Jane Austen's Notebook

by Sophie Collins

Jane Austen's Notebook offers a unique, journal-style biography, delving into Austen's life and enduring influence. It explores her personal life through family and friend images, uncovers connections between her real life and fiction, and showcases locations she inhabited. With handwritten quotes and amusing anecdotes, it brings Austen to life more vividly than a typical biography, revealing her feelings on publication and the remarkable impact of her works.

Genres: Nonfiction, British Literature, History

Hardcover

First published May 1, 2025

About the author

Sophie Collins is a writer, editor and resident expert on supernatural romance. Author of How to Date a Vampire, she currently lives and works in the UK.

Reviews

[Craig and Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big thanks to Exisle Publishing for gifting us a copy to read and review.
Part of the relationship a reader has with a book is sensory.
The way it feels, a visually pleasing cover and the smell have already planted a connection.
In this case a beautifully presented book that satisfies every sense contains biographical and interesting facts about one of the greats.
Jane Austen is timeless and epitomises a talent that has blessed generations for hundreds of years.
This well crafted and informative read helps piece together the life of Jane, her family, her writing and is consolidated with photographs, sketches and letters.
It was a delight to not only take in the information but see buildings, portraits and inspirational landscapes of the era.
Facts and figures on the publication details and monetary exchanges makes one wonder who has made and pocketed the money subsequently.
As a reader I felt like I was reading a personal journal written in the era and found myself studying the array of illustrations.
A celebration of this iconic and prolific writer.

[Kimberly Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative! An easy read, considering all of the people involved in her life were mentioned in a way that made it easy to keep track of who is whom. I rated it 3.5 but rounded up to four for how beautifully put together it is. The photo here does it no justice.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely overview of Jane Austen's life and works. Presented in manageable pieces with illustrations and excerpts from her letters. Highlighted text and quotes make it very attractive.
This will be a keepsake.
My only 'complaint' is that the typeface in the general text is tiny!

[Andrea Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining and visual biography through Jane Austen’s life that focuses on her writings and letters to friends and family. A good overview with interesting details and beautiful pages.

[Lucy Waverley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bite sized biography? Yes please.

I’ve loved Jane Austen’s novels since the great 1995 epidemic of Pride-and-Prejudice-itis and have been meaning to learn more about her life for years but have shamefully never quite got around to tackling any of the meaty biographies available. When I saw that The History Press was publishing this slim, illustrated volume about Austen by Sophie Collins, I shamelessly volunteered to review it.

Very happy to report that it was an absolute joy. It’s beautifully presented and full of concise, clearly worded insight into Jane’s life, her writing, and the reception of her works, plus perfectly chosen illustrations showing the key people, places, and artefacts involved.

Getting so much information about a complicated, often dramatic, life into 160 pages is a no mean feat, especially when it includes such a wide range of details and manages (like Austen) to capture character so well.

I particularly loved learning about Jane’s family, their academic roots, dramatic financial highs and lows, loves, losses, and successes and failures in business, the armed forces, the church, and Society. Equally fascinating are the glimpses into what we know of her writing process, how we know it, plus where there are frustrating gaps in records. And the chapters on her publication journey (for want of a less cringingly modern phrase), print run stats, and the reception of her novels were just what my inner publishing history geek hoped for.

Being so short, it’s not exhaustive, but it is immensely readable and punches well above its weight for the sheer amount of accessible info it contains.

Absolutely loved it. (And now of course want to read more Austen biography, plus reread all the novels…)

Enormous thanks to The History Press for the gifted review copy.

[Jan Mawdesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Trish Palmer for Bluewolf Reviews and Exisle Publising

What a beautiful book Jane Austen’s Notebook is to hold and enjoy with the A5 size of the pages making it easy to read. The chapters cover a vast range from ‘A Clergyman’s daughter, Becoming a Writer, Adulthood, Adventures in Publishing, Illness, death and Legacy.’ The information is widespread and relates to the period when the Austen’s were a family unit, containing many little scraps of information such as Jane was meant to be called Jenny. There are diagrams, sketches and pictures scattered throughout the book.
Family connections were particularly important to the Austen’s. George Austen came from a family who valued education and were lawyers, academics, and churchmen. Jane’s brothers were in the navy, while Henry was in the local militia then became a banker. Edward was adopted into the wealthy Knight family, and it was here that Jane learned about grand establishments. This allowed her descriptions of Pemberley to be so precise.
George Austen decided that the family should move to Bath. This caused great distress to Jane who wanted to know if they could take the bee hives. For many reasons, depression, lack of time and personal space, Jane did not write for several years. In 1816 the first inkling of Jane being unwell was mentioned.
Over her lifetime, Jane wrote many letters which her sister Cassandra destroyed after her death. As Austen’s posthumous success began to grow the early Victorians were more polite, and the family may have wanted to present Jane as a respectable image.
To conclude this wonderful exploration of Jane Austen there is a Bibliography and reference section, followed by a timeline of Jane’s work, and an index.
Jane Austen’s Notebook is an all-encompassing view of an incredibly famous author.

[Natia Morbedadze · Rating 4 out of 5]

ვფიქრობ, ეს წიგნი აუცილებლად უნდა ამშვენებდეს ჯეინ ოსტინის მოყვარულთა თაროებს. გარდა იმისა, რომ მისი ბიოგრაფიული ცნობები თანამედროვე მკითხველთათვის მისაღები ფორმით არის მოწოდებული (ლაკონურად, თუმცა ამავე დროს დეტალურად), ილუსტრაციებიც ერთიორად ზრდის იმ განცდას, რომ ჯეინის პერიოდის ინგლისს ვსტუმრობთ, კიდევ ერთხელ ვბრუნდებით სამყაროში, რომელიც მისივე წიგნებიდან (საუკუნეების შემდეგაც რომ არ "ცვდებიან") შევიყვარეთ.

[Tamra · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part I enjoyed this book but there were a couple things that were distracting. The tiny print was annoying and necessary. Also, i came across a couple glaring mistakes in the accuracy of stated facts that made me wonder what else the author had gotten wrong. But all in all, it was an enjoyable book. I especially liked the illustrations and explanations.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. It was easy to consume and the history of Jane Austen and her life was easy to digest. This was a great way to get a snippet of what it was like for Jane Austen and how her books came to be.

[Caroline Duggan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sort of book you want to keep on your bookshelves because it is both pretty and intelligent. Like a Jane Austen protagonist really.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just enough information for me to learn about Jane Austen.

[Josephine Blatny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a sweet gift from one of my best friends 💕

[Sofía · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read! Everything you need to know about Jane Austen compiled in one place. I really liked reading the excerpts of her letters.