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Jane Austen: A Life (Vintage)

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Tomalin wrote this book in part as a response to those (like Austen's brother and cousin) who noted the great novelist's life was one of little incident. Despite her noble intentions, Tomalin doesn't prove anything to the contrary--Austen's life was pretty routine, and we have so few documents pertaining to the particulars of it (since her sister and niece burned so many of her letters) that we have yet to find a biographer who can shed great light on her inestimable genius.

Tomalin, however, gives us a full and beautifully detailed analysis of what we CAN learn about Austen's life from the documents which are still extant. Best of all, she enriches this information by presenting rich, gossipy details about the many fascinating people whom Austen knew and loved. The somewhat nouveau riche society (pretending to be landed gentry) of late eighteenth-century makes for reading almsot as much fun as Austen's own books, and Tomalin writes with great verve. This is a marvelous read.

Claire Tomalin is a kindred spirit to Jane Austen - her appreciation of Austen's wit and humor comes through every line of this excellent work. She lucidly recreates the social norms and complex personal lives of Austen and her family (and with all the name-changing of brothers and uncles in order to receive inheritances, this is no small feat!). I loved how Tomalin draws parallels between events and places in Austen's life and her various works; she obviously has an intimate knowledge of literary theory. Yet Tomalin does not fall into the mistake of trying to render Austen's books autobiographical - she clearly states what Austen experienced and what was fiction. You practically weep at the destruction of all the correspondance (and Jane Austen was a prolific letter writer in her lifetime) by family members - so few letters survive to give us insight into this intriguing character. Thank goodness Tomalin is able to write such an excellent biography despite this lack of primary material.

I was 'reader' from Sydney below. I did lend it to my friends (and sat on the edge of my seat hoping they wouldn't be the kind who don't return your precious books!)

Anyway, I did read it again, and I love it just as much. I re-read Austen at various times, whenever I feel like 'hearing' that crisp, ironic dialogue and beautiful observations that somehow still seem fresh today.

Tomalin has achieved something magical in this volume. She has managed to make it feel as if I really know something about Jane, her society and surroundings.

When first introduced to Jane Austen in high school, she seemed remote, a woman of another time and place. What could she possibly have to say to a young woman from a distant land? Well, perhaps not much at 15....a bit more life experience would be a good thing. But maybe a good place to start would be this biography.

I was fed on the stereotype that Jane Austen was a sickly, sheltered girl and woman, one who had little experience of life outside the drawing room, a sort of consumptive, repressed being. Tomalin shows how far from the truth that portrait is. Jane knew about the ins and outs of the country ball from active participation. She could draw affectionatley hunmorous word pictures of some of her characters through experiencing them. She was quite well-travelled for a woman of her generation, own country, sure, but then only the most extraordinary women were off on the 'Grand Tour'. All these things are obvious in her books if you think about it - Miss Musgrove and friends - male and female- off on their jaunt to Lyme Regis, for example. Jane could write about love and engagement through experience. She did love, and was loved in return, but chose not to marry. Children (nieces and nephews) were a joy to her and she was actively involved in the upbringing of some of them. But never, ever, do we meet an anachronistic Jane. Tomalin does NOT try to shoe-horn her in to some modern day feminist iconography. What we are left with is a portrait of a thoroughly modern woman of HER times. A woman who lived a full life , on her own terms, but within the boundaries of the society of which she was part. That she managed to offer us, the modern reader, such a beautifully resonant portrait of her class and times, that stays fresh today, is a tribute to Austen. That Tomalin has brought that so vividly alive in introducing us to Jane Austen the woman is a tribute to Tomalin.

As someone who studied Jane Austen at university and read many of the "not-a-life-of-incident" accounts of her time, Claire Tomalin's biography proved even more compelling than I had expected. For the casual (ie non-academic) reader, this work presents the ideal combination of exhaustive research and a writer who clearly delights in her subject. Although I find myself miles away from my Jane Austen collection, Tomalin has left me longing to read again all Austen's works - including all the juvenalia and 'unfinisheds' that I somehow never quite found time for. Undoubtedly Austen fans will have rushed or will be rushing to read this book. However, I would urge anyone who has never seen the appeal in her works to give this a try, (just avoid Tomalin's excellent synopses of the novels). A call goes out, especially, to all those men out there - I know they exist, I'm married to one - who think Austen is "just for women". Read it and discover one of the greatest writers of all time.

The book arrived a few days before my annual "pilgrimage" to Austen country, giving me some new insights into Jane Austen's life and new "moments" while visiting the places she lived in or visited herself. A worthy addition to her works and the eight other biographies of her that I have . . . . . .

I was pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed this biography so much. Yes, I am a fan of Austen's work, but Claire Tomalin writes from a totally unbiased perspective and, amazingly, is able to put together a clear picture of Austen in spite of an unfortunate lack of written record from Austen herself. While many may find her life boring and uneventful, the relationships Austen had with her family and friends were genuine and admirable and help us learn more about her as a person. We are able to see how those relationships built upon her own character and the inspiration for her writings.

This biography helped me gain a new perspective on the works I have read and made me eager to read the rest that I haven't. I would recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed Austen, and it would make a great companion for any literary study.

This book is informative and entertaining, but I think it dwells too much on Jane Austen's relatives and not enough on Jane herself.

Lively, insightful and entertaining. This Austen biography is a treasure