5 More Books for the Modern Jane Austen Reader

Jane Austen is my favourite author, as she is for many people. Although she was writing in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, her stories still speak to us well into the twenty-first century. I will admit though, sometimes we need a bit of a helping hand- we understand the characters that are at the heart of the story, but sometimes the broader context and history escapes us. There are also some fantastic studies of those of us who love her as well, in all the many forms we take! So, these are 5 more books for the modern Jane Austen reader…

In case you missed it, my original post is 3 Books for the Modern Jane Austen Readers– get to know Jane and her descendants through three of my favourite Austen-related books.

Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen, Sarah Jane Dowling 

The broader Regency period 1795-1820 stands alone as an incredible moment in fashion history unlike anything that went before or after. It was the most naked period since Ancient Greece and before the 1960s, and for the first time England became a fashion influence, especially for menswear, and became the toast of Paris. With the ancient regime deposed, court dress became secondary and the season by season flux of fashion as we know it came into being, aided and abetted by the proliferation of new ladies’ magazines.

Such an age of revolution and innovation inspired a flood of fashions taking influence from everything including the newly discovered treasures of the ancient world, to radical new ideas like democracy. It was an era of contradiction immortalized by Jane Austen, who adeptly used the newfound diversity of fashion to enliven her characters, Wickham’s military splendor, Mr. Darcy’s understated elegance, and Miss Tilney’s romantic fixation with white muslin. 

The Regency is one of the most distinct periods in fashion history, but movies and television shows often take liberties with it. I purchased this book at the Fashion Museum in Bath, after seeing several gowns from the Regency. Dowling has a wonderful way of explaining the intricate details and history of Regency fashion without being stifled or draggy. It isn’t meant to be the answer to your PhD in fashion history, as it is on the shorter side, but that makes it more accessible and easy to read. The illustrations are also a wonderful addition! 

Among the Janeites: A Journey Through the Fandom of Jane Austen, Deborah Yaffe

With warmth and humor, lifelong Janeite Deborah Yaffe opens the door on the quirky, thriving subculture of Jane Austen fandom.

I just read this book a few weeks ago, and I have to say, I’m incredibly impressed with it. When someone says that they like Jane Austen, it might mean any number of things. They might re-read the books repeatedly. Or they might re-watch the various film and television adaptations. Or read Austen-themed manga or dress up for Regency-themed balls, or really anything. Yaffe covers a multitude of Austen fans, the Janeites of the world in Among the Janeites. 

Yaffe’s commitment is what impressed me the most. She ordered Regency dresses to attend a ball, she interviewed fervent Janeites and conspiracy theorists, and watched everything possible. She immersed herself in her subject, no matter how “out there” or ridiculous it might seem at times. Get lost with the Janeites and dive into Austen culture….

Jane Austen’s England, Roy Adkins 

Jane Austen, arguably the greatest novelist of the English language, wrote brilliantly about the gentry and aristocracy of two centuries ago in her accounts of young women looking for love. Jane Austen’s England explores the customs and culture of the real England of her everyday existence depicted in her classic novels as well as those by Byron, Keats, and Shelley. Drawing upon a rich array of contemporary sources, including many previously unpublished manuscripts, diaries, and personal letters, Roy and Lesley Adkins vividly portray the daily lives of ordinary people, discussing topics as diverse as birth, marriage,  religion, sexual practices, hygiene, highwaymen, and superstitions.

From chores like fetching water to healing with  medicinal leeches, from selling wives in the marketplace to buying smuggled gin, from the hardships faced by young boys and girls in the mines to the familiar sight of corpses swinging on gibbets, Jane Austen’s England offers an authoritative and gripping account that is sometimes humorous, often shocking, but always entertaining. 

This is a basic introduction to daily life in the Regency period. From courtships and childbirth to dancing and death, every aspect of life is covered. Although it is anchored in the period of Jane Austen’s life, most of the sources are surviving from regular people of the period. A governess, a minister, a labourer- people across the social spectrum, though focusing on the middle and lower classes. Austen’s life often takes on mythic proportions, and people don’t always realise that she and her family had a quasi-upper, quasi-lower class life. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a good introduction to life in the Regency period, for all strata of society! 

There’s Something About Darcy, Gabrielle Malcolm

For some, Colin Firth emerging from a lake in that clinging wet shirt is one of the most iconic moments in television. But what is it about the two-hundred-year-old hero that we so ardently admire and love?

Dr Gabrielle Malcolm examines Jane Austen’s influences in creating Darcy’s potent mix of brooding Gothic hero, aristocratic elitist and romantic Regency man of action. She investigates how he paved the way for later characters like Heathcliff, Rochester and even Dracula, and what his impact has been on popular culture over the past two centuries. For twenty-first century readers the world over have their idea of the ‘perfect’ Darcy in mind when they read the novel, and will defend their choice passionately.

In this insightful and entertaining study, every variety of Darcy jostles for attention: vampire Darcy, digital Darcy, Mormon Darcy and gay Darcy. Who does it best and how did a clergyman’s daughter from Hampshire create such an enduring character?

This is similar to Among the Janeites but is an indepth study all about Mr. Darcy! I’m on Team Tilney myself (go Northanger Abbey!) but I do understand why so many people are eternally fascinated with Mr. Darcy. He can be transported to any period and updated to suit any interests or focuses. And while Elizabeth Bennett is undoubtedly the hero of Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy is the ultimate foil. If you find yourself replaying Colin Firth’s scenes in the 1995 tv adaptation of P&P, or writing Darcy fan fiction, this is the book for you! (It is also the book for you if you are trying to figure out why all of these people are still obsessed with Fitzwilliam Darcy 200+ years later…) 

The Regency Years: During Which Jane Austen Writes, Napoleon Fights, Byron Makes Love, and Britain Becomes Modern, Robert Morrison 

The Victorians are often credited with ushering in our current era, yet the seeds of change were planted in the years before. The Regency (1811–1820) began when the profligate Prince of Wales—the future king George IV—replaced his insane father, George III, as Britain’s ruler.

Around the regent surged a society steeped in contrasts: evangelicalism and hedonism, elegance and brutality, exuberance and despair. The arts flourished at this time with a showcase of extraordinary writers and painters such as Jane Austen, Lord Byron, the Shelleys, John Constable, and J. M. W. Turner. Science burgeoned during this decade, too, giving us the steam locomotive and the blueprint for the modern computer.

Yet the dark side of the era was visible in poverty, slavery, pornography, opium, and the gothic imaginings that birthed the novel Frankenstein. With the British military in foreign lands, fighting the Napoleonic Wars in Europe and the War of 1812 in the United States, the desire for empire and an expanding colonial enterprise gained unstoppable momentum. Exploring these crosscurrents, Robert Morrison illuminates the profound ways this period shaped and indelibly marked the modern world

This is another introduction to the Regency period, but it focuses on the big changes and highlights rather than day to day life. It is interesting if you don’t know anything about the period, but it’s also quite interesting if you do. Morrison connects these momentous events throughout the Regency and explains what the actual effects and consequences in Britain were. He also gives more of a background to all of those Regency figures, like Jane Austen, that you keep hearing about but might not actually know anything of. Morrison is a strong and talented writer, and he truly brings the Regency to life!

What books would you include on your list of books for the modern Jane Austen Reader? 

Cheers,
The Historian
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