The Lost Books of Jane Austen by Janine Barchas review – how Austen's reputation has been warped

A deliciously original study of the cheap editions of Pride and Prejudice and other novels – ignored by literary scholars – casts new light on her readershipJane Austen aficionados think that they know the story of their favourite author’s posthumous dis-appearance and then re-emergence. For half a century after she died in 1817, her books were little known or read. A few discriminating admirers such as George Henry Lewes and Lord Macaulay kept the flame of her reputation burning, but most novelists and novel readers were oblivious to her. Then, in 1869, her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh published a memoir about her and the public got interested. Her novels started being republished and widely read. She has never looked back.Janine Barchas’s The Lost Books of Jane Austen puts us right. Her book about books is a beautifully illustrated exploration, indeed compendium, of the popular editions of Austen’s novels that have appeared over the last two centuries. This includes those decades when Austen was supposedly lost from sight. The first chapter is a “vignette” on a copy of Sense and Sensibility, published in 1851 for George Routledge’s Railway Library (books suitable for reading on the train). It cost one shilling and was bought for the 13-year-old Gertrude Wallace, the youngest daughter of a Plymouth naval officer. It is the first of many examples of cheap and popular editions of Austen’s work that kept it alive for ordinary readers and that literary scholars have... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-12-11 07:30:31 UTC ]

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Celebrating Women in Translation Month: New Translations by Women from around the Globe, by Kayla E. Ciardi

Lit Lists Kayla E. Ciardi For WLT’s November 2016 issue, author and translator Alison Anderson explores and explains in her essay “Of Gatekeepers and Bedtime Stories: The Ongoing Struggle to Make Women’s Voices Heard”—in an issue devoted exclusively to... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-08-15 14:12:27 UTC ]
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A Unique and Affecting Memoir Combines Grief and Mushrooms

In “The Way Through the Woods,” Long Litt Woon writes about diving into an obsession with learning about the fungi, and how it helped her mourn for her husband and embrace life again. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-08-14 16:59:06 UTC ]
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Juliet Escoria on Writing a Memoir With No Redemptive Lesson at the End

Juliet Escoria is the guest. Her debut novel, Juliet the Maniac, is available from Melville House. It was the official May pick of The Nervous Breakdown Book Club. This is Juliet’s second time on the program. She first appeared in Episode 273 on April 30, 2014. She also wrote the short story... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-14 08:47:08 UTC ]
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Make summer last longer with the 10 best books of August

The latest mystery from Louise Penny, a probing novel by Richard Russo, and Sarah M. Broom’s memoir of living in New Orleans, all made our list this month. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-12 18:22:23 UTC ]
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Make summer last longer with the 10 best books of August

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-12 18:22:23 UTC ]
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Make summer last longer with the 10 best books of August

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-12 18:22:23 UTC ]
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Make summer last longer with the 10 best books of August

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-12 18:22:23 UTC ]
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Make summer last longer with the 10 best books of August

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-12 18:22:23 UTC ]
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Little, Brown signs Gerald Scarfe memoir

Little, Brown has signed the first memoir by cartoonist and illustrator Gerald Scarfe, alongside a lavish fully-illustrated retrospective of his six decades in the business. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-12 17:12:12 UTC ]
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Fighting Back: Spotlight on Rachael Denhollander

A powerful new memoir refuses to turn a blind eye to sexual abuse and offers survivors a way forward. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-08-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Letter: Cecil Woolf was generous and sociable

Cecil Woolf was indeed generous and sociable. Two years ago I visited his home and publishing headquarters off Mornington Crescent in north London, to buy some Bloomsbury Heritage monographs while researching my book Virginia Woolf at Home, on the houses she knew in London, Cornwall and Sussex.I... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-08-11 16:09:37 UTC ]
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Weekly E-Ranking: Logan's The Holiday jets into the top

T M Logan's The Holiday (Zaffre) has defeated Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt (Picador) for the Weekly E-Book Ranking top spot, putting at least another week between the junior doctor memoir and the record for longest-running e-book number one. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-09 11:11:41 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury scoops psychosis memoir from Curtis Brown agent Catherine Cho

Bloomsbury has won a first-hand account of postpartum psychosis by Curtis Brown associate agent Catherine Cho, in a six-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-07 09:49:35 UTC ]
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Breaking In: Keah Brown on Going From Viral Hashtag Creator to Debut Memoir Author

Happy pub day to Keah Brown! Her debut memoir, The Pretty One, released today from Atria Books. To celebrate, we're publishing the unabridged version of Keah's interview featured in the Breaking In column of the September 2019 issue of Writer's Digest. You can catch Keah on the debut authors... Continue reading at Writer's Digest

[ Writer's Digest | 2019-08-06 17:00:43 UTC ]
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Hillary and Chelsea Clinton co-write The Book of Gutsy Women

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[ The Guardian | 2019-08-06 12:45:53 UTC ]
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He Said, He Said: One Writer’s Account of His Second Act

“The Long Accomplishment: A Memoir of Hope and Struggle in Matrimony” is Rick Moody’s attempt to come to terms with his troubled domestic life. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-08-06 09:00:06 UTC ]
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‘The Yellow House’ Is a Major Memoir About a Large Family and Its Beloved Home

Sarah Broom’s first book tells the story of a shotgun house in New Orleans and its fate before and after Hurricane Katrina. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-08-05 16:56:35 UTC ]
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Things ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK Characters Do with Books Besides Reading Them

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[ Book Riot | 2019-08-04 10:31:09 UTC ]
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Experiments in Postcapitalism: On Dempow Torishima’s “Sisyphean”

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[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-08-03 12:30:19 UTC ]
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Edward Snowden's memoir was handled as a covert project by his publisher

Metropolitan Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, announced Thursday that Edward Snowden's "Permanent Record" will be released on Sept. 17. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-08-01 19:04:36 UTC ]
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