Jane Austen was a 19th century English novelist, now regarded as one of the most important figures of English Literature. She was born on 16th December 1775 at Steventon, Hampshire, England. She was the seventh child and the second daughter of the Rev. George Austen and his wife Cassendra. She was educated primarily by her dad and elder brothers as well as through her own reading. The steadfast support of her family was critical to her development as a professional writer. Her imaginative apprenticeship lasted from her teenage years until she was about 35 years old. During this period, she experimented with various literary forms. She wrote and modified three major novels in addition to others. From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), a revision of First impressions, Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816), She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in (1818), she achieved tremendous success as a published writer. The release of Pride and Prejudice made her earn name and fame. Early in 1816, she began to feel unwell. She ignored her illness at first and continued to work and to participate in the usual round of family activities. It led to a long, slow and irregular deterioration in her physical condition. It culminated in her death in the following year. The majority of Jane Austen's biographers list her cause of death due to some disease. In a short life spanning for about 41 years, Jane Austen had her name etched in the history of English novelists.
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Amazon.com Review
Anne Elliot, heroine of Austen's last novel, did something we can all relate to: Long ago, she let the love of her life get away. In this case, she had allowed herself to be persuaded by a trusted family friend that the young man she loved wasn't an adequate match, social stationwise, and that Anne could do better. The novel opens some seven years after Anne sent her beau packing, and she's still alone. But then the guy she never stopped loving comes back from the sea. As always, Austen's storytelling is so confident, you can't help but allow yourself to be taken on the enjoyable journey.
Description:
Jane Austen was a 19th century English novelist, now regarded as one of the most important figures of English Literature. She was born on 16th December 1775 at Steventon, Hampshire, England. She was the seventh child and the second daughter of the Rev. George Austen and his wife Cassendra. She was educated primarily by her dad and elder brothers as well as through her own reading. The steadfast support of her family was critical to her development as a professional writer. Her imaginative apprenticeship lasted from her teenage years until she was about 35 years old. During this period, she experimented with various literary forms. She wrote and modified three major novels in addition to others. From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), a revision of First impressions, Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816), She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in (1818), she achieved tremendous success as a published writer. The release of Pride and Prejudice made her earn name and fame. Early in 1816, she began to feel unwell. She ignored her illness at first and continued to work and to participate in the usual round of family activities. It led to a long, slow and irregular deterioration in her physical condition. It culminated in her death in the following year. The majority of Jane Austen's biographers list her cause of death due to some disease. In a short life spanning for about 41 years, Jane Austen had her name etched in the history of English novelists.
**
Amazon.com Review
Anne Elliot, heroine of Austen's last novel, did something we can all relate to: Long ago, she let the love of her life get away. In this case, she had allowed herself to be persuaded by a trusted family friend that the young man she loved wasn't an adequate match, social stationwise, and that Anne could do better. The novel opens some seven years after Anne sent her beau packing, and she's still alone. But then the guy she never stopped loving comes back from the sea. As always, Austen's storytelling is so confident, you can't help but allow yourself to be taken on the enjoyable journey.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Stevenson has read all of Austen's novels for audiobook, in abridged or unabridged versions, and her experience shows in this delightful production. Though dominated by the intelligent, sweet voice of Anne Elliot—the least favored but most worthy of three daughters in a family with an old name but declining fortunes—Stevenson provides other characters with memorable voices as well. She reads Anne's haughty father's lines with a mixture of stuffiness and bluster, and Anne's sisters are portrayed with a hilariously flighty, breathy register that makes Austen's contempt for them palpable. Anne's voice is mostly measured and reasonable—an expression of her strong mind and spirit—but Stevenson imbues her speech with wonderful shades of passion as Anne is reacquainted with Capt. Wentworth, whom she has continued to love despite being forced, years before, to reject him over status issues. Listening to Stevenson, as Anne, describe a sudden encounter with Wentworth, one hardly needs Austen's description of how Anne grows faint—Stevenson's perfectly judged and deeply felt reading has already shown that she must have. Even those who have read Austen's novels will find themselves loving this book all over again with Stevenson's evocative rendition ringing richly in their ears. (Apr.)
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