As this year marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, there are many of us celebrating this major milestone. And as you might expect, there are many books out this year, both fiction and non-fiction celebrating Austen’s life, literature, and legacy. (Yes, I am doing everything I can to read all of them!) However, I knew as soon as it was announced that I would love this book. If you can fangirl for an academic, that is me with Devoney Looser. She is brilliant, she is witty, and she has never once failed to make me stop and re-examine my opinions. And so, I am here to share why you absolutely need to read Wild for Austen by Devoney Looser!
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an Advanced Listening Copy and an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Legacy, Devoney Looser
Thieves! Spies! Abolitionists! Ghosts! If we ever truly believed Jane Austen to be a quiet spinster, scholar Devoney Looser puts that myth to rest at last in Wild for Austen. These, and many other events and characters, come to life throughout this rollicking book. Austen, we learn, was far wilder in her time than we’ve given her credit for, and Looser traces the fascinating and fantastical journey her legacy has taken over the past 250 years.
All six of Austen’s completed novels are examined here, and Looser uncovers striking new gems therein, as well as in Austen’s juvenilia, unfinished fiction, and even essays and poetry. Looser also takes on entirely new scholarship, writing about Austen’s relationship to the abolitionist movement and women’s suffrage. In examining the legacy of Austen’s works, Looser reveals the film adaptations that might have changed Hollywood history had they come to fruition, and tells extraordinary stories of ghost-sightings, Austen novels used as evidence in courts of law, and the eclectic members of the Austen extended family whose own outrageous lives seem wilder than fiction.
Written with warmth, humor, and remarkable details never before published, Wild for Austen is the ultimate tribute to Jane Austen.
Why You Should Read This…
As someone who has been fascinated with Jane Austen and her works since I was fourteen, loves literary criticism, and making literature and history accessible, Wild for Austen was quite possibly written exactly for me. I loved Looser’s previous books, Sister Novelists and The Making of Jane Austen, but Wild for Austen has everything I am looking for.
This book covers pretty much every major area of discussion related to Austen. We’ve got her novels, her life (and lives of her family), her connections with literature, and even the modern relationship with Austen (including screen adaptations, festivals, and even Austen erotica). Yes, I kept thinking throughout, “oh, *this* won’t be covered, and lo and behold, it was. (It was almost eerie…)
There is so much to offer to those who are new to Austen (without being overwhelming or assuming knowledge) and also quite a bit for those who are well-versed in her works and life. I very much appreciated that the chapters covering Austen’s works went beyond just the six novels and included the Juvenalia and other pieces. (As someone whose favourite novel is Northanger Abbey, I firmly believe that her earlier writings are dismissed far too widely and deserve more attention!)
What truly grabbed me about Wild for Austen is Looser’s love of the topic. I find that many, many academics write Austen off for either being too popular (and thus covered too often) or being too frivolous, but Looser obviously hasn’t done this. Her research is so wide-ranging, both in timeframe and scope. The inclusion of recent Austen-related news items was a big highlight for me, as Austen is still very much relevant and she just gets it. She is indeed a talented academic, but she can also write for the general audience and I love that she is making Austen entirely accessible to everyone.
Marisa Calin’s narration is fantastic. I think that she captures both Looser’s passion for Austen and her knowledge; the emotion came through for me and that only made the book that much better.
Is Wild for Austen by Devoney Looser on your to-read list?
Cheers,
The Historian
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