Ranking Jane Austen Biographies

[@adrienne4028]

Lucy Worley's hour long documentary entitled Who was the real Jane Austen? is on You tube. Thanks for the bio recommendations.

[@BookishTexan]

Thanks for this. Jane biographies will be the focus of my Jane Austen July next year.

[@takingteawithcatherine]

I've read four of these books and I agree with your ranking.

[@dianewalker9154]

Lucy Worsley’s biography of Jane Austen and the one she wrote about Queen Victoria are both terrific!

[@katiejlumsden]

Agreed!

[@lizlittle1641]

I'm reading Jane Austen at Home and loving it. I saw the documentary that Lucy Worsley made about Jane Austen, so when I read the book it makes perfect sense.

[@buddhabillybob]

Six biographies of Austen! This is why you are my favorite booktuber! Thanks again for a fantastic video.

[@katiejlumsden]

Ha thanks :)

[@MarilynMayaMendoza]

I haven’t read any biographies of Jane Austen so It was very helpful to hear about some that I could start with. I vaguely remember going to a Jane Austen Museum in the 80s when I visited England. All I remember was a film and photos on a wall. Maybe it will all come back to me when I read one of these books. This is my first chain Austen July and I’m enjoying re-reading her main novels. Aloha

[@naomisbookshelf]

I’m loving Jane Austen at Home right now. It is so interesting! Real Jane Austen was so different to read as someone who reads so much nonfiction. I love how it highlights “little, unimportant things” but they show an amazing picture of Jane.

[@katiejlumsden]

So glad you're enjoying Jane Austen at Home!

[@KierTheScrivener]

I love this so much..it's great to get an overview of her biographies❤

[@meghanthestorygirl4581]

Jane Austen at Home was so good. That was interesting to hear what you had to say about Claire Tomlin's biography. I don't agree with that interpretation of Jane Austen either. I'll have to read Paula Byrne's next!

[@jola-xl9xi]

Thanks! I think I'll read "Jane Austen at Home" someday ;)

[@janicemacdougall1844]

I wonder how Jane Austen would rank these biographies herself? :) I hope to read Lucy Worsley's biography books at some point. I really enjoy watching her documentaries.

[@blane1814]

Definitely going to pick some of these up to read

[@lucyc5131]

I've only just finished Jane Austen At Home, it's the only biography I read, and I found it amazing. The amount of brothers and cousins got a little confusing but the amount of detail was amazing. I also love how she tried to use Jane Austen's words whenever possible.

[@katiejlumsden]

It's just so great, isn't it?!

[@MartinDSmith]

Glad to know there's a Lucy Worsley biography out there as I have always loved her documentaries!I never would have levelled the accusation inaccessible at said lady.Thank you for this info:also as I'm a Dickens fan of sorts I would be interested in the book you mentioned!

[@katiejlumsden]

Lucy Worsley is great :)

[@novellenovels]

I need to get Jane Austen at home so badly 😊

[@davebonello1944]

(Melanie here) The first autobiography that I read was Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley. I loved that one. I am half way through my second autobiography - The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne. It is very enjoyable as well.

[@teacupthestoryteller]

This is really interesting, thank you :) "A Memoir of Jane Austen" sounds great especially with historical background included. 😊

[@WarinPartita6]

Thanks​ for​ this​ concise and​ excellent​ review.​ Please​ make​ some​ more​ vlogs.​

[@BernasBookishAdventures]

I definitely agree that Lucy Worsley's love for Jane Austen is felt all throughout the book.

[@MLLatUtube]

I just finished Carol Shield's biography, which I enjoyed very much. I also enjoyed reading A Life in Small Things. I just started Claire Tomalin, so I am not exactly reading them in your suggested order! It is very interesting to see how she grew up and where the novels fit into her life.

[@katiejlumsden]

I must read the Carol Shield biography sometime!

[@colazi]

I would recommend Carol Shield's very short biography of Jane Austen.

[@rearadmiraldoublezero8473]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@kathleencraine7335]

@@rearadmiraldoublezero8473 Yes!! it's a great biography for those new to Austen and don't want a tome. I had some difference of opinion at the end (about Austen's illness and death), but overall very readable and accessible.

[@katiejlumsden]

Very good to know!

[@Tinahgirl83]

I just bought this and I’m really looking forward to it.

[@bookshelvesinthecloset]

I’ve read four of these and would agree with your ranking. Since you enjoyed Paula Byrne’s biography, I would recommend her book The Genius of Jane Austen. Great video!

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks!

[@HamsavahiniVajraasthra]

Namaste & Hello Katie! 😊 I haven't read Lucy Worsley's biography on Jane Austen yet but, I guess the letters of Jane Austen would reflect her true nature. Great recommendations & Happy Reading😊📖📚👍😁

[@lorraineevans4780]

Just finishing an adaptation of Mansfield Park then on to Jane Austen at Home. This will be my first biography of Jane Austen and I am really looking forward to it, even more so after watching your video.

[@thelibrarybat4254]

I really enjoyed Jane Austen at Home when I read it earlier this year! I also read Lucy Worsley's YA fiction book about Jane Austen and her nieces, The Austen Girls, for this Jane Austen July and loved it! I loved her depiction of Jane Austen and it was such a lovely, fun book that I'd highly recommend!

[@katiejlumsden]

I must read The Austen Girls - sounds lovely.

[@heathersealey592]

I didn't realize some of her letters were published. I'll look into them.

[@katiejlumsden]

Yes, they're great!

[@launchedathousand]

I haven't read any biographies on Jane Austen yet, mostly learned about her life just from reading non-fiction about the time period. I've been wanting to read some of Lucy Wosleys' works for a while, may have to pick up At Home for next year!

[@katiejlumsden]

Jane Austen at Home is great!

[@JulianaLiraLiteratura]

You conviced me to read Jane Austen at Home! I'm not a fan of Claire Tomalin's biography at all, I read last year and she really annoyied me with her "opinions" on some Austen family members that I thought was a way odd (and disrespectful to say the least) and her literary criticism is bad too. I love A Memoir of Jane Austen, I think it's very sweet and interesting. My favourite bio is Jane Austen A Family Record by Deirdre Le Faye, it's quite hard to get though in the begning because it is a bit more academic but it pays off, I loved it!

[@katiejlumsden]

Claire Tomalin's biography was very opinionated, wasn't it? I'll have to read A Family Record, sounds interesting!

[@ElliesCozyChronicles]

Such an interesting video! At the moment I am reading The Real Jane Austen. I am enjoying it very much🙂

[@AbiofPellinor]

Somehow I've not read any biographies on her yet so I should really pick some of these up!

[@jordancooper7469]

I would highly recommend Claire Tomalins autobiography A Life of My Own. It is a profoundly moving account of her life from growing up during the war, trying to be a working woman in a mans world, losing a husband and children to tragic circumstances. She is a very interesting woman and it’s not a long book.

[@katiejlumsden]

Sounds interesting!

[@blonde761]

I’m a new subscriber and I am really loving your channel - you really offer such insightful and unique commentary. Love learning about Jane Austen biographies and have added a couple to my TBR - thanks!

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks very much :)

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

I just read The Real Jane Austen too and really enjoyed it. So many intriguing details. I Ioved her enthusiasm and like you I felt she described the Austen I see in her fiction and her letters. My only grumble would be she sometimes jumps from speculation to certainty about what Jane "must" have thought or felt.

[@katiejlumsden]

Yes I feel like biographers are far too apt to do that!

[@EXOX-dm3lg]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. I am reading Jane Austen at Home and I just love it! I have also watched Worsley's documentary which is also great. Do you consider making videos on Austen-related non-fictions like What Matters in Jane Austen?

[@jm15xy]

_Jane Austen -- Elizabeth Jenkins (1949)_: I love this biography for three reasons, one that it's the first biography of Jane Austen I read, second because Elizabeth Jenkins' writing is fantastic, and three because it gives an outline of Jane Austen's life but also it contains what are essays on each of Jane Austen's major writings. archive.org/details/janeausten0000unse_w8e2 These biographies are much more recent and give greater detail about Jane Austen's life itself rather than combining them with literary criticism: _The Life of Jane Austen -- John Halperin (1984)_. archive.org/details/lifeofjaneausten0000halp _Jane Austen -- Her Life -- Park Honan (1989)_. archive.org/details/janeaustenherlif00hona _Jane Austen -- A Life -- David Nokes (1998)_. archive.org/details/janeaustenlife0000noke

[@venturesome456]

Just what I sought, having read the Claire Tomalin and felt a need for more. The reviewer described Tomalin's idiosyncracies well. The reviewer's machine-gun delivery made me wish she would pause for breath at the end of sentences; it tires an old brain to listen so fast, particularly when a bright young voice is made metallic and piercing by a recording room's acoustic. But it was well worth hearing.

[@ba-gg6jo]

Still not pulling any punches then. Good for you. 👍

[@LibbyStephenson]

This is exactly what I needed!

[@katiejlumsden]

:)

[@eyrecester]

Speaking of Jane Austen biographies - I know it’s not necessarily accurate, but do you like/have you watched Becoming Jane? 😅

[@katiejlumsden]

I have . . . It's kind of fun but annoys me for lots of reasons, haha. Leaving aside all the romanticisation, I hate the way they paint Mrs Austen, Jane's mother, who by all accounts was no Mrs Bennet! Also, you don't have to read many of Jane Austen's novels to know she did not approve of eloping XD

[@jimsbooksreadingandstuff]

I agree with you the comic characters in Jane Austen (and Charles Dickens) are great and add another layer to her greatness. Would Claire Tomlin suggest leaving out the comic characters in Shakespeare?

[@katiejlumsden]

Right?!

[@ellie698]

Do you find reading the biographies add something to your subsequent re-reads of her novels?

[@katiejlumsden]

I think probably, yes. And I just find her life interesting.

[@bookmouse2719]

Well, Lucy Worsley she's the best, isn't she

[@katiejlumsden]

She really is.

[@dianewalker9154]

Jane didn’t want to get married because she didn’t want to give up her writing and being a published author. I don’t think she was happy about their decreasing economic status after her father died. But that issue wasn’t all on Jane. It was a family matter.

[@tillysshelf]

Wow that criticism of Austen's comic characters is completely missing half of the point of the books! How empty would the stories be if they didn't have that sense of humour. I was going to read the Paula Byrne last month but got distracted by other things - next year perhaps.

[@katiejlumsden]

Right?!

[@ellie698]

I've tried to get into Claire Tomalin's several times but i just find it turgid and unengaging. I wouldn't read anything else she's written. How can someone make a book about my favourite author this much of a chore???