Made a start on this audiobook, but while informative and interesting, it didn't grab me...unfortunatley, as it is a given that I am keen to know more about J.A. ( )

It was interesting , but it lack of obiectivity.
The author is honest and don't pretente to be an historian, but I felt him biased.
It wasn't my first Biography of Jane Austen so I think that coulb be the reason why I wasn't appalled. ( )

It was interesting , but it lack of obiectivity.
The author is honest and don't pretente to be an historian, but I felt him biased.
It wasn't my first Biography of Jane Austen so I think that coulb be the reason why I wasn't appalled. ( )

It was interesting , but it lack of obiectivity.
The author is honest and don't pretente to be an historian, but I felt him biased.
It wasn't my first Biography of Jane Austen so I think that coulb be the reason why I wasn't appalled. ( )

A good memoir but short. ( )

A good memoir but short. ( )

A good memoir but short. ( )

I read the Oxford World's Classics edition which contained the following:

A Memoir of Jane Austen - James Edward Austen-Leigh (1871)
Biographical Notice of the Author - Henry Austen (1818)
Memoir of Miss Austen - Henry Austen (1833)
Recollections of Aunt Jane - Anna Lefroy (1864)
My Aunt Jane Austen: A Memoir - Caroline Austen (1867)

This book brings together a collection of memoirs and biographies of Jane Austen written by her brother (Henry Austen) and her nieces and nephews. James Edward Austen-Leigh's memoir is the longest of the collection of works included and, with their permission, made use of the recollections written by his sisters (Anna and Caroline) as well as Henry Austen's notice and memoir and various letters from their Aunt Jane which had come into their possession.

This was an interesting selection of works, mainly because the detailed notes to this edition made it possible to see what information about Jane Austen had been left out of James Edward Austen-Leigh's memoir. It seems that he and his sisters wanted to present Jane Austen in a way that they felt was appropriate for the late 19th century and so certain events or incidents were glossed over. In particular a humorous poem that Jane Austen wrote a few days before her death which had been referred to in Henry Austen's first biography was deliberately not mentioned in James Edward Austen-Leigh's memoir because he and his sisters felt it made their beloved aunt appear frivolous. Additionally, James Edward Austen Leigh and his sisters did not have access to all of Jane Austen's letters that modern scholars have access to as these were then being held by other branches of the family.

For the above reasons I wouldn't recommend this collection to someone who hadn't read a modern biography of Jane Austen. I also think it would be easier to first get a sense of Jane Austen's extended family from a modern biography and I think I would have found this book more confusing if I hadn't previously read one. But despite their occasional failings these writings are one of the primary sources for modern Jane Austen scholars and well worth reading if you want to find out more about the author and her world.

If you are looking for a modern biography about Jane Austen then I found Claire Tomalin's Jane Austen: A Life to be superb. ( )

http://www.lonelymountain.net/books/sep03.html#austenleighamoja ( )