The Real Jane Austen - A Life in Small Things

I have recently added a gem to my Jane Austen biography collection: the acclaimed "The Real Jane Austen - a Life in Small Things" by Paula Burne (back in 2014). Now why didn't I get hold of this book before? Perhaps I was prejudiced by the whole heated discussion that took place around Jane Austen's portrait a couple of years ago. Not enough evidence was found to prove that the portrait on the cover of the book, belonging to Paula Burne, was authentic and I just sort of assumed the book to be superficial. 

But what I didn't realise was that Paula Burne has actually written a very clever biography in an entirely innovative style; instead of writing a conventional style biography in a chronological manner, she has written a collection of 18 essays on objects that somehow relate to Jane Austen's life, such as her writing slope, and attempts to highlight Jane's character through those. The essays are captivating, and the strength of this biography really is in the detail. 

Paula Burne has carried out immense research into the topic and brought out details about Jane Austen's life that have not been delved into in previous biographies. For example, as opposed to the popular opinion of Jane Austen being stuck to her country village and seeing little of the world, Paula Burne shows that Jane Austen was actually very well travelled for someone of her time, detailing the places where she holidayed and visited her friends, family and publishers. Referring to Jane Austen's connections in East India, the slave colonies in America and napoleonic France, Burne shows that Jane Austen had a wide view of the world and strong opinions on the heated topics of her time, such as slavery. She spent a great deal of time in London and, unlike her timid, pious character, Fanny Price, Jane Austen loved going to the theatre and delighted in the private theatricals held by the Austen family. As evidenced by her juvenile writing and looking at the list of her favourite authors, Jane Austen could hardly be considered "prim and proper" as some might think, but was familiar with a world where murders, sexual frivolity, rapes and other crimes do happen - and these were topics that she actually included in her writing from early on. 

Like many other readers, I am not convinced about some of her claims, such as the authenticity of her portrait of Jane Austen or  about Tom Bertram being homosexual. But I do appreciate how Paula Burne has described Jane Austen's character in a profound way and brought out a new perspective on Jane Austen - Burne's Austen is a woman who is determined and focused, enjoys her success as a published author, wishes to make herself known and to make a career and an income for herself through her gift of writing. 

Given that Paul Burne' s novel approach means that the structure of the book is less coherent than in, for example, Claire Tomalin's, I would not recommend this biography to someone who is new to Jane Austen. The book has certainly strengthened my knowledge of Jane Austen and I would therefore recommend it to others who are already familiar with Jane Austen's life and works but yearn to know more.

A Glimpse at Jane Austen’s Biographies

This post discusses some of the various biographies written on Jane Austen. Obviously there are plenty more biographies written on her life, but these are ones that I own.

A Memoir of Jane Austen: by  James Edward Austen-Leigh

 

Written by Jane’s nephew, James Austen’s son James Edward, this biography is the most authentic and thorough work on her life – I have described the book in more detail in this post. In addition to the  personal recollections and reminiscences that James Edward had of his aunt, the biography contains authentic information on Jane Austen collected from relatives and descendants.

The memoir is a fascinating read, given that it was written by those who knew her well, as opposed to the other biographies written posthumously. However, we must bear in mind that the book, written in the 1860’s, does cater to Victorian sensibilities and is a somewhat sanitised version, with some interesting details of her life and personality left out, perhaps to protect the family name.

Jane Austen – A Life: by Claire Tomalin

Apart from the Memoir, this is my favourite biography written on Jane Austen. Beautifully written and well-researched, Tomalin takes you on an adventure into the Georgian society. She provides delightful details into the life of the Austen family, following Jane’s life chronologically from birth to death with the movements of family and friends in mind. The book also sheds light into the community in which Jane lived, providing interesting bits of information on her neighbours and the scandals that affected them.

I find Tomalin’s description of Jane’s childhood particularly fascinating. I also like the psychological analysis of Jane’s character based upon her life experiences, written from a female point of view. Tomalin discusses how various major life changes and events must have affected Jane’s character and choices in life, such as being taken away from her parents in her infancy to be nursed in the village, having to move out of her beloved Hampshire to go to Bath, and the loss of sister-in-law after sister-in-law to childbirth. While the biography does analyse Jane’s character in detail, Tomalin does not make too many liberal assumptions beyond the obvious.

Jane Austen – Her Life: by Park Honan

As opposed to Tomalin’s work, Honan’s biography is a masculine take on the life of Jane Austen. He begins the life story by describing her brother, Frank’s introduction into the navy, which to me, does not create interest in her life in particular. Writing from a man’s perspective, Honan points out that Jane’s brothers had a huge influence on her writing career.  While I agree that having several brothers must have increased her world view a great deal, hers was strictly a woman’s life and she must have learnt as much from reading books and from observing the community around her. 

Honan carefully unveils the historical context and the environment in which Jane Austen lived, providing a great deal of historical detail. However, I can’t help but feel that he spends too much time discussing Nelson, for example, rather than focussing on Jane Austen’s quiet life back in the village.

With his careful study of family correspondence and other archives, Honan does make interesting speculations about where Jane Austen must have drawn her ideas and inspirations for the novels, providing names of people and places that Jane Austen must have come across in her lifetime. He is, perhaps, slightly too liberal with these assumptions in places, considering that Henry Austen points out on his Biographical Notice in the Memoir– “she drew from nature…never from individuals” (p.141). On the one hand, Honan is highly biased in his preface, claiming that other biographers have “misinterpreted” data, while on the other hand, he tends to be fairly liberal with his own conclusions.

Jane Austen: by Carol Shields

Carol Shields’ biography does not attempt to give a detailed account of Jane Austen’s life, but is more of a discussion on Jane Austen as an author. Shields describes Jane Austen’s development as a writer from childhood into middle age and focuses on events that might have encouraged her to write or discouraged her from writing. Shields discusses things that inspired Jane Austen and how she developed her style as an author.

While the biography lacks detail, it is a beautiful account on Jane’s character and personality and an interesting viewpoint into how she created her art. Written from an author’s perspective, this is an interesting, philosophical work with many poignant thoughts and observations.

Becoming Jane Austen: by Jon Spence

This light and entertaining work on the life of Jane Austen focuses on Jane’s presumed love affair with Tom Lefroy and acted as an inspiration for the film “Becoming Jane”. Catering to the romantically minded, the book takes liberties in drawing conclusions about Jane’s personal relationships with less caution than most of the other biographies. Like Honan, Spence claims that many of the characters in Jane Austen’s novels are inspired by real people, such as Jane’s brother Henry and her cousin Eliza, who are described as having a passionate relationship from their teens. While the book is certainly more entertaining than the average biography, it is probably less based on facts and more on the personal opinions of the author.

Jane Austen: by Marghanita Laski

This short biography is a compact account of Jane Austen’s life. Dotted with delightful  illustrations on each page, the biography makes an interesting read. The biography is, however, very factual with little analysis beneath the surface, adding little to the other established works written on Jane Austen’s life.  Having been written in the 1970’s, some of the information in the book can now also be considered outdated.

The Immortal Jane Austen: by Maggie Lane

I bought this booklet at the Jane Austen Centre in Bath. This is a beautifully written brief introduction to the life of Jane Austen. Like Laski’s book, it delights us with plenty of illustrations, but it is written in a more modern style. The style is light and flows as if narrating a documentary. Catering to the lay person, the booklet explains the society of the time, which helps make it more accessible to a person with no background knowledge on Jane Austen and her times.

 

Have you read any of these?

Which biography do you think best represents Jane’s life and personality?

Are there any other biographies that you would recommend reading?

The First Biography of Jane Austen

I’ve finally got my hands on the most authentic piece of work on Jane Austen’s life – the memoir written by her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh, who knew Jane Austen when he was still young. No longer do I have to rely on an e-book!

Interestingly, this edition has been edited by Kathryn Sutherland of the disputed Austen manuscripts fame. 

                   James Edward Austen-Leigh

In 1870, over 50 years after Jane Austen’s death, Austen-Leigh asked for letters, opinions and reflections from his sisters, brothers and cousins - all those who knew Jane - and wrote this memoir with what little information he had. The memoir also features Jane’s brother, Henry Austen’s brief Memoir from 1833, Jane’s niece, Anna Lefroy’s Recollections and Caroline Austen’s Memoir, as well as letters from Jane’s nieces.

               Henry Austen

Although the Memoir is the most authentic piece of work ever written on Jane Austen’s life, we have to bear in mind that it has been written with Victorian sensibilities in mind. Some interesting details of her life were shunned to maintain the reputation of the family, such as the existence of Jane’s handicapped brother, George, and other family histories of negative connotation, such as the arrest of Jane’s aunt, Mrs Leigh-Perrot. 

                               Anna Lefroy                                                                         Caroline Austen

The interesting letters included in the contemporary edition truly shed light to the work behind this memoir and to what was omitted and what was included in the final edition, e.g:

• Caroline Austen asks Austen-Leigh not to mention the name of  Harris Bigg-Wither (who proposed to Jane and was later turned down), as his family were, at the time, still living in the neighbourhood. 
• Caroline also asks Austen-Leigh not to “rake up” the “old story” about the “Chief Justice” (her youthful romance with Tom Lefroy).
• Caroline says to Austen-Leigh that he has been “merciful”  in omitting the most ridiculous parts of Mr Clarke’s (The Prince Regent’s librarian) letter, where he made suggestions to Jane on what she should write about in her novels (Jane subtly ignored his suggestions).

It was fascinating to read all the different accounts – while reading the memoirs and letters, you almost feel like these people are still alive and sharing all these beautiful memories of their aunt…  I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to become well acquainted with Jane Austen!