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

This book got off to a slow start, but I started to enjoy it a lot after that. The author had some very interesting thoughts to share about Jane Austen!

Part memoir and part scholarly exploration, Janet Todd has invited us to take a closer look at what made up Jane Austen's world. She covered subjects relating to health such as headaches and nerves. She includes numerous quotes from Jane's letters. She even takes Darcy down a couple of notches! There were also comparisons and contrasts between Mary Wollstonecraft and Jane Austen’s lives and works.

I was intrigued by Todd's points of view and delightful insights into the life of Austen that were refreshing and new. Who would have thought of dedicating a whole section to toast?

If you are an Austen fan, you'll appreciate all the research Janet Todd has put into this book as well as the connections she's personally made.

I was intrigued by the title of this book which truly resonated with me as I have been living with Jane Austen since January. That is when I embarked on a semester long course on the author. It has been marvelous. So far, I've read or reread Austen's earliest writings, Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma. I've just embarked on Persuasion with Northanger Abbey to follow. The course has provided both enjoyment and a deeper look at characters, women's roles, the marriage plot, the importance of money and more.

In Todd's book, she explores the role that Austen has had in her life. She also offers much insight and opinion on Austen's life and novels. This title makes an excellent companion for anyone who has enjoyed Austen's work. It will provoke thought as readers decide if they agree or disagree with Todd.

This title comes out just in time to celebrate the 250th birth of Jane. Austen folk should give it a look.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Cambridge University Press for this title All opinions are my own.

In her introduction Janet Todd tells us that her aim is to show ‘why and how’ Austen’s novels have continued to inspire and challenge us with an ‘approachable and intimate work’ that is ‘part personal memoir, part expert interaction with all the letters, manuscripts and published novels.’

At the end, in her acknowledgements, she explains that she wrote this ‘book hastily to catch the moment’ and accepts that ‘not everyone will approve my desultory sort of writing.’ Unfortunately I was one of those. I kept reading on waiting for a purpose or plan to present itself. It never did. Every now and again a little gem of insight would pop up, but most of the time, Todd rambled from one idea to the next as her fancy took her.

Obviously there are many other readers who got more out of this than I did, but I simply did not got on with the rambling style that jumped from one idea to the next without really fleshing anything out. Todd obviously knows her Austen, but this reader needs a more structured format.

It’s been an amazing year reading books celebrating Jane Austen’s 250th birthday. This beloved author continues to inspire & intrigue. In the fascinating novel Living With Jane Austen by renowned author Janet Todd, the author explores Jane Austen’s life & writings juxtaposed with reflections from her own experiences.

It was interesting dissecting Jane’s writings & life from an academic POV. Sharing everything from the “Brightness of Pemberley” to the “Unruly Body,” the author finds commiseration & solace in experiences from her own life through Jane Austen’s writings. While I bristled a bit at my beloved Darcy being portrayed as anything but wonderful, I did appreciate her thoughts on his darker side. Brief sketches of Jane Austen’s life are shared including stories with siblings, nieces, & nephews leading up to her final years. When describing Jane Austen’s death, I was touched as the author shared all the sorrowful details along with her feelings on her own father’s death.

All in all, an interesting, thought provoking read that lends new insights into all things Jane Austen. I enjoyed the witty writing style & the author’s ability to weave vignettes from her own personal life into a fascinating discussion of the characters, writings, & life experiences of Jane Austen. Recommend this book to those who would enjoy a scholarly, feminist approach to Jane Austen & her writings. I received a copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own & voluntarily provided. I was not obligated to provide a review.

This was a very enjoyable and insightful read, and a lovely study of the incomparable Jane Austen.

I think it’s a great book for Austen enthusiasts, and those who are looking for an academic approach and literary analysis of Jane Austen and her life and writing.

It also includes a nice personal touch as the author inserts some personal experiences into the book, which I appreciated.

I received a copy from the publisher and Austenprose PR via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

What author would you like to learn more about? I always love learning more about Jane Austen.
Living with Jane Austen is Janet Todd’s journey through Austen. It was written to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth this year. It is Todd’s relationship with Austen throughout her life as well as a deep dive into different topics in Austen’s life and in her novels.
My thoughts on this book:
• I thought this was interesting and it gave me a lot to ponder about Austen. For example, it made me want to read Sir Charles Grandison by Samuel Richardson. Austen enjoyed the novel and apparently the estate in it has similarities to Pemberley. It is one of the longest novels in the English language which sounds daunting.
• This was a literary analysis mixed with memoir.
• Todd compared and contrasted Mary Wollstonecraft and Jane Austen’s lives and works. I thought that was interesting. Their lives were so very different but were around the same time period.
• The book is arranged by themes such as: The Brightness of Pemberly, the Darkness of Darcy, Poor Nerves, Into Nature, How to Die, etc. I liked this arrangement and learning more about these topics.
• This was a slower read for me, but it was thought provoking and fascinating.
Overall, Living with Jane Austen by Janet Todd is part scholarly literary analysis part memoir, but 100 % intriguing. It’s a great book for anyone that is interested in Jane Austen and her works.
Book Source: Review copy from Cambridge University Press as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you! Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I enjoyed new book ahead of Austen's 250th birthday that does give some new insights to Austen's life. A great addition to any Austen's lovers book collection.

Living with Jane Austen was such a fun read! Intriguing, with just the right amount of history but not bland, it flows well and keeps the reader engaged. Great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Cambridge University Press for my copy in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

I love Janet Todd. She is one of my favorite literary people and I've used some of her books for my own research so I was excited and pleasantly surprised when I saw this come across my NetGalley dash. A memoir mixed with Jane Austen? Yes, absolutely yes.

This book is for the Austenites. It's an academic and slightly personal way of literary analysis but I really enjoyed it. Now, I am a PhD literature graduate student and one of my research specialities does involve Austen, so I may be a tad biased. However, I think this was a rather accessible piece of literary analysis. Although some people struggled with the memoir aspect in that it wasn't as reflective and personal, I think Todd had just the right amount.

Overall, I felt very seen as a literary scholar and academic. I also felt seen as someone who grew up in the world of Austen (read the books and watched as many adaptations as I could when I was growing up). I would recommend this for the more academically minded of the Austenites, otherwise this may be a little too much academia for you.

This is a poignant and well written memoir meets academic paper. The connections and opinions about Austen and her novels were plentiful and specific. Janet obviously knows her Austen and that knowledge shines throughout the work. This book screams Austen and I loved that.

At times a bit heavy and a bit boring. But I enjoyed the many quotes from Austen's works and the descriptions of her characters. I would have liked more connections to the author's own experiences. Sometimes, it got heavy on this history of Austen's time.

Overall, a worthwhile read especially this year in celebration of Austen's 250th birthday.

There is some interesting commentary in this book, and some interesting literary analysis. It didn’t have as personal or memoir-ish feel to it as the description suggested.

If you are looking for a more academic discussion of Jane Austen's life and works, this is the book for you.

Divided into various themes, there were two standouts for me. In 'Making Patterns' it is suggested that Northanger Abbey and Sanditon may have 'shared the same ink' in that supposedly Jane Austen continued to edit Northanger Abbey just before starting to write Sanditon. I particularly enjoyed 'Into Nature' chapter. How "In almost all the novels rain accelerates plots."

At times it did feel like the title should have been Living with Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft. Lots of comparison between them. I know Wollstonecraft is considered to be an important early female writer but her personal life was a mess and I honestly have no interest in her. But that's just me. Besides this, I enjoyed reading, even if it was a bit over my head at times.

ARC courtesy of Austenprose and Netgalley.

This is one of a few Jane Austen books I plan to read in celebration of her 250th birthday this year. I didn’t always agree with the author’s perspectives and ideas, but she challenged my thinking in a way that was almost nostalgic for me. It was as if I were sitting in a literature class once again and I mean that in a good way.

We both admire Jane Austen and upon that foundation I found much to be enjoyed in this unique book. Part memoir, part scholarly examination of various topics from the 18th and 19th centuries, and part meandering musings on Jane Austen and her works, this book is unlike any other Austen nonfiction I’ve ever read.

Thank you, Cambridge University Press and Austenprose for the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Review coming soon! Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free kindle book. My opinions are my own and are freely given.

As a lover of Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice, obviously being my favorite), I was delighted to get a free copy of this book. I tried to think of how to describe it, and the closest I came to (although it is one-sided and in a book) is a conversation about all of your favorite Austen characters and books. It doesn't take one book at a time but weaves them all together seamlessly, like a group of Janeites might do when getting together.

This book would be perfect not only just for those who read everything of Austen, but those who perhaps haven't read her works in years and maybe want to review it without taking the time to read all of her books. It also would be good for someone who knows absolutely nothing of her work but wants to pretend that they do in front of someone they are trying to impress, beyond just reading a wiki page.

I would definitely recommend this book!

Like the primrose or peony, Jane Austen’s novels (or Schubert’s Lieder) have become more beautiful to me now that I take time with them than they were half a lifetime ago. from Living with Jane Austen by Janet Todd

This year marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. When I studied her in 1978 not only had I never read her before, it was before television and movies brought her to attention, before her plots were updated for contemporary romances and satires, before her image appeared on a bank note. What a delight to read the thoughts of an academic who has studied Austen and her contemporaries, connecting her own experiences to Austen’s thoughts.

Janet Todd arranges the book by theme, exploring how Austen connects with readers, and how Austen’s advice has impacted Todd over her lifetime. She notes, “what I write are my own thoughts inspired by Jane Austen,” informed by her personal memories and reading life.

I hope that in what follows I can convey a little of the excitement that still overwhelms me as I go on reading Jane Austen. from Living With Jane Austen by Janet Todd

There is a chapter on Darcy as the prototype of the dark romantic hero, another on illness in Austen’s novels and in her personal life. Nature, advice giving, and even death are considered. She plumbs Austen’s candid letters (which shocked E. M. Forster), her satiric juvenilia, and novels for insights.

A wonderful portrait of Austen emerges. We almost believe we understand and know her. It inspires me to reread her novels one more time.

The book includes delightful illustrations, intricate hand cut silhouettes by Austen’s nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

Living with Jane Austen is indeed an appropriate title for Janet Todd's incisive but gentle investigation of Austen's life. Weaving her observations and sympathies with her studies and reflections of her own life, Todd gives us her personal thoughts about Austen and her life. Approaching her studies of Austen and defining each category of Austen's life, Todd incorporates such topics as home, significant deaths, relations, illness, even patriotism in an effort to look comprehensively at Austen's life and thoughts. In Austen's letters and books, which Todd has studied, she comments on her own "desultory sort of writing." In fact, this self-evaluation of her writing seems unfair, as the writing in the book is anything but desultory, and it approaches Austen with a fully comprehensive and empathetic focus.

Todd has carried out an exhaustive look at Jane Austen, and she has left out none of the important considerations of Austen as a writer, as a sister, as a lover of nature, as one in possession of a brilliant mind, and as a friend. Todd also incorporates her knowledge of and writing about Mary Wollstonecraft as an important way to consider the balance of important emphases in Jane Austen's life.

Having read a number of books about Jane Austen (although certainly not all of them), I found this articulate, sympathetic, and considerate examination of Austen's life and of her approachable investments in her family, her neighbors, and the characters in her books to be revelatory and of great interest. Todd has skillfully studied Austen and at the same time, has incorporated her own life into her curiosity about Austen's motives, and her perspective on those around her. Austin's surroundings also become not just important, but Todd carefully and kindly relates them to her own considerations of Austen's world. Any and all followers of Jane Austen will be able to learn much about her and her environment, and Todd must be heralded for her brilliant observations in this book.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book.