Ordinary Extraordinary Jane Austen

A gorgeous and inspiring picture book biography of Jane Austen, one of the most beloved writers of all time, from award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson. It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is one of our greatest writers. But before that, she was just an ordinary girl. In fact, young Jane was a bit quiet and shy; if you had met her back then, you might not have noticed her at all. But she would have noticed you. Jane watched and listened to all the things people around her did and said, and locked those observations away for safekeeping. Jane also loved to read. She devoured everything in her father’s massive library and before long, she began creating her own stories. In her time, the most popular books were grand adventures and romances, but Jane wanted to go her own way...and went on to invent an entirely new kind of novel. Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen includes a timeline and quotes from Austen's most popular novels. Parents and grandparents, as well as teachers and librarians, will enjoy introducing children to Jane Austen through this accessible, beautifully packaged picture book.

A picture book biography of Jane Austen, one of the most beloved writers of all time.

When Jane Austen died, at the age of 41, she left behind her not only six novels but a large number of manuscripts, ranging from juvenile works to the novel that she was writing at the time of her final illness. The six published novels are now undisputed classics. The manuscripts, however, despite the extraordinary writing they contain and the way in which they illuminate Jane Austen’s work as a novelist, are much less well known. From the brilliance of the juvenilia to the urbane modernity of ‘Sanditon’ these works show Austen pushing the conventional boundaries of fiction, exploring the implications of vulgarity and violence, experimenting with different styles and tones, and practicing and refining her arts of narrative. This Broadview Edition includes “Lady Susan,’ “The Watsons,” “Sanditon,” and ten important early manuscript works. Historical appendices include Austen’s letters on fiction; continuations written by Austen’s niece and nephew of two of her early works; and Sir Walter Scott’s important critical appraisal of Austen from 1816.

An empowering memoir of a life reclaimed through reading'Moving and inspiring, this is a book you want to start reading again, as soon as you have finished' SUSANNAH FULLERTON'Wilson's memoir is essential reading for anyone who wants to experience and understand the unique comfort that Austen's works universally provide.' NATALIE JENNER'Essential reading for anyone who wants to experience and understand the unique comfort that Austen's works universally provide.' NATALIE JENNERRuth Wilson first encountered Pride and Prejudice in the 1940s and has returned to Jane Austen countless times over the course of a long life. After her sixtieth birthday, she took the radical decision to retreat from her conventional married life and live alone while confronting feelings of loss and unhappiness. As Wilson read between the lines of Austen's six major novels, she felt herself reclaiming her voice and her sense of self. An uplifting memoir of love, self-acceptance and the curative power of reading, The Jane Austen Remedy is an inspirational account of nine vivid decades, unravelling memories and searching for small truths to help explain the arc of a life that has been both ordinary and extraordinary.

Jane Austen wrote in the eighteenth century, but her novels are timeless. This complete anthology is unique among single-volume editions of her work because it includes the obscure but delightful "Lady Susan," along with the six better-known novels and thirty of Hugh Thomson's irresistible drawings.All of Jane Austen's novels are love stories, all are stories of country gentry, and all end happily, one way or another. Her plots have the complexity of life and her characters are described with inimitable style and wit--whether caustic or warmly affectionate.The novels contained in this anthology are "Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, "and "Lady Susan." The nineteenth-century illustrations of Hugh Thomson capture the flavor of Jane Austen's characters and enhance this extraordinary collection of the complete works of one of the greatest novelists of all time.

Thoroughly innovative and occasionally irreverent, this book will appeal in equal measure to book historians, Austen fans, and scholars of literary celebrity.

Jane Austen is without question, one of England's most enduring and skilled novelists. With her wit, social precision, and unerring ability to create some of literature's most charismatic and believable heroines, she mesmerises her readers as much today as when her novels were first published. Whether it is her sharp, ironic gaze at the Gothic genre invoked by the adventures of Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey; the diffident and much put-upon Fanny Price struggling to cope with her emotions in Mansfield Park; her delightfully paced comedy of manners and the machinations of the sisters Elinor and Marianne in Sense and Sensibility; the quiet strength of Anne Elliot in Persuasion succeeding in a world designed to subjugate her very existence; and Emma - 'a heroine whom no one but myself will like' teased Austen - yet another irresistible character on fire with imagination and foresight. Indeed not unlike her renowned creator. Jane Austen is as sure-footed in her steps through society's whirlpools of convention and prosaic mores as she is in her sometimes restrained but ever precise and enduring prose.

Jane Austen wrote for a Regency-period audience and could never have predicted the lasting success of her original works. The slew of variations and adaptations of Austen's works in both film and novels has grown into an industry with a fan base clamoring for more. This collection fills a gap in Austen scholarship, examining universal and contemporary themes in the original literature and how the works have been adapted since 2000 onward. Essays explore Austen retellings with a New York City setting, Jane Austen and Islamic culture, and even a plot with zombies. This volume demonstrates Jane Austen's enduring talent and relevancy.

So while I sit on the edge of leaving my 20s and stumbling... falling... No. Ascending into my 30s, I figured - while already deep in an existential crisis - I might as well ask myself that question. What do I know?

Jane Austen wrote in the eighteenth century, but her novels are timeless. This complete anthology is unique among single-volume editions of her work because it includes the obscure but delightfulLady Susan, along with the six better-known novels and thirty of Hugh Thomson's irresistible drawings. All of Jane Austen's novels are love stories, all are stories of country gentry, and all end happily, one way or another. Her plots have the complexity of life and her characters are described with inimitable style and wit—whether caustic or warmly affectionate. The novels contained in this anthology arePride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion,andLady Susan.The nineteenth-century illustrations of Hugh Thomson capture the flavor of Jane Austen's characters and enhance this extraordinary collection of the complete works of one of the greatest novelists of all time.