Absolutely adored this! Worsley does an impeccable job of enlightening the reader on Jane Austen’s life based around its domesticity and the places she resided without ever claiming some far-fetched idea of who she was. She stays rooted in fact without being dry or boring. I learned so much and, while I haven’t read all of Austen’s works yet, I never felt lost in the references. Worsley provides just enough detail to follow along with the connections between Austen’s life and her writing without making someone like me feel like I’m missing out on anything.

I loved the focus that Worsley placed on the role that women played in general in this time and how it was really the women in Austen’s life who made her who she was as a person and as an artist.

I highly recommend this to any Austen fan out there and I’m looking forward to diving into the rest of my Austen reading with the knowledge this book has shared.