Jane Austen Lived a Quiet, Single Life— Or Did She? Tradition holds that Austen lived a contemplative, unmarried life. But what if, during the “lost years” of her twenties, she wed a man as passionate and intelligent as she? What if, together, they faced the biggest challenges of life in 1805? Find out why readers have praised it as “a magical tale”—“one of the best love stories I have read in a long time”—“wickedly clever”—“highly imagined, playful”—“so well-researched and respectfully written … it’s easy to imagine she could have found love.” Courtship becomes marriage. Life becomes real. Volume II: Available Now Book Reviews \"Hemingway\'s book ... (places) a very human Jane in a vibrant, turbulent England that is seeking new ideas but also fighting the Napoleonic Wars ... He captures the energy of the times while also writing with the irony and sly humor of Jane Austen herself, complete with the stylistic language of the Regency period ... This is truly a worthy addition to the Jane Austen legacy, a story sure to please all Austen fans.\"—BlueInk Starred Review Buy Now Paperbacks Volume I and II Volume II: eBook and Physical Volume I: eBook and Physical Further Reading A Modest Proposal: Might the Spinster Have Married? As reported in last month’s blog about Jane Austen’s romantic attachments, biographers dutifully recount the story of Jane’s acceptance/rejection of a proposal by Harris Bigg-Wither, a young, brash man six years her junior, on Thursday-Friday, 2-3 December 1802. The story goes that Jane and Cassandra journeyed to Manydown, the Bigg-Wither estate, for several weeks of leisure ... read moreBrotherly Love? In a recent blog, I wrote about the general but oft ignored belief that cousins should not marry. Cousin marriage was fashionable in Jane Austen’s time among the wealthy, but it also happened more than once in Jane’s immediate family. Her brother Henry (top, by headline) married their cousin Eliza, and the son of brother Frank married the ... read moreEngaging Stories About Miss Austen and Her Beaus How many times was Jane Austen engaged—or married (!)? Thoughts about her short life—and her emotional life, whatever it may have been—bubble up in this year of 2017, the 200th anniversary of her death. Officially, Austen was engaged once, for less than a day, to a young, callow Harris Bigg-Wither, in 1802. Because the engagement is ... read more see all
