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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9780061341427
ISBN number: 0061341428
Label: Avon A
Manufacturer: Avon A
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: November 01, 2007
Publishing house: Avon A
Release Date: November 06, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 74050
Studio: Avon A
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Product Description:
Many rumors abound about a mysterious gentleman said to be the love of Jane's life—finally, the truth may have been found. . . .
What if, hidden in an old attic chest, Jane Austen's memoirs were discovered after hundreds of years? What if those pages revealed the untold story of a life-changing love affair? That's the premise behind this spellbinding novel, which delves into the secrets of Jane Austen's life, giving us untold insights into her mind and heart.
Jane Austen has given up her writing when, on a fateful trip to Lyme, she meets the well-read and charming Mr. Ashford, a man who is her equal in intellect and temperament. Inspired by the people and places around her, and encouraged by his faith in her, Jane begins revising Sense and Sensibility, a book she began years earlier, hoping to be published at last.
Deft and witty, written in a style that echoes Austen's own, this unforgettable novel offers a delightfully possible scenario for the inspiration behind this beloved author's romantic tales. It's a remarkable book, irresistible to anyone who loves Jane Austen—and to anyone who loves a great story.
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Rated by buyers 
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I found this a little disappointing. Like another reviewer said, the author did only a fair job of writing as Jane Austen, and it doesnt' read like a memoire. It was a cute light read, but I also felt like I was just reading scenes out of Austen's novels with the characters changed, not very creative. I desperately wanted to like it, but didn't.
Rated by buyers 
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I can't say more than I absolutely loved this book. And: "Mary I. Jesse" - the fictional editor - is an anagram of the author's name James Syrie ;-)
Rated by buyers -
I think that Stephanie Barron does a better imitation of Jane Austen's writing style in her Jane Austen Mystery Series, but Ms. James does a credible imitation of writing from Ms. Austen's point of view. I had to give it four stars because it kept my interest enough to read it straight through in two days while resting from an illness, as I usually read six to eight books at a time rather than just one book. Ms. James seems to be very knowledgable about Ms. Austen's life to make this revelation of her supposed doomed mystery romance with a gentleman she met while on holiday at the seashore believable. I had to check the end notes because her explanation of how Ms. Austen's journal was discovered was very credible. The climax is similar to that in "Becoming Jane" but it is probably a coincidence as it takes time to write a novel and any explanation of the mystery romance would be based upon a common interpretation of Austen's personality. There is a Book Club/Reading Group Study Guide at the end. It is generally well-paced and superior to the average romance novel.
Rated by buyers -
I loved this novel. It's a wonderful, page-turning story, and it truly captures the voice, spirit, world and wit of Jane Austen. I couldn't put the book down-- and then I didn't want it to end!
Unlike the many other books out there that continue the stories of the characters in Jane's novels, this novel is about Jane herself. I truly felt that I was reading Jane Austen's own words, and experiencing her thoughts, feelings, frustrations and passions, as she falls in love, and struggles to grow into her own as a novelist. The book is intelligent, funny, tender, romantic and suspenseful. I loved the portrayal of Jane and her sister Cassandra, I loved Mr. Ashford, and I found the period details right on.
I will be recommending this novel to all my friends and to my book club, and I know I'll be reading it again. There are some Jane Austen fanatics who take her (and themselves) far too seriously, and will look for any little thing to criticize... but I, too, have read all of Austen's novels many times over, and this book is a delightful read. Jane Austen was indeed a genius, and we all dearly wish that she had written more than six books; but this novel was so brilliant and so convincing, it made me feel that Jane had taken up her pen and written again.
Rated by buyers 
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Another so-so writer thinks that she can "do" Jane Austen. She can't. I can't believe that anyone who has read Jane Austen, who is familiar with her voice and style, who loves her work and her world, wouldn't think that this is essentially hack-work. It is dead on the page. Syrie James has written a book in a 21st century voice pretending unsuccessfully to be of the very early 19th century by sliding in some pseudo-grandiose words and diction. It doesn't work. It is not believable. Jane Austen, of course, was a genius. Her characters live on the page 200 years later: Elizabeth Bennett lives; Anne Elliot lives; Mr. Collins lives; James' "Jane Austen" does not.
In "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell," Susanna Clarke catches the voice in which Jane Austen wrote--whatever one might think of that plot and those characters. Very few others have.
I have never understood why people trying to write sequels and spin-offs of Jane Austen novels use words that Austen didn't. Although James doesn't fall to the level of many of them, she is quite irritating--what's with all those "tresses"? What's wrong with "hair"? I expect Jane Austen never used "tresses" in her life.
I also found the mostly pointless footnotes irritating. I don't think they added much--unlike the newly published annotated edition of P&P. James explains what doesn't need to be explained to Janeites and then makes errors: Jane Austen's pen nib wouldn't break because she used a quill which didn't have a nib. Mr. Ashford didn't write to her because unmarried, unengaged, and unrelated men and women in polite society didn't. It was shocking to contemporaries that Marianne wrote to Willoughby--her family assumed an engagement. Mr. Darcy seriously broke convention under strong emotion when he wrote to Elizabeth. Jane Austen would not expect an acquaintance to write to her however attracted they might have been. It wasn't done in their world.
I think that for all of the pretense of the "editor" being an expert, she isn't. Far from it. There are worse books out there, but I'm not finishing this one. It is a disappointment.
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