Book Review//Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney

I requested Jane Austen’s Bookshelf from the library with no intention of writing about it. Frankly, I am doing an absolutely terrible job of reviewing books these days. However, I read it, I loved it, I bought my own copy, and I am here to tell you to do the same.

Rebecca Romney is a rare book dealer and a devoted fan of Jane Austen. As with many of us who love Austen’s works, she read them over and over and yearned for more. This sparked her curiosity about the books Austen herself would have read. What books would have been on Austen’s own bookshelf? Some authors are easy to identify since Austen refers to them in her writing. Others take a bit more digging or can be inferred from what was popular at the time. This leads to the question: if these writers were so popular in their day, why do we know so little about them?

Romney takes each author one by one and reads, or tries to read, some of their works. Since she is a rare book dealer, there is a fair amount about her acquiring the books which I found interesting. I liked learning more about that world. Romney approaches each books simply as a reader. After a discussion of the author and their life, it really came down to whether or not Romney liked the books. Were they readable? Could she understand why Austen would have liked them? Do they or do they not appeal to a modern reader? Of course, what she liked is subjective but reading her opinions was like having a nice bookish chat with a friend.

As I mentioned, I read a library copy and, because of this, couldn’t mark it up and notate the books that sounded interesting to me. I did buy my own copy and will be referring back to it because I want to give some of these forgotten authors a chance.

I already requested one novel from the library. It is The Old Manor House by Charlotte Smith. It is the story of Orlando who might inherit the manor house from Mrs. Ryland. He is never sure of his future and ends up joining the military. This means he has to leave behind the orphaned niece of Mrs Ryland’s housekeeper, with whom he has been carrying on a clandestine romance. Smith manages to include elopements, a missing will, a wastrel brother, smugglers, and the American War of Independence.

There are also tears. So many tears. Every single character cries at the drop of a hat. I opened a book at random and here is an example.

Orlando kissed the hand of his ancient benefactress; but the tears were in his eyes, and he was unable to speak. He tried, however, to thank her for this last, and for all her former favours to him: but the words were inarticulate; and the old lady herself, ‘albeit unused to the melting mood,’ was now so much affected, that she could only faintly utter the blessing she gave him. ‘You had better say no more, Sir,’ said Mrs. Lennard, who seemed disposed to weep too—’much better not, for indeed it will make my lady quite out of spirits.’ Orlando, very willing to shorten such a scene, turned to Mrs. Lennard, towards whom in a few hurried words he expressed his thanks for her past kindness, and his wishes for her health and happiness; and then hastened away, his heart oppressed by the scene that had passed, yet beating tumultously with the thoughts of that which was to come.

If they all simply stopped crying and fainting and trembling and got on with business this would have been a much shorter book. That being said, I did enjoy it as an example of writing of its time. I think Jane Austen is timeless. Other books written at the same time, while enjoyable, do not have that same timeless quality. Now that I own my own copy of Jane Austen’s Bookshelf, I will be choosing another author to try. Will I manage to review it? We can only hope that I manage to get my act together and this blog off life support.