I recently received The Jane Austen Pocket Bible by Holly Ivins and have had occasion to use it a number of times. It is a small, compact, hard cover book filled with useful information about Jane’s life, novels, characters, movie adaptations, and the like.
Sprinkled throughout the chapters are facts and quotations, such as:
Pocket Fact:
“Some of Jeane’s earliest encouragement for her writing came from her neighbour Anne Lefroy, or Madame Lefroy as she was known. Anne was a lively and intelligent woman who was a great reader of Milton, Pope and Shakespeare, and was even known to write poetry herself…”
In Her Own Words:
“Our family are great Novel-readers and not ashamed of being so.” (Letter to Cassandra, 1798)
The book is divided into the following sections:
- Introduction (including a timeline of her life and how she wrote)
- History and context, including a timeline of major historical events during this era.
- Places Austen lived
- Influences and literary context
- Austen’s novels
- Characters in Austen’s novels
- Love, romance, and marriage in Austen’s novels
- Film and TV adaptations of Austen’s novels
- Glossary
Next time I visit England, I will bring this compact treasure trove with me. More than a guide, this handy reference will inform me and help me to recall important facts as I visit the places where she lived and worked. Outside of travel, this guide allows me to quickly look up facts as I write my posts.
I’ve taken the attractive paper cover off, for the book tucks in quite nicely in my briefcase or handbag, and its hard red cover is sturdy enough to withstand the wear and tear of travel.
I recommend this book to teachers, students, and Janeites whose interest in Jane Austen is never ending.
Other references:
Margaret Sullivan’s Jane Austen Handbook is delightful. Read my review here.
Joan Klingel Ray wrote Jane Austen for Dummies. Too large to take along on journeys, it nevertheless is a handy reference in any Jane Austen library. Read my review here.
I want to especially thank @sussexbestwalks, who I follow on Twitter, for arranging to send this book to me. What a lovely read and find. Order the book at this link.
Jane Austen's World 
Intrigued as I am by the review, I can’t help but find myself distracted by the cover image of Jane. :O
I know the stock model featured here! Her name is Nicola, and she and I both have regency model stock photos available on Deviantart.
The picture in question looks identical to this:
http://pinkpaint-stock.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d1fvk8u
Small world, eh? :)
Sharp eyes! Have you notified the publisher? I did not see a reference to the image inside the book.
Yes, I mentioned it to her immediately after reading your review.
Her response in part:
“They had it on their website and when I pointed out that it needs to be paid for, they had some line about how they never pay for images and just credit the provider in the book. I said other publishing companies have paid for it, so I can’t now allow the same image for free.
So they agreed to pay me finally, but even after all that, gave me a check in GBP which I had to pay for to be converted to Australian dollars!”
It’s interesting, you say there wasn’t a reference for the image at all? *sigh*
I’ve looked inside the jacket cover, front and back, and inside the book, front and back, and read the acknowledgments. So sorry, but I did not see the mention.
I was also startled – Nichola’s a friend of mine – we met at Canberra’s first Jane Austen Fetival in 2008.
The same image was used on the original cover for Colleen McCullough’s “The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet”. There was a kerfuffle with the publishers over that one, I think.
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I want it!
(this blog is beyond awesomeness, I am a silent admirer of yours)
Looks like a MUST have book- thanks for the information!
This book is definitely going on my Christmas wish list! I think my husband will be sick of all the Jane Austen stuff pretty soon. ;)