Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Penguin Publishing Group
Description
Nearly two centuries after her death, Jane Austen remains the most beloved of novelists in the English language, incomparable in the wit, warmth and insight with which she chronicles the wayward hearts of her unforgettable characters. Her work also offers a vivid depiction of rural life in late Georgian and Regency England, its country balls and ivy-covered vicarages, its social hierarchies and its anxieties about property and income. Yet the milieu Austen depicted is only one aspect of her era. For 29 of her 41 years the country was embroiled in war. Dramatic changes in industry and agriculture were transforming the country's physical and social landscape. This book offers a new view of her world in a wide-ranging and detailed social history of English life in the early nineteenth century, from weddings to childbearing, from education to fashion, from labor to leisure and finally to the rituals of death.--From publisher description.… (more)
Media reviews
User reviews
LibraryThing member dpappas
I am so glad that I happened to see that one of the people that I was following on BookLikes was reading this book. I am a big fan of Jane Austen and I knew that once I saw this book I wouldn't be happy until I read it. This book describes life in England during Jane Austen's time (the late 18th
This book is organized in chapters that discuss different topics of life (and death) during the time period. I enjoyed the chapters on marriage, and childbirth the most. Some of the wedding traditions seem downright strange, like a bride getting married naked so that her debts don't attach to her husband. I was amazed to read one announcement from a newspaper talking about a woman who had just had her thirty-second child. That poor, poor woman. Another thing I learned was that when a person was going out to conduct important business it was lucky to throw and old show after them. Someone remind me when I start interviewing for a paralegal position to have my sister throw old shoes at me.
I would recommend that not only fans of Jane Austen read this but also anyone interested in learning more about what life was like during the late 18th century and early 19th century in England.
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century and early 19th century). While I love Jane Austen, I was glad that this didn't just focus on her but discussed what life was like for everyone during those times. The book does mention certain people (William Holland, James Woodforde, Nelly Weeton, and others) that lived during that time who wrote letters or kept diaries and readers get to know them throughout the chapters but it also describes what life would be like in general.This book is organized in chapters that discuss different topics of life (and death) during the time period. I enjoyed the chapters on marriage, and childbirth the most. Some of the wedding traditions seem downright strange, like a bride getting married naked so that her debts don't attach to her husband. I was amazed to read one announcement from a newspaper talking about a woman who had just had her thirty-second child. That poor, poor woman. Another thing I learned was that when a person was going out to conduct important business it was lucky to throw and old show after them. Someone remind me when I start interviewing for a paralegal position to have my sister throw old shoes at me.
I would recommend that not only fans of Jane Austen read this but also anyone interested in learning more about what life was like during the late 18th century and early 19th century in England.
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LibraryThing member Dotland101
Good as reference for your research, in your writing of historical novels, etc. of Jane Austen time in England. I like that it gives so many quotes from things written at the time. It also provides interesting bits of domestic information--how everyday people lived, what they thought, how they
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dealt with things. Don't need another book about politics or war, but the domestic information could certainly show up in a novel somewhere. Show Less
LibraryThing member 2wonderY
This is some dense writing, chock full of interesting materials. It is me failing in the exchange, as I can't seem to summon the focus needed. Perhaps in the winter months I will try again...
LibraryThing member starbox
Extremely interesting and readable social history of the late 18th/ very early 19th century. With excerpts from Austen's novels and letters, and a lot of writings of her contemporaries (diaries of a couple of clergyman, and letters from a governess are some of the main contributors), the authors
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explore just about every aspect of everyday life- medicine, marriage, birth and death, work, leisure, religion, shopping... Show Less
LibraryThing member ponsonby
Very full account of the social history of the late 18th and early 19th century, with copious references to Austen's novels and letters (a few of which are inaccurate). Draws on a wide range of sources, some well-known (eg Woodforde's diary) but also some less known. Thematically arranged. There's
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a focus on the 'lower orders' but it's quite comprehensive. Well worth reading, as there is so much information you are almost bound to learn something new even if you are already knowledgeable about the era. Show Less
LibraryThing member cbl_tn
Husband and wife authors and historians Roy and Lesley Adkins provide readers with insight into daily life as Jane Austen (1775-1817) would have experienced it. Each chapter looks at various aspects of life, from marriage and family life to home comforts, clothing and fashion, religious life,
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occupations, leisure and recreation, travel, crime and punishment, medicine, and death. Excerpts from letters, diaries and journals, and other writings of the period provide plenty of examples for readers. Besides examples drawn from Austen’s writings and writings of her family members, the Adkins also incorporate examples from the diaries of Somerset vicar William Holland, the diaries of Norfolk Parson James Woodforde, and the letters and diaries of north country governess Nelly Weeton. The volume of information makes for dense reading, but it’s never dull. Show Less
Original publication date
2013
DDC/MDS
| 942.07 |