Jane Austen by Peter Leithart

Jane Austen by Peter Leithart tells of the life and death of Jane Austen. The book delves into the most famous works of Jane Austen and looks at the personal correspondence between Austen’s family to create a picture of what kind of person Jane was. The book also looks at the Christian faith of Jane and her family.

Although I liked hearing about Jane Austen’s history and her family members, I felt that the book was a little confusing at points. There were various names and family histories explained which were difficult to remember. Also, I haven’t had the opportunity to read any of her works (although I watched and loved the movies) and this also caused me a little difficulty in reading the books. Various characters were discussed, and it was hard to discern one from one another. I found myself having to frequently go back to previous pages to remember what relationship Jane had with the particular person being discussed.

I was also hoping for a more detailed description of the life of Jane Austen which would go into more specifics, but I understand that this is difficult to do due to the timeframe in which Jane Austen lived. I think the author is an expert on everything Jane, but I don’t feel that his relationship with her works came through the pages. If there had been less quotes and more detailed descriptions, I would have enjoyed this book more.

I received this book free of charge from booksneeze.com in return for a review of the book.