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Jane's Fame tells the fascinating story of Jane Austen's renown, from the years of rejection the author faced during her lifetime to the global recognition and adoration she now enjoys. Almost two hundred years after her death, Austen remains a hot topic, constantly open to revival and reinterpretation and known to millions of people through film and television adaptations as much as through her books. In Jane's Fame, Claire Harman gives us the complete biography-of both the author and her lasting cultural influence, making this essential reading for anyone interested in Austen's life, works, and remarkably potent fame.
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Reviews
"Harman's shrewd critical study, brimming with Brit wit, freshens up our impression of Austen -- an enterprise always hampered by the overarching fact that Austen's life, like Shakespeare's, left behind few biographical fossils, not even a decent portrait to bow down before and worship.... With nimble steps, Harman dances through 200 years' worth of critical reception of Austen's novels, sharing the good, the bad and the brainless.... Harman's informed and elegant chronicle of the rise of 'Divine Jane' (as the late Victorians called her) is an eye-opener."
Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air
"Harman's book ... presents the story of Austen's self-fashioning and later popularity in a convincing, enjoyable way. Harman describes Austen's reputation from her own lifetime to the current era of Jane Austen Inc., synthesizing a good deal of scholarship into a series of tidy chapters offering an accessible guide to the evolution of her subject's renown."
Sophie Gee, The New York Times Book Review
"There is much to divert and please in Claire Harman's well-blended biography and cultural commentary, Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World. Harman, an award-winning biographer, turns her sharp scholarly eye, acutely sensible prose and considerable wit on the life of the 'divine Jane' in this gem of a book, tracing Austen's early years and literary pursuits through to the present-day cult of Austenmania.... This biography-history fills in many blanks, brimming with entertaining anecdotes and quotes, robust scholarship and ironic humor."
Alison Hood, BookPage