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A review by paperbacksandpines
Jane Austen, the Secret Radical by Helena Kelly
3.0
This was my second Jane Austen July pick this year. I listened to this book on audio, which is usually a medium that I have trouble maintaining attention, but this book failed to disappoint.
Kelly asserts that Austen was a feminist, progressive, ahead of her time in every way. She painted a condensed story of Austen's life, while using each of Austen's main books to argue a different way Austen was unlike the modern viewer's conception of her. Despite reading all of Austen's works, many of them several times, I'd never considered Austen through any of the lenses Kelly presented.
I'm not sure I agree with Kelly on any of her basic assertions but reading this book made me want to go back, reread all of Austen's books and look for Kelly's claims while doing so. I plan on rereading this book again.
Kelly asserts that Austen was a feminist, progressive, ahead of her time in every way. She painted a condensed story of Austen's life, while using each of Austen's main books to argue a different way Austen was unlike the modern viewer's conception of her. Despite reading all of Austen's works, many of them several times, I'd never considered Austen through any of the lenses Kelly presented.
I'm not sure I agree with Kelly on any of her basic assertions but reading this book made me want to go back, reread all of Austen's books and look for Kelly's claims while doing so. I plan on rereading this book again.