never addressed the widespread abolition movement even tangentially is not, to my mind at least, to be accounted a failure on her part. It was a choice made for her own reasons that you and I don't and can't know or feel. Your or my response to those things not discussed are our impositions onto a past we cannot reasonably judge.
We can, and should, judge the art; we can, and should, judge the artistry inspired in the centuries since her death. This overview-with-illustrations is a very good way to experience the roots of the culture's enduring love for All Things Austen.
a few images from films or shows inspired by the storyverse of Jane Austen
The Publisher Says: Explore the extraordinary life of Jane Austen in this fresh and engaging guide that reveals the real woman behind the beloved novels. Featuring expert insight, new research and over 150 photographs and illustrations, this is an essential companion for long-time admirers and first-time readers alike.
Despite the tranquil, even cosy, image of Austen and her work that still lingers in the popular imagination, her life in fact coincided with a period of intense, immense change, what is still sometimes called the Age of Revolutions. The American Revolutionary War began the year of her birth. By her eighth birthday, Britain had been forced to formally recognise the existence of the United States. The French Revolution broke out in 1789, when she was thirteen, and came close to her family: Austen’s cousin Eliza’s French husband died under the guillotine. When she was 22, there was an uprising in Ireland. All through Austen’s teenage years and her early adulthood, the old certainties were being subjected to challenge, new ideas were springing up—about democracy and freedom, about slavery, about poetry, about the position of women.
The Worlds of Jane Austen invites readers to see one of Britain’s most beloved authors in a completely new light. Far from the quiet world of country houses and tea parties, Austen lived through revolution, war and major social change, and her sharp, observant fiction reveals just how engaged she was with the issues of her time.
This lively and accessible guide features expert insight from bestselling author Helena Kelly alongside its over 150 photographs, artworks and illustrations that bring her world vividly to life.
Whether you are discovering Austen for the first time or returning to her novels with fresh eyes, The Worlds of Jane Austen is the perfect companion for curious readers, literature lovers and admirers of classic storytelling.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Jane Austen's 250th birthday is 16 December 2025. If you're among her legions of fans, celebrate joyously; if you're like me (mildly interested, not much bothered to be pro or con), remember how many of your friends love her and her stories...and take this as your cue to add this book to their Yule gifts.
the table of contents...we're going a lot of places!
I'm pretty sure any Janeite would like this as a coffee-table book, as a conversation piece, an ornament...but it's definitely got more than slick prettiness at its heart.
chapter one's opening spread...you see where the book's headed
It's going to be a read, not just a look-and-lust, book, with information abour Austen, about the world around her, about the way she and her English people lived.
the French Revolution happened when Austen was thirteen
In bringing the times of Austen's life into focus, the text is maybe a bit less thrilling than the images, but that's an old guy with tons of history reading behind him. No matter your level of knowledge about the times, you'll find interesting nuggets and fun details to commit to memory. The images of Austen's more local sights are so deeply evocative as to be cultural icons in their own right.
the eternal, fixed image of "English countryside"...thanks in part to Austen
The author doesn't dwell on or avoid controversies rampant in Austen's time. It's astounding to me that we can criticize the decisions about what to write about made by a two-hundred-eight-years-dead woman without even slightly critiquing modern political figures' elisions and silences.
when many in Austen's circle profited from slavery, is it any wonder she kept quiet about it?
I don't think Austen was to be reasonably held to our standards not because she was Above Criticism as a Genius, but because we are not capable of understanding how it felt, what pressures there were on her to need to write for a wide audience as a woman in a terribly repressive patriarchal system. (And NO this not remotely similar to today's repressive patriarchal system any more than it is similar to Classical Athenian or Roman patriarchal systems. Every era has its own iteration of the same horrors.)
That she never addressed the widespread abolition movement even tangentially is not, to my mind at least, to be accounted a failure on her part. It was a choice made for her own reasons that you and I don't and can't know or feel. Your or my response to those things not discussed are our impositions onto a past we cannot reasonably judge.
We can, and should, judge the art; we can, and should, judge the artistry inspired in the centuries since her death. This overview-with-illustrations is a very good way to experience the roots of the culture's enduring love for All Things Austen.
a few images from films or shows inspired by the storyverse of Jane Austen
January 10, 2026
La première chose qui m'a donnée envie de lire ce livre sur Jane Austen, alors que je n'en lis quasiment plus, c'est la couverture réalisée par James Oses, un illustrateur que j'adore. Alors bien sûr que ce fut une énorme déception de constater que l'éditeur français ne l'avait pas conservée mais cela reste une bonne nouvelle qu'il ait été traduit, non ?
D'autant que l'intérieur reste le même et qu'il est canon ! La lecture est agrémentée de très nombreux tableaux, illustrations et photos, tous plus beaux les uns que les autres (si ce n'est celle de la série Sanditon, seule grave faute de goût).
Qu'en est-il du contenu alors ?
J'ai particulièrement aimé deux choses. Pour commencer, la mise en contexte. De nombreux critiques de l'autrice gagneraient à lire ce livre. Helena Kelly nous rappelle à quel point Jane n'était pas une jeune femme naïve perdue dans sa campagne, qui ne connaissait rien à la vie. Bien au contraire. Elle a vécu à une époque de grands changements et de grands bouleversements : l'indépendance de l'Amérique, la fin de l'esclavage, la révolution française, la remise en cause de la création... Son pays était constamment en guerre ! Et est-ce qu'elle pouvait ignorer tout ça ? Absolument pas. Son père était pasteur, deux de ses frères étaient marins, le mari de sa cousine a été décapité, et j'en passe. L'autrice inscrit clairement Jane Austen, sa famille et ses connaissances dans l'histoire et j'ai adoré ça. Je précise tout de même que l'on parle donc beaucoup de l'époque elle-même, pas toujours de Jane Austen, et que si le sujet ne vous intéresse pas, ce livre n'est pas fait pour vous.
Le deuxième point fort de ce livre, c'est l'honnêteté d'Helena Kelly. Elle nous dit ce que l'on sait, ce que l'on ne sait pas, parfois ce que l'on a pu supposer et pourquoi, en nous laissant juger. Vous vous dites sûrement que c'est le minimum mais c'est tellement rare. Si vous avez déjà lu que Jane n'aimait pas Bath, qu'elle est morte de la maladie d'Addison, que son frère était sourd et j'en passe, et vous avez forcément lu au moins une de ces affirmations une fois, alors vous avez lu des suppositions présentées comme des faits et ça me fatigue tellement ! C'était donc un plaisir que je n'ai pas boudé !
Vous l'avez compris, j'ai adoré ma lecture et je m'avancerais même jusqu'à dire que c'est certainement l'un des meilleurs livres sur Jane Austen que j'ai lu à ce jour. Et joyeux 250' anniversaire Jane, my dear.
http://janeausten.hautetfort.com/arch...
D'autant que l'intérieur reste le même et qu'il est canon ! La lecture est agrémentée de très nombreux tableaux, illustrations et photos, tous plus beaux les uns que les autres (si ce n'est celle de la série Sanditon, seule grave faute de goût).
Qu'en est-il du contenu alors ?
J'ai particulièrement aimé deux choses. Pour commencer, la mise en contexte. De nombreux critiques de l'autrice gagneraient à lire ce livre. Helena Kelly nous rappelle à quel point Jane n'était pas une jeune femme naïve perdue dans sa campagne, qui ne connaissait rien à la vie. Bien au contraire. Elle a vécu à une époque de grands changements et de grands bouleversements : l'indépendance de l'Amérique, la fin de l'esclavage, la révolution française, la remise en cause de la création... Son pays était constamment en guerre ! Et est-ce qu'elle pouvait ignorer tout ça ? Absolument pas. Son père était pasteur, deux de ses frères étaient marins, le mari de sa cousine a été décapité, et j'en passe. L'autrice inscrit clairement Jane Austen, sa famille et ses connaissances dans l'histoire et j'ai adoré ça. Je précise tout de même que l'on parle donc beaucoup de l'époque elle-même, pas toujours de Jane Austen, et que si le sujet ne vous intéresse pas, ce livre n'est pas fait pour vous.
Le deuxième point fort de ce livre, c'est l'honnêteté d'Helena Kelly. Elle nous dit ce que l'on sait, ce que l'on ne sait pas, parfois ce que l'on a pu supposer et pourquoi, en nous laissant juger. Vous vous dites sûrement que c'est le minimum mais c'est tellement rare. Si vous avez déjà lu que Jane n'aimait pas Bath, qu'elle est morte de la maladie d'Addison, que son frère était sourd et j'en passe, et vous avez forcément lu au moins une de ces affirmations une fois, alors vous avez lu des suppositions présentées comme des faits et ça me fatigue tellement ! C'était donc un plaisir que je n'ai pas boudé !
Vous l'avez compris, j'ai adoré ma lecture et je m'avancerais même jusqu'à dire que c'est certainement l'un des meilleurs livres sur Jane Austen que j'ai lu à ce jour. Et joyeux 250' anniversaire Jane, my dear.
http://janeausten.hautetfort.com/arch...
September 25, 2025
The Worlds of Jane Austen is a beautiful book, perfect for new Austen fans and a lovely read for long time fans wanting to refresh their knowledge.
Kelly considers Jane’s life both in regard to her family and private world and in relationship to the greater world.
Kelly shows that Jane was not isolated, but deeply knowledgeable about the greater world.
Her friend’s and family members fortunes were based on West Indies plantations. Her brothers were career navy men. She lived in a time of war and revolution. Jane enjoyed life in the country, but also spent a great deal of time in seaside resorts and the city.
Her life was not dull. Her wealthy aunt was accused of shoplifting. Her brother’s wife lost her first husband to a guillotine!
The book begins with Jane’s life and family, her education, and work.
The book has 150 photographs and illustrations and informative side bars.
Issues of slavery and empire include new information.
Exploring Jane’s legacy, Kelly includes her influence in novels, movies, and films.
This delightful volume succinctly covers everything you need to know about Jane Austen.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through Edelweiss
Kelly considers Jane’s life both in regard to her family and private world and in relationship to the greater world.
Kelly shows that Jane was not isolated, but deeply knowledgeable about the greater world.
Her friend’s and family members fortunes were based on West Indies plantations. Her brothers were career navy men. She lived in a time of war and revolution. Jane enjoyed life in the country, but also spent a great deal of time in seaside resorts and the city.
Her life was not dull. Her wealthy aunt was accused of shoplifting. Her brother’s wife lost her first husband to a guillotine!
The book begins with Jane’s life and family, her education, and work.
The book has 150 photographs and illustrations and informative side bars.
Issues of slavery and empire include new information.
Exploring Jane’s legacy, Kelly includes her influence in novels, movies, and films.
This delightful volume succinctly covers everything you need to know about Jane Austen.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through Edelweiss
January 5, 2026
If you are looking for an elegant gift to bestow on a Jane Austen-loving friend, this book would be an excellent choice--and you can expect your friend to proudly display it in her home, when she isn't turning the smooth, creamy pages and looking at all the interesting illustrations. The text charts a nice course between too-little detail and too much; it is particularly good for understanding how Jane Austen's family was adjacent to the wealthier upper classes but were themselves in a financially precarious position and like the Price family in Mansfield Park , had to "struggle and endure" to maintain their gentry status. Helena Kelly has been faulted for familiarly referring to "Jane Austen" as "Jane" instead of "Austen," but it makes sense to do so here, since there are so many people named Austen discussed in the text. The themes covered are well chosen, such as female education and the effect of the French Revolution on English society and politics. I have a few little quibbles, but since Kelly has reined in the highly speculative and outré theories in her earlier book, Jane Austen the Secret Radical, in favour of an even-handed presentation of the known facts, I can only praise this book as a valuable and attractive contribution to the Austenverse.
June 15, 2025
Helena Kelly’s The Worlds of Jane Austen gifts readers and Janeites alike with a look into the turbulent social, economic, and cultural influences on the novels of Austen—and her increasing influence on us in turn. In a world today that cannot tire of her famous stories, Kelly brings to her own work here a wonderful vivacity, energy, and acuity that calls to mind that of Austen herself. This is a wonderfully conceived and accessible account full of new information and enticing conjecture, over 150 expertly selected photographs and pictures, and illustrations to accompany the text which capture its joie de vivre perfectly. I inhaled this book and its treasure trove of information and insight, and highly recommend it to any reader not yet ready to leave the world of Austen’s novels and inevitably wanting more.
November 12, 2025
The Worlds of Jane Austen provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind of our most beloved author. Dr Helena Kelly expertly brings to life the events and culture that shaped Jane Austen’s classic novels and explores how her irresistible characters have retained their relevance for over two hundred years. With beautiful contemporary illustrations and references to popular culture, it’s a true delight for any Jane Austen fan!
December 9, 2025
A lavish, richly illustrated nonfiction book on Jane Austen's life and times, providing wonderful context, and background information on the political, social and societal forces that shaped her novels.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews