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An amazing book about books, writing, reading, gatekeeping, and the importance of questioning established canon.

Romney spends several years tracking down copies of books written by women BEFORE Jane Austen and reading them critically, proving that jane Austen was far from some outlier but part of a long, full tradition of women writing.

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5/5 ⭐️

This book is the best companion for any fan of Jane Austen, showing exactly who inspired our favorite author while simultaneously adding more books to our TBR.

The original reason I wanted to read this book was because the author's story of how she began her journey mirrored closely to an experience I had. A handful of years ago I had been watching Lucy Worsley's A Very British Romance documentary when she brought up Frances Burney's Evelina and showed the evidence of how Jane Austen had once been a fan of the author. Intrigued, I found a copy of the book. Immediately I wondered where it had been all my life before reading it at least a dozen more times over the course of 2 years. Mirroring Rebecca Romney, I also looked to some of the books mentioned by Jane Austen. Like Ann Radcliff's Mysteries of Udolpho and Samuel Richardson's Pamela. So knowing the author of this book was going through a similar journey, I was intrigued. Especially because I only recognized a small handful of the names of the other female writers who inspired Austen.

This book beautifully created an immersive narrative as it dedicated a chapter to each author. Throughout the chapters we would be given a story-like biography of the authors' personal and professional lives. How interconnected the two sides were when it led them to their authorship and the conflicts that hindered their careers. We got to see glimpses of the books that once put each author on the map and raised them to fame. The theories as to how each author, who once were the most popular author of their times, had fallen to the shadows. All the while, woven in between, is Rebecca Romney's journey of discovering the authors, of reading their histories, their books -- or struggling to -- and her pursuit of finding rare early copies of each newly loved book to add to her personal collection.

Each woman's life was inspiring and completely unique to the next. Yet, you could see where they each built off one another, even at times interacted with each other, each working to elbow a place in the literary world for themselves. To share their stories. And each book mentioned had me wondering how the hell I had never heard of them before? They each sounded so interesting, and as Rebecca Romney points out, brings something new and unique to the literature world. While I can understand why they slowly faded as the years went on, it was heartbreaking to read.

I am absolutely obsessed with this book. It compiled a list of authors and books for me to add to my TBR, but it also helped to illustrate how Jane Austen did not write in a vacuum. She was inspired by plenty of female authors writing before and during her time. Women who had to shape their narratives to fit societal expectations, just so they could publish. Women who were able to do that thanks to the support of those around them. And the ones who fought tooth and nail against the odds. Each woman is an inspiration and deserves to be brought back into the light. I know what I'll be reading next. And for that, I cannot thank Rebecca Romney enough for doing the hard work of concisely bringing these women back into the spotlight, urging us to acknowledge them too. Thank you.

PS. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version. It is narrated by the author and she has a lovely, calming voice that is equally engaging. I extremely enjoyed my experience.

Thank you to NetGalley & Simon Element for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

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I read this book one chapter at a time over an extended period and obsessed over every minute of it. Rebecca Romney is a rare book seller and collector and most definitely a Jane Austen fan. In her readings of Austen and Austen biography, Romney discovered mentions of books within Austen’s novels, her letters and as possible influences. Romney then decided to read and research these other women writers and came up with Jane Austen’s Bookshelf. Each chapter details a different woman who published novels in the late eighteenth century and asks the question; why are these women not considered canon? I loved learning about these authors and I especially loved learning some insight into the rare book business. I am definitely interested in hearing more from this author as this is one of the most enjoyable books that I have read this year. I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

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In this incredible new look in Jane Austen’s life, rare book dealer Rebecca Romney brings her readers on a journey to discover what books and authors Austen read as a young woman. Both a history of women authors in the eighteenth century and an account of Romney’s own journey with Austen’s novels and her quest to find and read the books that influenced Austen, this unique and absolutely fabulous book is a must-read for all Austenites and for historians of gender and intellectual history. Broken down by each author, the book offers overlaps between Austen and all of the authors and Romney (and the other women authors with each other) to bring this fascinating literary and intellectual culture to life in incredible detail. A perfect mix of both history and memoir, this is a totally engaging and immersive new book that is really hard to put down. Offering insights into rare book culture and eighteenth-century literary culture, readers will learn a lot (and perhaps more than they expect) in this incredible, exciting book. Fascinating, entertaining, and totally unique, this is a brilliant new book that Austenites and historians will love for the complex stories and overlapping histories of these incredible English women writers.

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Over on my booktube channel (Hannah's Books), I shared this book in my description of exciting books forthcoming in February. Link to the particular discussion: https://youtu.be/LbU2uGZy46I?si=kcBwszNewVjSEfsF&t=395

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Jane Austen is so frequently touted as the first "real" great woman novelist, but is this really true? Rebecca Romney, a rare book collector/dealer set out to see for herself just how true it was. Austen was a known reader, who often referenced the books she loved in her work and in letters to friends and family, so Romney decided to recreate what Austen's own shelf (or dream shelf) would have looked like. She chronicles the lives and works of eight woman authors that predated or peridated Austen, and whom Austen referenced. In doing so, she puts together a fresh take on the canon, a look at sexism, and an interesting perspective on the history of the novel and of English literature.
I'll admit that I was a little doubtful about the rare book collector angle, since that seemed weird to me, but actually it really helped with her research and was able to deepen the stories of these women. Romney's knowledge of the eighteenth century publishing world and ability to infer so much based on these books materially really added an oomph to this book. Her personal touches also added a lot. This book was really interesting and steered me towards some new authors that I should try out.

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Rebecca Romney takes us on a journey through the lives of the women writers who most influenced Jane Austen, interspersing details of the rare books trade along the way. Jane Austen's Bookshelf was a delightful read! I was inspired to go out and buy a copy of Ann Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho, so I hope the author knows she's already achieving what she set out to do - redefine the canon and remember these ladies.

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I'm not going to drag this out other than to say, if you are a Jane Austen fan you need this in your library.

Just go your collection a favor and gran it!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for an arc. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Can you name any pre-20th century British women writers, other than Jane Austen of course? Maybe you think Austen was the ground-breaking "first"? Nope. Romney researches the women novelists that Jane Austen refers to approvingly in her novels and letters. She even goes so far as to read their work, which apparently some of their past critics neglected to do. She finds most of them to be very good - in fact they used to be considered classics. When did they disappear? Because, they have disappeared. Have you ever read Frances Burney, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Lennox or Elizabeth Inchbald? I certainly haven't.
Romney thinks that maybe once Austen was cannonized as "great," literature experts (mostly male, of course) said, "Oh good. We have a woman. Surely we don't need more than one." and started weeding.
I don't know for sure, but I'm interested to read some of the novels Romney writes about and see what I think.

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Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Element for the ARC.

My withered English-major soul was replenished with this examination of not just the books mentioned by Jane Austen in her stories or letters, but of the culture around academia, how the canon is formed, changed and manipulated over time. Yes, time is limited, we cannot include every book in a syllabus for a semester of reading. But it is worth asking ourselves why this, why not that, because the answer isn't necessarily "this is a bad book". I also enjoyed the window into the career of a book collector. I might not have the money to do much collecting, but as a librarian who keeps an close eye on the donations we receive and whether they'll be added to our collection or sold in our used bookstore (selfish, I know), I relate to the excitement of finding the right copy at the right price, like the world aligned so you could find that book. It's very well researched, and the author doesn't lose her narrative voice among the many details and annotations. The one unfortunate side effect is that I was compelled to add a handful of books to my overwhelming tbr.

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A fascinating look at the female authors who influenced Jane Austen and her works, and a very interesting look into why these authors disappeared (purposefully or accidentally) from public consciousness when they were at one point household names.

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As a Jane Austen fan aka a Janeite which I learned this terminology in this book, it got me thinking. Jane Austen like all of us had authors she admired and whom inspired her in some of her writing. In school you don’t learn of these authors particularly the women who came before Jane Austen. I was dumbfounded to learn about not only the works of these literary giants but how their lives impacted them. If you’re a huge Janeite and want to learn more of what Jane Austen read then this is the book for you.

I want to thank NetGalley @marysueruccibooks and @_simonelement! for this wonderful and insightful ARC

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I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so much. The author takes a fascinating deep dive into the books that influenced Jane Austen and discovers how wonderful most of them are. My to-read list has definitely grown from reading this book.

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In a Nutshell: An amazing and comprehensive compilation of outstanding authors who might have been a part of Jane Austen’s Bookshelf. Contains these authors’ biographies as well as other bookish and historical tidbits. This isn't a treat just for Jane Austen fans but for every book lover and feminist.

Jane Austen is often considered the best woman writer of her era, and sometimes, even referred to as the first successful woman writer. Is this claim true? Was she really a pathbreaking novelist who forged the way for others after her? Did no other woman writer have a successful writing career before Austen? Is Austen the only worthy female writer from the Georgian/Regency era?
As you might have guessed, the answer to these questions is a resounding ‘No!’ However, do we have enough knowhow to elaborate on the answers? Do we casual readers know even one woman novelist from Austen’s time? As a huge Austen fan, I admit I did know one woman writer from Austen’s time: Frances Burney, of whom Austen was a huge fan. But I was aware of Burney’s name only because I knew that the title of Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’, my favourite book, came from a phrase used in one of Burney’s novels.
Every Austen fan knows that she loved books and made multiple references to books, plays and novelists in all of her writings, including her letters to her sister Cassandra. (I loved learning that Austen used an appreciation of her favourite writers’ books as a litmus test for whether someone had good taste. I do the same but I use Austen's novels as my litmus test. 😄) Most of the references she makes are for works by women writers. Then why are these ladies’ names unknown today? When did they fade into obscurity? Can we find their books easily today?
Attempting to answer these questions and more is author Rebecca Romney, a book collector who, other than co-running a thriving rare books business, is also a Janeite. A few years ago, she began a personal project titled “Jane Austen’s Bookshelf”, in which her aim was to have a bookshelf containing the physical books that Austen’s bookshelf might have held or that are related to the authors that Austen read. This result of this lofty aim was a period of discovery and astonishment and even frustration.
Austen wasn't a lone genius. The Georgian era had many women writers experimenting with plots and characters and writing structures, and even making a successful career from writing. Yet each of these women came from different familial circumstances, each wrote in a different genre (and not necessarily in the same style as Austen’s), and some even created their own niche across fields, such as by being poets or playwrights who ALSO wrote novels. Some of them wanted to write, some of them stumbled into writing, some of them were compelled to write. But no matter what their background and circumstances, all these successful woman authors have been erased from the literary canon simply because their works weren’t deemed worthy enough by male peers.
Time to return to them the literary status they earned!
The book begins with a chapter on Austen and how/why her writing is the author’s favourite. It then moves on to other writers in subsequent chapters, with each chapter profiling a different woman writer. (I am deliberately not naming any of these writers here except for Frances Burney; I want you to discover the rest through this book.) We get an extensive and accurate biography of these women and the circumstances of their writing career. All of these are writers that Austen read (or almost certainly read) but not necessarily loved.
One of the author’s included in this book was an oddity, considering how both Austen and Romney weren’t her fans. But I do understand why she was included; like it or not, her books, despite their flawed content, were a humongous success back in the day.
The chapters don’t just stop at a biographical account. We also get details of the Romney's experience reading their works, of finding (or attempting to find) rare copies of their books, drawing a connection between their words and Austen's, and investigating whether their works can be considered similar to and at par with Austen’s. There are additional insights about books and rare books and book collecting, and also about historical literary practices, publishing policies, gender discrimination, discriminative patriarchal laws, and social strictures.
Romney writes like a true book aficionado, flitting across bookish topics without pausing for breath. As a fellow bibliophile albeit with a much lower level of expertise, I was both awestruck by her knowledge and thrilled to see shared opinions on many topics. There's even one chunky paragraph of her complaining about barcode stickers on modern-day books and the difficult of removing them without damaging the book. All of us will empathise with that frustration!
However, this passionate approach towards the topic also means that the readability of the book gets a bit affected. She jumps across points and at times, repeats points she already mentioned before. The content gets too detail-intensive sometimes, especially when it comes to book-collecting. The pacing is overall quite slow, but it is further cumbersome because of the lengthy chapters. Also, like a true researcher, she provides an annotated reference for every claim and quote. (After a point, I just skipped this on my Kindle.) Though this book contains relatively light academic content, it still feels tedious after a point because of the generous factdumping. (I did love the trivia. It just became too much to keep track of.)
My biggest disappointment is that there are no photos at all in this book. It would have been so great to see author portraits and pictures of some of the rare books Romney so fondly talks about. Also a photo of the final “Jane Austen’s Bookshelf” as it stands today, whether complete or I progress.
Overall though, my complaints are negligible. Honestly, I had picked this book only for my favourite Jane Austen. But I completed this work with so much enlightenment. I learnt more not just about Austen and these other women writers, but about books, genres, book collection, publishing, history, politics, law, and sociology.
Definitely recommended. This book will be a treat for academic-minded bibliophiles, especially but not only Austen and classic fiction fans. It’s the perfect book for Women's History Month.
4.25 stars.
My thanks to Simon Element for providing the DRC of “Jane Austen's Bookshelf” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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I’m so sad that I didn’t finish this, because I read Lucy Worsley’s Jane Austen at Home right before starting it and wanted to really get a picture of what Austen was drawing from in her own work. But while I loved learning about each woman, something about the writing was just bogging me down, and I found myself turning to other books instead. It might be the author’s insertion of herself and her work into the narrative. Not that rare books and bookselling isn’t fascinating to me (I’m an archivist, so honestly that’s my jam), but I wanted the information on each woman and her place in the evolution of novel writing more than the specifics of what edition the author found and how. It’s important to know why the books may be difficult to find and what that means for the history of women in literature, but somehow the whys and wherefores just didn’t do much for me. Gah, so hard for me to explain what turned me off with this book, but I think there are many people who will enjoy it and be able to immerse themselves more fully into the world that Jane Austen lived in.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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This book was enlightening! As someone who is tangentially studies the 18th century, I was familiar with most of the included authors (sadly I've only read Radcliffe and Edgeworth, but I own most of the other authors). Despite this previous knowledge, I learned so much through this book, especially biographical information and their connection with Austen. I think Romney did a great job of balancing presenting information to people like me who knows some but not all of what she is saying with those who have never heard of any of these women authors. I think what Romney has done with Jane Austen's Bookshelf is prove just how patriarchal canon formation is and fights against this with women writers who deserve to be canonical because they are /good/ writers not just because they are women writers. Romney made me want to pull out my copies of these women's books (although none of them are as are as hers!) and lose myself in these women's stories - many of which have sadly been forgotten throughout the centuries. As an academic scholar, I have a newfound passion to study these authors and make sure that their names and their works remain in the canon for centuries to come.

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For lovers of all books this provides a really interesting perspective from a professional book collector! It has been a long time since I've enjoyed a nonfiction read as much and the author catches right from the first chapter. The historical context of Jane Austens writing combined with the authors genuine love of these titles really make an excellent read.

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A moving and sensitive journey through the world of women writers contemporary to Austen and in influence to her own writing. Like the author, I found myself moved to explore their work to see how Austen was shaped into the beloved storyteller we now revere. The plight of the feminine voice and its suppression should come as no surprise, but the fact that Austen was given any notice at all is a miracle. I loved the excellent scholarship, the obvious delight in the research, and the details about the rare book industry.

Thank you to NetGalley for my digital copy. These opinions are my own.

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Jane Austen’s bookshelf is absolutely captivating! This nonfiction book is a real page-turner, diving into the women who inspired Jane Austen but have been excluded from literary canons and largely forgotten. Anyone who loves Austen will find this fascinating. I have also found the book also incredibly relevant to today’s discussions on romantasy, a genre often dismissed by fantasy enthusiasts. Plus, the author’s passion for rare books is contagious, highlighting the beauty of this profession, and so inspiring - I can’t wait to start building my own list of classics.

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I enjoyed this! I didn't know most of the authors mentioned prior to reading this so it was really interesting to read about them. I would recommend this! Special Thank You to Rebecca Romney, Simon Element and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

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