The Letters of Jane Austen

Author: Jane Austen

These letters encompass what Jane Austen wrote from the age of twenty until her death at forty-two, thus becoming a living record of a soul evolving over time. These papers are not intended to create a biography or arrange events; rather, they are spontaneous expressions, written to relatives, revealing the author in her various facets: a loving sister, a loyal friend, a prudent homemaker, an alert mind and a pen that keenly observes people's actions, and an exceptional literary critic. We also see her chronicling her literary life, and how she used to write in secret until her fame spread, leading her to decide to earn a living from writing. These papers, despite their simplicity, grow over the years like a living organism, revealing, when brought together, the interconnected life of a woman, expressing her worries, joys, sarcasm, and patience, thus showing the woman behind the writer, and the life behind the legend.