Jane Austen: A Life -- Claire Tomalin (1997)

This was my and Melinda's book club book for July. (Look for her comment to this review.) We had recently read a chldren's book by Mary Shelley, and Tomalin wrote the introduction to the book. This introduction, a short biography of Shelley and the circumstances under which she wrote the children's book, was actually more interesting than the children's book itself. Two months later, Melinda chose Tomalin's biography of Jane Austen.

Perhaps the most striking thing about this book is that there is so much more information about Austen's family than about Austen herself. This is most likely because Austen's sister, Cassandra, burned almost all Austen's letters after Austen's death. Similarly, there are no pictures of Austen, while there are for everyone else in her family.

This book would be difficult to read and less interesting if you weren't already familiar with Austen's novels. I enjoyed the chapters about "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility" more enjoyable than the chapters about novels I hadn't read. Tomalin frequently compares people and events in Austen's life to things in the novels. You wouldn't understand these references if you hadn't read the correcsponding novel.

My biggest criticism of the book is that Tomalin frequently presumed Austen's actions or emotions without any basis. Granted, she clearly stated that "perhaps" Austen felt or did something, so you never got the impression that what she said was fact. Nevertheless, I often thought Tomalin was presuming things based on her 20th century experience and with knowledge of things Austen perhaps wouldn't have known.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book. I found interesting how difficult it was for the Austen sisters to be unmarried women who therefore had to depend on their parents and brothers for support. (Austen was in her 30s by the time her novels were published, and didn't make a whole lot of money from them.) It makes me appreciate our modern world where women can have careers and support themselves.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5.

Miss Mackenzie -- Anthony Trollope (1865, 1986)

In case you are unfamiliar with Anthony Trollope, let be begin with a brief introduction. Trollope is a mid-19th century fiction author from England. His books deal mostly with the class system of England at that time, usually with a sarcastic tone.

I discovered Trollope almost by accident. Melinda and I were at Barnes & Noble several years ago and there was a table by the registered with books on sale for 75% off. There were many of Trollope's books on the table for about $1 each. The themes of the books reminded me of Jane Austen, one of my favorite authors, so I thought I'd try a few. I bought four, and after reading a couple wished I had bought more. I have bought more since, although not at that price!

"Miss Mackenzie" is not among the best Trollope books I have read, but was still entertaining. Miss Mackenzie is a thirty-something woman who finds herself suddenly wealthy after her brother leaves her money in his will. She had been pennyless before this and therefore essentially unable to marry. Plus, she had spent the past years caring for her brother while he was ill, as she did her father before that. Not surprisingly, now that she has money, three men begin to pursue her. However, she is not sure she wants any of them. Eventually, questions arise regarding her entitlement to the inheritance and she becomes involved in a love triangle of sorts.

The first half of this book moves very quickly, with lots of dialogue. The second half of the book is more laborious to read because Trollope tends to get involved in detailed descriptions of people and places that to me seems unnecesary. So I frequently skimmed through pages until I got to areas of more extensinve dialogue. This is a part of Trollope's writing style that I have found to be the case with many of Trollope's books.

All in all, I thought this was a good book. However, I wouldn't recommend it to someone with no previous experience with Trollope. I would recommend that a Trollope newbie begin with "Can You Fogive Her?" or "The Warden" which are the first books of the Palliser Series and the Barchester Sseries, respectively. Both of these series have been made into BBC miniseries which I hope to have the chance to see at some point. They are both in my Netflix queue!

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.