Jane Austen's England

by Maggie Lane

In this original and perceptive study Maggie Lane reveals the importance of place in Jane Austen's novels and follows the writer's travels throughout Georgian England. Far from being confined to her native Hampshire and Bath, as is often thought, Jane Austen travelled in fourteen counties, knew three cities intimately and explored many stretches of the English coastline. Brighton and Bristol, Lyme Regis and London, Portsmouth and Southampton, Oxford and Canterbury - these and several other towns provided the stimulus for the acute, witty studies of society which fill Jane Austen's novels, from "Pride and Prejudice" to "Persuasion". At a time when England was particularly beautiful, following enclosure and the spread of Georgian architecture, Jane Austen also recorded faithful, revealing images of the countryside, inspired by the preoccupation, universal among the English gentry, with the landscape, 'improvements' and 'picturesque' beauty. Travelling with Jane Austen county by county, this book examines her response both to what she saw and to what she read, and how this manifests itself in her writings. Maggie Lane's incisive text, elegantly illustrated with numerous contemporary engravings, superbly recreates the distinctive backdrop for some of the finest novels in English literature.

Genres: History, Travel, Nonfiction, Biography, British Literature

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would be great for readers who know all of Jane Austen's novels extensively, including the unpublished works she wrote as a teen. Jane Austen's England is a non-fiction book that picks apart all of the locations visited in her novels, adds how and when Jane herself visited them during her extensive visits to a huge volume of friends and family members, and the contemporary opinions on landscaping, wilderness, and architecture from a variety of professionals during the late 18th/early 19th centuries in England.

Unfortunately, I have only read Pride and Prejudice and Emma so this was difficult to follow. Lane drops in names of characters from the novels alongside real people that Jane Austen was familiar with throughout the chapters. Keeping track not only of Austen's large number of family and friends and knowing where the text verged into Austen's characters was difficult.

There is also very little of Lane's own writing in the book, it is primarily made up of excerpts from Austen's letters and novels as well as the contemporary thoughts on the topics I mentioned above. This didn't necessarily detract from the book, but having the writing style constantly change between quotes from the 1800's and Lane's bits of insight was jarring at times.

I will say that reading about how Austen thought about the world around her compared to the common opinions of her time was interesting and I do enjoy reading about how, historically, people interacted with the natural world around them. I would have liked to see more focus on a broader view of England's opinions about nature and beauty and how Austen fit into those opinions, and less about Austen's every move alongside her characters.

Ultimately I think I would enjoy this more on a re-read after having read more of Austen's novels and getting a family tree to help keep up with names and characters. This book was absolutely written for experts on Jane Austen who want to hear more about her life and the minutiae of detail in her novels with a smattering on contemporary opinions. I was gifted this book, did not pick it for myself, and recognize that I don't fit the target audience; but perhaps in the future I will be able to appreciate it more.

[Joana Starnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for anyone interested in knowing more about the life and times of Jane Austen, as well as the places she had visited, and the way they were in her time. The wealth of additional detail is giving a better understanding of the country, the era, basically of the context which made Jane Austen's body of work what it is. A most enjoyable read!
Favourite quote: "She was indeed fortunate to live in an age when not only was England at its peak of physical beauty, improved but not yet desecrated by human activity, but when cultured people were learning to appreciate the natural world after centuries of indifference or fear."

[Whitaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really great book shows us how everything is great and worth to die for

[Kayla Tornello · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book explores the cities, towns, and villages that Jane Austen both visited and described in her writing. It was interesting to read about what the different places were like back in her time, but they all started to blend together in the end and I lost interest.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

A beautiful study of the landscapes where Jane Austen lived, got her inspiration and which were reflected in her own writing.