8 h 53 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Behind the novels are bonnets, money worries, family jokes—and a sharp eye that misses very little.
The Letters of Jane Austen gathers private notes never meant for the public. Most go to her older sister Cassandra; others reach nieces, nephews, brothers, friends and a publisher. Austen passes on news, jokes about neighbours, and keeps her family close across distance. Dances, dinners, gossip and sickness share the page with a quick, mischievous voice.
The collection moves through family life at Steventon, the move to Bath, Austen's work as a novelist, and advice to her nieces Anna and Fanny. The author of Pride and Prejudice and Emma reports on her books, answers readers, and offers guidance on writing. This is a life in small pieces, not polished essays or a steady story.
What you’ll discover
- A sister's private news Meet Austen through the news and jokes she shares with Cassandra.
- Dances, dinners and gossip Step into everyday Regency life, where partners and neighbours give Austen plenty to notice.
- The novelist at work Follow her reports on her books and her exchanges with readers and a publisher.
- An aunt's candid advice Discover the guidance Anna and Fanny seek from Austen on love and writing.
- Life beyond the novels Find money worries, illness and family ties alongside the wit of her private voice.
Who will love it
For readers who love Austen's novels and want to hear her own voice, and anyone curious about everyday life in Regency England, family gossip, and advice on love and writing.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A rectory family that wrote constantly
- Gossip, dances and a sharp tongue
- Moves, loss and a settled home
- The novelist at her desk
- Advice to nieces on love and writing
- Illness, farewell and what survives
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- Large print hardcover
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Las cartas de Jane Austen
by Jane Austen
Jane Austen writes to Cassandra of dances, money worries and books, keeping a close family in touch across the miles.
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In short
This is a collection of the private letters of Jane Austen, the English novelist who wrote Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. About one hundred and sixty of her letters survive, written between 1796 and the spring of 1817, a few months before her death.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A rectory family that wrote constantly
Jane Austen was born in 1775 at Steventon in Hampshire, where her father, George Austen, was the rector. She grew up in a large and lively household with six brothers and one sister. Her closest companion was Cassandra, who was a little older. The two shared a bedroom for most of their lives. When they were apart, letters were the only way to stay close, so they wrote often and at length.
Postage in those years was costly and paid by the person who received the letter. That is why writers filled each sheet to the edge, and sometimes turned the page and wrote across the lines. Austen's letters often begin with travel news and end with a crowded postscript. She is thrifty with paper but generous with detail. Reading them, you can feel how little room she had and how much she wanted to say.
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What are the letters of Jane Austen about?
They cover family news, visits, dances, money, illness and village gossip, along with her comments on her own novels. Most were written to her sister Cassandra, so they sound casual, funny and personal.
How many letters of Jane Austen survive?
About one hundred and sixty are known today. Many more were lost, because her sister Cassandra burned some and cut parts from others after Jane died in 1817.
Who was Cassandra Austen?
Cassandra was Jane's older sister and closest friend. She never married, shared a home with Jane for most of her life, and received most of the surviving letters.
The author
Jane Austen
1775–1817 · English novelist
Jane Austen was an English novelist born in Steventon, Hampshire, in 1775. She lived in Bath, Southampton and Chawton, and died in Winchester in 1817. Her novels included Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815). Northanger Abbey and Persuasion appeared after her death.
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