Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Though there is no shortage of books about Jane Austen, this charming volume will no doubt find an appreciative audience. Wilson (Tea with Jane Austen) once again leads the reader through a specific aspect of Austen's life- in this case, the physical spaces which she lived in or visited. Individual chapters take us from Austen's childhood country home in rural Steventon to the bustling city of Bath, with which she is so associated, to her final dwellings in Chawton, where she wrote so many of her novels, and Winchester, where she passed away. Austen regularly visited friends and family and vacationed at the seaside, and the chapter on travel is particularly engaging, recounting in detail the vagaries and difficulties of Regency-era travel. Copious photographs and prints illustrate what Jane Austen might have experienced as well as what remains for us to enjoy. Quotes from Austen's letters convey the day-to-day experience of living in these places, and examples from her work demonstrate how often these experiences found their way into the novels. The volume will perhaps be best enjoyed by diehard Austenites, but even casual fans should enjoy following in the beloved author's footsteps. A useful appendix is also included.120 color illus. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Library Journal Review
This handsome, decorative book evokes the charm of a Jane Austen novel with lively prose, whimsical illustrations, and stunning modern photographs. Wilson (Tea with Jane Austen) presents the houses where Austen lived or visited, the people she encountered, the events she experienced, and the brilliant response she made to her world: her novels. In this volume, Wilson relies on Austen's letters, family memoirs, travel guides, and other publications of the era to create an enchanting biographical sketch. The author shares detailed descriptions of each house occupied by the novelist the spacious parsonage at Steventon, where Jane was born, the narrow terraced Sydney Place house in Bath, and the "old-fashioned" Castle Square residence in Southampton. Austen's final home was Chawton Cottage, a "comfortable and ladylike establishment," as described by her niece Caroline. Austen's daily activities sewing, practicing the piano, reading are examined, and her love of dancing ("there were twenty dances and I danced them all") celebrated. VERDICT Austen enthusiasts and any reader interested in late 18th- and early 19th-century English society will relish this title. Kathryn Bartelt, Univ. of Evansville Libs., IN (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
