Thursday, March 18, 2010

Jane Austen


Thomas Nelson now has a new series of biographies called Christian Encounters. These compact books tell of the experiences, trials and adventures of people from different ages and areas of the Church. I chose to read the story of Jane Austen.
The author, Peter Leithart, begins by telling of world events that were occurring during Austen's life then proceeds to tell of her family and the importance of faith in Jane's life. The author obviously did a lot of research for this book and relied upon Austen family letters and other sources to tell of Jane's personality and experiences.
Jenny, as she was called by her family, began writing early in life. She loved to write simply for the entertainment of her family. Her books were written at a young age and then edited and rewritten many times before she was published.
It was hard to keep up with all the family members and friends discussed. There are, however appendixes in the back listing Austen's family, friends and neighbors and the characters from her novels. The book felt dry and a bit boring, but as I continued to read I appreciated learning more about this literary celebrity.
Since this is my blog and not on a more public book review site, I will take the liberty of saying this to my niece: Amy, I think I know why you enjoy Jane Austen novels. It's because you are so much alike! She was a P.K. (preacher's kid) and had lots of brothers. (5, if I remember correctly) She was a member of the Anglican Church, had a great sense of humor, and faith was an integral part of her life. I could definitely picture the two of you sitting together empathizing over the antics of brothers, laughing and having a good time!
*Thank you to Thomas Nelson for supplying this book for review through the Book Sneeze program! All opinions expressed are my own.

3 comments:

Becky Dietz said...

Cheryl Dietz also reviewed this book. You'll have to catch it on my blog list. I loved hearing what you had to say to Amy! LOL!a

amy wright said...

haha...that's great. And you know that I LOVE being compared to Jane Austen. Thanks for the compliment. :) Oh wait, I at least took it as a compliment. That's how you meant it, right? ha

Sandra said...

yes, Amy, it was a compliment. :-)