Jane Austen
Written by Carol Shields
Narrated by Donada Peters
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
"This tightly written biography brings Austen to life in a way rarely seen. Here she is the living, breathing woman not the prim literary classic. Outstanding job."-Booklist
Carol Shields
Carol Shields’s novels include Unless; Larry’s Party, winner of The Women’s Prize; The Stone Diaries, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and shortlisted for the Booker Prize; The Republic of Love; Happenstance; and Mary Swann. Dressing Up for the Carnivaland Various Miracles, collections of short stories, were later published as The Collected Stories. Brought up in Chicago, Shields lived in Canada from 1957 until her death in 2003.
Related to Jane Austen
Related audiobooks
Jane Austen: and her Country-House Comedy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSanditon and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pride and Prejudice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Incredible Crime Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Northanger Abbey Sense & Sensibility Pride & Prejudice: 3 Audiobooks Full Cast Drama Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPride and Prejudice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Letters of Jane Austen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLady Susan Emma Persuasion: 3 Audiobooks Full Cast Drama Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Vanishing of Carolyn Wells: Investigations into a Forgotten Mystery Author Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJane Austen: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jane Austen: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5B. J. Harrison Reads A Christmas Carol Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEmma (Premium) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mrs Tim Flies Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Standing Her Ground: Classic Short Stories by Trailblazing Women Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings100 Quotes by Jane Austen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Christmas Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson: Christmas at Sea, Markheim, Winter Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Literary Biographies For You
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing into the Wound: Understanding trauma, truth, and language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Glass Castle: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Professor and The Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lit: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5People, Places, Things: My Human Landmarks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Angela's Ashes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil and Harper Lee Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dad on Pills: Fatherhood and Mental Illness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Papillon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of The Bondwoman's Narrative Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shakespeare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5These Precious Days: Essays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Marriage Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Deliberate Cruelty: Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lives of the Wives: Five Literary Marriages Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Guest at the Feast: Essays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chronicles: Volume One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bible: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic's Wild Ride to the Edge and Back Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: A Memoir Based on a True Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rude Talk in Athens: Ancient Rivals, the Birth of Comedy, and a Writer's Journey through Greece Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Jane Austen
26 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I would tell a reader with an intensive interest in Jane Austen not to miss this. Nokes takes a contrarian view of some of the major incidents of JA's life, but his arguments are well supported and anyone with a serious interest in JA should at least ponder them. I wouldn't recommend this as a first-or-only biography of Jane Austen. If the reader is interested in a book of this length, I urge them to try John Halperin. Nokes does a masterful, almost unparalleled job of weaving together quotes from the papers of the Austens and various associates. He assures us that he never puts any words into anyone's mouth. He does, however, freely put thoughts into their heads, some of which are reasonable and some which have no known support. He also draws little verbal pictures to go along with these, reasonable, perhaps, but more suitable for fiction. Nokes also chooses to begin and end his biography with two imaginative "short stories." Interwoven into Chapter One, "Family Secrets" is a surprisingly long account of the Hancock family, Jane's aunt Philadelphia Austen and her husband Tysoe Saul Hancock, separated from his wife and daughter as he tries to rebuild his fortune in India. He ends with an almost entirely imagined account of Francis Cullum, paid caretaker of Thomas Leigh and George Austen. Since we know very little about Cullum or the health problems of Leigh and Austen, I find this highly judgemental piece absurd, especially in a work that purports to be nonfiction. I like that the book has the running title of the chapter on the left-hand page and the dates on the right. The Notes fortunately contain the chapter running title as well as the chapter number, so it is relatively easy to match up notes. The sources, except for manuscripts, are unfortunately scattered throughout the notes - it would be nice if at least major sources were gathered into a bibliography.