Jane Austen : A Companion

In her lifetime Jane Austen achieved no more than minor literary success, and her fame grew only slowly in the 19th century. "Was there anything remarkable about that lady, Sir?" a verger at Winchester Cathedral enquired of a Victorian visitor seeking her tomb. "Only, so many people ask for her". Today in the English language, only Shakespeare and Dickens are bestsellers in her league, and in the 21st century her appeal seems set to grow further, especially when more television and film adaptations follow the hugely successful "Pride and Prejudice", "Persuasion" and "Sense and Sensibility" of recent years. Josephine Ross explores the literary world at the turn of the 19th century: the books considered classics then, the "horrid novels" and romances of the time, the lending libraries and grasping publishers.

She looks at the architecture and decor which then made up "the profusion and elegance of modern taste": Nash houses for instance, Chippendale furniture, "picturesque scenery".

She shows us the fashions of the time, and the subtle ways Jane Austen used clothes to express character.

Courtship, marriage, adultery, questions of class and "rank", the ordinary life of mealtimes, travel, doctors and dentists, work, responsibility and amusement all appear, as does the wider political and military world - especially the Navy, in which her brothers served. This book should add depth to the enjoyment of all readers of Jane Austen, whether confirmed devotees or enthralled newcomers.