Available as eBook
The first book about Jane Austen to dissect the industry around her - a completely original approach to one of Britain’s most enduring popular novelists
Part biography and part cultural history, this splendid book not only tells the captivating story of Jane Austen’s life, but also her literary legacy. The slow growth of Austen’s fame, the changing status of her work, and what it has stood for in English culture is a story of personal struggle and family dynamics as well as a history of critical practices and changing public tastes.
Jane’s Fame is essential reading for anyone interested in Austen’s life, works and unshakable appeal.
“A deft, elegant exploration of the cult of all thing Austen … a happy blend of critical insight and narrative bounce, making Jane’s Fame a fine addition to the current trend for analysing posthumous lives.”
Kathryn Hughes
guardian
See more reviews
“Harman is particularly good on how writing became the centre of [Jane’s] life … this fascinating and sophisticated take on Jane Mania is a sparkling addition to the canon.”
Christopher Hudson
evening Standard
“An extraordinary book, crammed with scholarship and glittering with trivia … Harman’s book offers so many delight … This is a fantastic compendium of absolutely everything relating to Austen, the tone calm and impartial despite severe provocation.”
Elspeth Barker
independent On Sunday
“An exhilarating look at the rise of Divine Jane’s worldwide influence. Harman charts its course with wit and style, as well as scholarly precision, making this a book that no Austen addict will want to resist.”
Mark Bostridge
literary Review
“A wonderful book … A shrewd but unstuffy critic, Harman’s prose rings with good sense, affection and humour, and she articulates very well indeed what’s good about Austen without descending into the camp either of drooling Janeites or literary-theoretical pseudery … [Jane’s Fame] manages to be not only scholarly, but indecently entertaining.”
Sam Leith
daily Mail
Claire Harman
Claire Harman is the award-winning biographer of Sylvia Townsend-Warner, Fanny Burney and Robert Louis Stevenson. She writes frequently for the literary press on both sides of the Atlantic and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.