I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. Jane Aiken Hodge did a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! I would recommend it!

It took me a while to get through this book.
I love Jane Austen and I love her books. I've read and watched all of her works and adaptations. Normally I really enjoy anything about JA, but honestly, I really struggled with this book. It was very dry and factual (which isn't a bad thing) and made the whole read a little bit of a chore. I've come away knowing that a lot of JA's letters were destroyed by her sister and there is a lot of speculation and assumptions made by historians about those periods and what might have been happening on JAs life and writings.

I'm glad I persevered and I have learnt a little bit more about one of my favourite authors.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eArc. Here is my honest review.

*3.5 stars*

An ambitious biography…

I admire any author writing about someone who has been gone for centuries and had so much already written about them. What could they bring that was new to the table?

Well, this author managed to bring some interesting facts, and her own interpretations, to an author I’ve long since admired. Gathering information from various sources, the execution of this biographical read was not as smooth as I would have hoped. I didn’t realize how scarce first-hand information was on Jane Austen, given how much her life has been inspected, tracked and written about.

Did this author achieve her goal? I think so. Though a score card to track and identify the many, many relatives, friends and acquaintances would have been super helpful. Overall, a challenging read, but a lover of Jane Austen would find it worth it…

Definitely one for Jane Austen fans, this book is an interesting and moving tribute to one of the world's most beloved authors. It's a thorough account, despite only being 290 pages. I am glad I read it.

This is a brilliant insight into the great author’s life. While I love Jane Austin’s books and have read modern day spin offs and books that focus on her characters.I hadn’t read a biography of Austen before and found that this was a very interesting. One thing that I liked when reading this was that the writing flows as the author explores and speculates on Jane’s Life. There were times in Austen’s life that were unknown as there seem to be no letters or other source material to rely on and Hodge speculates what might have taken place. The engaging prose show just how much this writer respects Austen both as a woman of her time and as an incredible author, not afraid to satirise the somewhat ridiculousness of 19th century aristocracy.

Another wonderful book about Jane Austen to grace my (digital) shelf. It’s so hard to get a sense of what Austen was like as a person, as her sister destroyed her letters etc. In Only A Novel, Hodge tries to fill some of the gaps, and draw a fuller portrait of Jane Austen.

While I am a HUGE Jane Austen fan I found this book to be very dry and an academic recounting of Ms. Austen's life. I am not saying that the author should have take license with the story, but that maybe this could have been condensed into a shorter book.

Despite some minor inaccuracies, Only a Novel is a delightful book that deserves a place on the shelf of every Janeite.

Was interesting to learn more about Jane Austins life. I don't tend to read non-fiction often but I do really enjoy the ones based around authors. Its so interesting to see Joe they started out and the battles they had to deal with in a different time to now.

A rich and detailed biography of Jane Austen's "double life"—the interplay of her everyday life and the life of the mind. Hodge has constructed a thorough and engaging look at a genius whose life has often been considered uninteresting because it lacks the drama of the later Romantics who would follow her. But understanding the life and times of Austen is infinitely rewarding for anyone who loves her books and what she has contributed to literature at large, and Hodge dives deep into the mundane to illuminate the many people, scenes, and experiences that shaped Austen and her work.

A very enjoyable biography of Jane Austen. Well-researched, measured, insightful and beautifully written, it’s both scholarly and entertaining. I don’t think it adds anything new to the wealth of material out there about Austen, but it’s a useful addition to it all the same and it would make an excellent introduction for anyone not already familiar with the life.

I think it’s the usual conundrum a person faces when writing about Jane Austen and the life she lived. A great portion of her own letters destroyed, readers of Jane Austen biographies must allow writers to make conjectures in order to fill the gaps.

In the case of Only a Novel, it is very readable (almost) like a documentary and remains largely relevant despite being first published in 1972. Starting off with a well-written introduction, context is weaved in well into the narrative throughout the book. Newcomers to Jane Austen might find it too heavy on the details and insight that the writer aims to impart.

Kudos to the book’s chronological order, beginning from the circumstances of her father’s early life and so on. The writing is seamless, not fragmented but preferably not read in one sitting, there is much information to take in.

The only danger here is whether you agree with the writer’s perspective of Jane’s life. If you don’t, then this book is not for you. As for myself, I find it in most part, a reasonable assessment, based on information available at the time of writing.

Writing a biography about Jane Austen is a very difficult task considering that the information about her life is scarce as she was deliberately trying to keep her life private. This book is a worthy attempt to gather information in all the available sources: Jane Austen's own writings, family records, and some contemporary sources. For those who love Jane Austen's novels, by reading this book they will be able to make some very interesting connections between some real-life people and the characters in her novels. I liked reading this book but I think someone who knows Jane Austen better than I do would enjoy it more.

I've read quite a few biographies of Jane Austen, so in a way, there's not a lot left to discover, given the limited information about her life. I'm aware, however, that the general opinion is that this particular biography has been somewhat superseded by more recent ones. Nonetheless, I enjoyed Jane Aiken Hodge's book - she seemed very much in sympathy with Austen as a person and, although there is of necessity a good deal of speculation, it seemed to be in keeping with the personalities in question.

I wouldn't read this as the definitive version of Austen's life, therefore, but I think it offers a good overview, and it would certainly be a good place for Austen readers to start, before going on to more recent works.

Note: this is a re-release of a book that was originally published in 1972.

Only a Novel is the general gold standard for Jane Austen biographies.  Written in a smooth, witty tone that’s easy to sink into, the book explores Austen’s life from pre-conception (her mother wore a daring red cloak to her wedding) to death (at the end she describes herself as a “really genteel, portable sort of an invalid”.).  In between there are glittering parties, conversations with other famous authors, a flight from marriage, and a sisterly bond that couldn’t be broken.

But Hodge isn’t comfortable to just stay on the surface of Austen’s life.  Instead, she dives into the author’s work, analyzing her books and the reasons why they may have been written.  Dipping into the mild rivalry between Austen and the Bronte sisters, Hodge has some gossipy fun wondering if certain books are ‘answer’ tomes to one another; what did they influence, and how much?  Who was the real Emma?  The true Elizabeth Bennett or Elinor Dashwood?  In diving into Austen’s journals and notational copies of her books, she reveals a fully rounded figure, emerging from the shadow of crinoline and tea parties for ever more.

We get to see Austen’s relatives and friends and potential boyfriends through the witty, playful fire that the author herself lit them up with.  Hodge never fails to give us the self-deprecatory, laughing Austen, and she also show us her more serious side – it dives deeply into her technique in a way that fascinates.

The mix of seriousness and gossip fits Austen’s milieu perfectly, in such a way that causes perfect harmony.  Only a Novel is likely to be the only Austen biography you will ever want, or ever need.

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I really found this to be very informative, yet also very interesting. A great book about Jane Austen’s life based on letters sent to her family. The close relationship with Cassandra, her sister, is a great source of information in particular. I don’t think you gleam anything new from this book but the authors admiration for the subject is very evident and makes this book a great read.
A definite for Jane Austen fans.

As a fan of Jane Austen, even if for a small time this read was such a nice one. To get to know a bit more of her, and her life through the letters, to understand a bit more of her writing.
Such a privilege.

A book for Austen fans for sure.

This book is a must for all Jane Austin fans. It’s such an interesting book and looks at Janes life some parts of which people may not have been aware of.
Lovely read.
Thank you to both NetGalley and publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

This book is a highly informative and interesting biography of Jane Austen's life. As with most works about Jane Austen, most information is gleaned from the numerous letters she sent throughout her life to her family and most importantly to her sister, Cassandra who she shared an incredibly close relationship with. Although this book doesn't tell us anything new about Jane Austen, the author, Jane Aiken Hodge's obvious love and admiration for her subject makes this a very pleasant read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Jane Aiken Hodge blends in her biography about Jane Austen facts from the countless other memoirs already published, cites frequently from the letters Jane wrote or received (sadly, many of them are lost forever, probably the most interesting ones) and interprets characters, settings or situations from her novels to draw parallels to her personal life. This results in a very thorough and very detailed account of Jane Austens life. Every visit to or from someone is mentioned, as well as every new addition to the ever growing family. Jane was one of 8 siblings, and 2 of her brothers had 11 children each. It was interesting to read about the closeness of the family, where they really helped each other out - with money, or with nursing sick children or the sister-in-law when she was bedridden due to a pregnancy. I found this remarkable, especially since two of the brothers (James & Edward) that helped Jane, her sister and their mother the most financially, didn't even grow up with them. They were given away and adopted by rich relatives who didn't have a heir themselves. Obviously not uncommon at that time. But as adults both still - or again - had strong ties to their 'original' family.

Although the book has only 290 pages, it is very detailled in describing Jane Austens life. I shy away from the term "double life" here, as it is alleged in the title, because actually there is none. Hodge refers to the fact that in her life as "Aunt Jane" she was quite shy and, moreover, a spinster. While as an author she always let her heroines find their final happiness in matrimony. But I don't think that she 'behaved' so very differently in her books compared to the real life. It is also explained in this books why Jane Austen never married. It was not for a lack of suitors! But none of them was really suitable(!) to Jane, at least not in her opinion. And as she wrote in one of her letters: "...nothing can be compared to the misery of being bound without love, bound to one, and preferring another." Wise words from a lady who herself often had worries about money, which a marriage would have most probably solved. Especially after her father died (and with him the family income) money was rather tight in the household of the ladies. Additionally, her first manuscripts got declined from publishers. Only a few years before her death she got "Pride & Predjudice" published, written more than 15 years before but revised and polished in between. 3 more novels followed during her lifetime, but she did not get very rich from them because she either sold the copyrights for 'too less' (not knowing what they would be actually worth) or had the editions printed with her own money and at her own risk. Furthermore, Jane Austen was known in literary circles at that time (although she herself never wanted any publicity and didn't want her name printed on the books - her brother Henry let is slip among friends anyway); but she was by no means as famous as she is now. One reason for that might be that novels were viewed as rather inferior literature, compared to prose and the plays. Luckily, this view has changed a lot since then.

Sadly, this book does not contain any pictures, and not even a family tree. This would have been very helpful in keeping track of who is who. Also distinguising between the names of family & friends or of characters of one of the books (that Hodge referes to constantly throughout the book) was sometimes a challenge for me (since I have only read "Pride & Prejudice" so far).
Also a timeline of the main events of Jane Austens life would have been great, or at least a map of the main locations and who lives where (at what time).
These missing supplements are what brings this book down to 4 stars for me. One has to help himself with other sources to complement this book.