Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World

“Wonderful . . . not only scholarly but indecently entertaining . . . her prose rings with good sense, affection, and humour.”—Daily Mail

Mention Jane Austen and you’ll likely incite a slew of fervent opinions from anyone within earshot. Regarded as a brilliant social satirist by scholars, Austen also enjoys the sort of popular affection usually reserved for girl-next-door movie stars, leading to the paradox of an academically revered author who has served as the inspiration for chick lit (The Jane Austen Book Club) and modern blockbusters (Becoming Jane). Almost two hundred years after her death, Austen remains a hot topic, and the current flare in the cultural zeitgeist echoes the continuous revival of her works, from the time of original publication through the twentieth century. In Jane’s Fame, Claire Harman gives us the complete biography—of both the author and her lasting cultural influence—making this essential reading for anyone interested in Austen’s life, works, and remarkably potent fame.

Claire Harman is the author of Sylvia Townsend Warner, which won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize; Fanny Burney, which was short-listed for the Whitbread Prize, and the critically acclaimed Robert Louis Stevenson. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2006, Harman teaches at the universities of Manchester and Oxford in England and Columbia University in New York City.