i have a confession to make. i am a janeite.
i have been ever since i watched the 90s bbc adaptation of pride and prejudice on german tv as a christmas special. you know, the one with colin firth? that was sometime in the 90s too.
lots of things have changed since then. my love for austen hasn’t. it has only grown. and now, after reading ‘jane austen’s bookshelf’ by rebecca romney, a nonfiction book about the ‘women writers who shaped a legend’, that love has finally been anchored in a context that makes sense.
but first things first.
let’s start with this question: can you name another great woman author from the late 18th or early 19th century? no? no worries, i couldn’t either.
does this mean that the canon—the list of classics deemed worthwhile from that period—is correct? that austen was the first great woman writer of english literature?
that exact question was romney’s quest. she is a rare book dealer, a profession i had barely registered before, as i am not precious about my books (i know, please don’t hate me). by what could be either coincidence or serendipity, depending on how you choose to see the world, romney comes into contact with a book that makes her question this statement about english literature.
and off, into the rabbit hole she goes.
in this part memoir, part declaration of love to the women writers of the 18th century, romney uses her skills as a rare book dealer, an investigative mind that would make sherlock holmes proud, and a feminist spirit that felt like a kindred soul.
and no, of course austen didn’t write in a vacuum of only male talent. how would that have even worked? romney therefore investigates 8 great women writers of the same period who were as talented as they were successful in their time.
deep in the rabbit hole, romney tries to figure out what happened to these women and their writing. why are they not still household names with bbc adaptations inspiring generations?
the short answer is sexism. for the long answer, you’ll have to read romney. which you absolutely should.
i devoured this book. the tone varies between analytical and conversational, balanced and raw. the pacing is relatively quick, and the suspense is real.
most of all, it combined my love for austen with my love for nonfiction, reading, and literature, as well as my appreciation for history and my socially critical worldview.
i’m still swooning. a pure delight!
