Jane & I: A Tale of Austen Addiction

by Susannah Fullerton

You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love... Jane Austen. Once upon a time a young girl was read Pride and Prejudice by her mother. She listened entranced, but little dreamed how that reading would change her life. Susannah Fullerton fell in love with Elizabeth and Darcy, went on to read the other novels of Jane Austen, she studied them, read them often, lectured about them and wrote about them. Jane Austen, quite simply, altered the course of her life! This charming memoir shows how a love of Jane Austen's novels developed into a passionate addiction, a remarkable story told with wit, elegance and enthusiasm. "I don't know which to admire the book-filled life of Susannah Fullerton, or her beguiling account of it. Crossing continents and embracing multiple authors -- though Jane Austen reigns supreme -- this is a vivid and original memoir for lovers of our literary heritage to savour." – Maggie Lane, author

Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2020

About the author

Susannah Fullerton, OAM FRSN, is Sydney’s best-known literary historian and lecturer on classic novels. She is a worldwide authority on Jane Austen's life and fiction, and her books have been praised by Claire Tomalin, Maggie Lane, Deirdre le Faye and Hazel Jones. She has been President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia since 1996.

Her latest book, 'Great Writers & the Cats Who Owned Them', published by Bodleian Library Publishing in 2025, is receiving rave reviews. Other books include Brief Encounters: Literary Travellers in Australia, Jane Austen and Crime, A Dance with Jane Austen: How a Novelist and her Characters went to the Ball, Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and Jane & I: A Tale of Austen Addiction. She has written and recorded two audio CDs Finding Katherine Mansfield, the first audio CD about New Zealand’s great short story writer, and Poetry to Fill A Room, a delightful edition of Susannah reading her best loved poetry.

Susannah grew up in New Zealand and has lived in Australia since 1986. She lectures regularly at the State Library of NSW, at conferences, schools and libraries. She gives talks on famous writers and their novels, poems and plays at a great variety of places around NSW, Australia and overseas.

Reviews

[Juliette]

A charming, witty love letter to Jane Austen. I loved how personal, insightful, and quietly moving it was - a delight for any Austen fan.