This was my first foray into the life and times of Jane Austen. Although I was familiar with some of the key points, sadly only introduced to me by the movie, I felt it was time to read some of the facts that Hollywood had transformed into a movie. Perhaps because I have been subsisting upon a diet almost solely consisting of fiction, I found this book a challenge to complete. It was full of many tedious details about Jane Austen, and those who had a significant impact on her life and her writing. The greatest challenge was keeping all of the names straight, this was helped by the presence of two family trees; however given the level of detail, I would have preferred hyperlinks.

I must admit that I am not likely the perfect candidate to read this book as I have not yet read any of Austen's original works. I thought that reading this book would provide me with suitable background information, so that I could get more out of the experience. I suspect, though, that I may have taken completely the wrong approach. I am optimistic that my opinion of this book will change once I have read her work, and have done more research into her life. That said, I can assure you that I will be drawing upon it as a reference through this process.