Jane Austen’s Bookshelf is a fantastic work of nonfiction: part literary history, part rare bookseller memoir. It’s an accessible, satisfying read that has grown not only my appreciation for Jane Austen but given meaningful historical context and added to my TBR in a way I didn’t expect. A fun adjunct to my Classics era. 5 ⭐️!

The title, the reader soon learns, is literal. The author explains why she decided to assemble a shelf of Jane Austen’s books—that is, the ones, written by women, that Austen read and mentioned in her letters.

The Jane Austen fan, or reader of Enlightenment Era books is aware that Austen undoubtedly read a lot more than we see named in the letters, which are a fraction of those she wrote. There is no mention of Aphra Behn, or Mary Davys, or even Eliza Heywood, whose great popularity a generation before Austen was born surely meant that her books were to be found in any library that included novels. But these are the names culled from the letters that Jane Austen’s sister Cassandra left for us.

In this book, Romney sets out to acquaint herself with not only the works of these female authors, but with the writers themselves. Most of these authors I’ve already encountered, but I find it fun to read others’ takes on their work. And I really enjoy a literary exploration that brings in the writer’s own experiences and perspective.

Romney is a rare book dealer, which shapes the structure of this book; though I did skim past descriptions of searches for specific copies, and the deets of auctions, as I have never had the discretionary income to spend on rare books, I comprehend cathexis, and agree that some of the satisfaction of reading a physical book is the feel of the book, the font, the illos—and the commentary inside from long-gone owners of the copy. Plus one’s memories of when one first encountered the book, and the emotions evoked by picking up that copy once again. I own a first edition of Chesterfield’s Letters. The pages were uncut, which meant it sat untouched on someone’s shelf for over two hundred years. It might be worth something, it might not. But I would have cherished it far more had this copy been worn from much reading, perhaps with notes and comments from Enlightenment-era or Victorian-era or even early twentieth century previous owners.

So once I skimmed past the auction parts of Romney’s searches, I really enjoyed her description of the physical books. The feel of them in her hands. Her delight in discovering writing on flyleaves.

Another aspect of this book that I relished was Romney’s awareness of the human being behind the printed pages. She gives the reader a quick and sympathetic history of each woman, even of Hannah More, whose work Romney finally gave up on. (Um, yes, so did I. If only there had been even a glimmer of humor…) This book is filled with insights, and also questions. Even when I disagree with Romney’s conclusions, I can see where she’s coming from—and can imagine sitting around a comfortable tea room, exchanging ideas.

She begins with Ann Radcliffe, whose work I don’t like any more than I like Hannah More’s, though for different reasons. I don’t care for Gothick suspense, and the thread of anti-Catholicism running through Radcliffe’s books doesn’t make it worth reading for the elegiac landscape descriptions, much less the creepy horrors and grues. But I appreciated Romney’s digging into the reviews of Radcliff’s books written in her lifetime, and I followed with interest Romney’s detective work tracing the gradual disappearance of Radcliff from popularity, to her present near-obscurity. Romney goes into the “explained supernatural” (in other words, all the supposed supernatural encounters in the books turn out to have rational explanations—unlike Horry Walpole’s ridiculous and flagrantly male-gazey The Castle of Otranto). Romney points out that in keeping her books firmly within the explained supernatural, Radcliffe was bringing logic to an emotional argument. She then traces through reviews and news reports about Radcliffe the false claims that Radcliffe stopped writing because she had sunk into madness.

In exploring this idea, Romney brings forth the seldom-acknowledged point that Catherine Morland, the teenage heroine of Northanger Abbey, who is so delighted by her discovery of Gothic novels that she brings the “emotional logic” of Gothics to imagining Mrs. Tilney being locked up before her death, learns from her mistakes, which are made in the ignorance of youth. Unlike General Tilney and his own quite Gothic, and ridiculous, assumptions about Catherine. He, an experienced man of middle years, has no excuse!

In wrestling with Hannah More’s determination that human beings are morally obliged to stay in their place (that includes women being subordinate to men), Romney states: “I found myself sitting for ten minutes at a time with a Hannah More biography in my lap, staring at nothing. This, too, is a part of reading. What we feel when we read does not remain on the page. We take it with us. We absorb it. It doesn’t have to change us, exactly (though it can, but it does affect us. It becomes a part of all the little moments that make up our lives.”

It's insights like this one, strewn through the book, that made it such a delicious read, as she goes on to give similar attention to Charlotte Lennox, Elizabeth Inchbald, Maria Edgeworth, and Hester Thrale Piozzi. And then traces how and why these women, once so famous, fell out of favor.

Did I agree with everything Romney brings up? No. She calls the unctuous, freckled Mrs. Clay from Persuasion a fraud, which I think is disingenuous; it’s true that Jane Austen’s narrator despises Mrs. Clay, but her situation, and her behavior at crucial points, isn’t a whole lot different from that of Mrs. Smith, who is better born, and who the narrator favors.

And again, Romney, in mentioning Mansfield Park seems to regard Fanny Price as humorless (wrong), and professes not to understand why Fanny disapproves of Inchbald’s play being mounted by the young people. She doesn’t seem to distinguish that it’s not the play Fanny objects to, it’s the flagrant disrespect for the missing Bertram paterfamilias—a disrespect that all the others are quite aware of when Sir Thomas comes unexpectedly home. But I blather at length about that in my review.

And from specific instances to general points, Romney maintains that several of these authors’ books are great literature, and deserve rediscovery. This of course goes straight into subjective territory. My own feeling is that there are indeed terrific moments in all of these books, and one can see how they influenced Austen, but (to generalize drastically) they share one fault: unexamined tropes, or downright cliches, both in plot and in language. Whereas Austen was side-eyeing these tropes, and the threadbare figurative language common to all these writers (such as blazing eyes, and frequent faintings, etc etc), and either playing with the expectations or abjuring them altogether. Which is what elevates Austen from really entertaining writer to genius. But again, highly subjective.

My point is, even when Romney and I come to different conclusions, I enjoyed her description of how she got there, and why. I enjoyed this book to such an extent that I plan to buy a print copy once it comes out, and to recommend it to my face-to-face Jane Austen Discussion Group. We should have a blast exploring all its ideas.

3.5 stars

Being a huge Jane Austen fan, and, at times, having the inclination to read the books she mentions — specifically those in Northanger Abbey — I thought this would be a wonderful dive into the women authors who influenced and shaped Austen's own work. And it does do that. But honestly, and this is mostly on me, I wanted more biography and less book collecting. I understand and often love when the author of a nonfiction book like this includes a good deal of their intertwining personal journey, but somehow this one seemed to drag too often for too long a time. I could barely get settled into each author's life and work without Romney's interruptions. The balance was a little too tilting towards this book's author rather than the titular authors themselves.

That being said — I not only love that this book exists, and sheds a good deal of light on Austen as a reader and inspired author, but also allows present day readers and Janeites to get the opportunity to construct a Jane Austen's Bookshelf TBR.

Also, if you're at all interested in book collecting as a hobby (or future side hustle), this might be the very book to inspire you to begin.

This isn't what I was expecting, but it was an enjoyable read. My To Be Read list has grown and I can see my JASNA region using this as a guide as we move through our cycle of reading Jane's work.

I’m admittedly not quite finished with this yet but since it’s out, I just have to give an early review. So well done and well written, really fascinating and engaging. I love this one enough that I plan on picking up a physical copy so I can take my time with enjoying it and be able to reread. Full review to follow on Instagram when I’m completely finished.

Not only does Rebecca Romney has a lot to say but she has found a fun and interesting way to say it. The way the book is set up each chapter is focused on a different female author who's work influenced Jane Austen and Romney writes it all in a chatty voice that feels more like you're talking with someone than reading a non-fiction book about a historical figure.

This reminds me a lot of one of my other favorite books, Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History (in That Order), which I reread every year and I think Jane Austen's Bookshelf will be another regular reread.

Absolutely LOVED this book. In Jane Austen's bookshelf it takes us through the not so known influential authors of the very well known Jane Austen. As someone who doesn't know much about classic author this is a deep dive on all the women that influenced and inspired her. This book is also written by a book collector which gave unique insight to each author by the way the enjoyed the books and what they learned versus a critique of the books.

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf is that rare book whose author combines knowledge of English literature, especially of the 18th century, a particular love of Jane Austen, experience in the world of book collection and book sales at a high level, and who, above all, wants to throw light on the women who influenced Jane Austen as a writer.

Then add to the mix a sense of humor too.

Romney writes in a very readable style of eight women acknowledged by Austen in novels, letters or conversations during her lifetime. Some are slightly remembered today, such as Ann Radcliffe or Frances Burney, but most have been lost except to some 18th century literature texts, if they happen to include women other than Austen.

The subtitle really says it all: A Rare Book Collector’s Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend. You need not be a devoted Austen reader to enjoy and appreciate this book. I haven’t read all of her books yet, I will admit, but I have enjoyed those I have read. And I very much appreciate any effort to open up history and shine light on other women who were also entering the then new world of writing novels. It wasn’t only men making the leap into this genre.

Highly recommended and prepare to add to your reading list!

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

What is a classic and how does it become one? We can probably all name some "classic novels", maybe even some "great American novels", even if we've never read them. And almost all of the early ones will have been written by men, with the undisputed exception of Jane Austen.

Jane Austen's Bookshelf explores the authors Austen herself enjoyed reading, and the ones who influenced her own writing: Frances Burney, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Lennox, Charlotte Smith, Hannah More, Elizabeth Inchbald, Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi, and Maria Edgeworth specifically. These authors are mentioned in Austen's letters and novels, they were among the best sellers of her day. Author Rebecca Romney takes us on two adventures: she explores the lives of each of these remarkable women- their lives, their triumphs, tragedies, and how they came to fall from best selling author status off of the canon of "must-read English authors"; Romney also takes us on her modern journey of discovering these authors herself.

As a rare book seller and a lover of Jane Austen books, Romney wanted to read the books Austen read and find out what she enjoyed reading. Did they stand up to the test of time or did they deserve their fall off their pedestals as brilliant writers? As much as I enjoyed the biographies Romney crafted of the writers themselves, I enjoyed her discoveries of these women, their lives, their books, and their reinterpretations over the centuries possibly more. Her descriptions of finding the copies of the rare book edition that speaks to her for her own collection, her discoveries of her own particular prides and prejudices towards certain kind of books and how she changes her thinking, and the books themselves, are all wonderful.

Romney makes sure Jane Austen's Bookshelf is never a dull read. If you decide after reading this to add Burney, Lennox, and any of the other women's works (and their biographies) to your TBR piles like I have, Romney includes a wonderfully helpful appendix "Selected Books from the Jane Austen Bookshelf" to get you started.

Not a daunting, scholarly work, but readers who enjoyed Devoney Looser's Sister Novelists or Ramie Targoff's Shakespear's Sisters and the forgotten- or purposely overlooked- women writers will enjoy Rebecca Romney's Jane Austen's Bookshelf for many of the same reasons.

I received a DRC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Oh, I found this book fascinating! I love all of Jane Austen's novels/novellas. Through my love of her books, I was led to discover the Brontes, Elizabeth Gaskell, and even Ann Radcliff's Mystery of Udolpho. I was so excited to receive this ARC and immerse myself into discovering the authors that influenced Ms. Austen. I was really surprised that of the 8 women authors, I had only ever heard of two!

Rebecca Romney writes in such an engaging way that the reader feels like they are having a tete-a-tete with her by a cozy fireplace. We learn about her experience as a rare book dealer, what excites her, the nuances of assessing value to old books. She delves into the authors that influenced Jane Austen and offers proof through Jane's own novels, letters, etc. Many of these authors were part of "The Great Forgetting"- a time when the voices and outlook of women writers in the Victorian era were ignored/forgotten. Literature was a mainly male-dominated at this time, causing a huge gender divide in the depiction of authors. However, Jane was influenced by these very same women. The beloved "Pride and Prejudice" derives it's name from a Frances Burney novel! And The Mystery of Udolpho is mentioned in Northanger Abbey.

However, where this book shines is by not just telling us who the influencers were, but giving us a detailed mini-biography of each of their lives- personal and professional. Ms. Romney looks into why they seemed to vanish after having successful publishings, and it is all mesmerizing, and somewhat bittersweet. These authors were successful in their own right. Some wrote for financial reasons, while others were part of higher society. However, writing anonymously (which even some men did at the time because the "novel" was looked down upon!), was a way that society judged them because their writing was seen as influencing morals! Each woman has a fascinating story, and I feel that Rebeca Romney did them all justice. It was also wonderful to see her zeal grow as she looked into each author- it was her personal excitement and love of books/reading , not just her professional side.

I highly recommend this book! The writing is engaging, honest, and fun. The subject is so interesting! And I now have about 20 books added to my list! This not a boring read at all!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element for the ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review.

What an absolute treasure trove for an Jane Austen fan! After so long with so many folks thinking there was really nothing else to learn about her! It just goes to show the book, so to speak, is never fully closed on anyone.

I've read only one of the authors mentioned but barely even heard of any of the rest, I'm so incredibly excited to begin the journey to catch up. Other than the actual subject being so interesting, Rebecca Romney's writing style is fantastically readable and the layout of the book is very well done. The many references to pop culture of the time and excerpts from Jane Austen's own letters make this feel like a proper story we're following Romney on, rather than simply a tome of facts. Delightful and frankly life changing for any Austen fan!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A perfect blend of research and storytelling. This book makes such a good case for reading these writers who aren't given their due. And as someone who dreaming of having the kind of book collection Rebecca Romney does, it's a fascinating look at the process. There's so much patience and research that goes into it, and I have the utmost respect for this work. I loved this book.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

As a lifelong Jane Austen admirer, I’ve often wished for just one more novel from her—one more chance to revel in her wit, her sharp social critiques, and, of course, her delightful romances. But Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney offers something just as fascinating: a journey into the books that shaped Austen’s own literary world. This isn’t just a history lesson; it’s a literary treasure hunt, and Romney is the perfect guide.

With the expertise of a rare book dealer and the enthusiasm of a devoted reader, Romney introduces us to the women writers whose works lined Austen’s shelves. From Frances Burney’s Cecilia (which gifted Austen the phrase “pride and prejudice”) to Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (which made Catherine Morland swoon in Northanger Abbey), each chapter is a delightful blend of literary analysis, personal discovery, and a bit of bookish detective work.

Romney’s passion is infectious. She doesn’t just summarize these forgotten works—she makes a compelling case for why they deserve a place back on our bookshelves today. She also delves into why so many of these writers, once wildly popular, have faded from the canon. The result is a book that not only deepens our appreciation of Austen but also inspires us to seek out the novels that influenced her.

Why not five stars? At times, the book leans more into scholarship than storytelling, and I occasionally wished for more of Romney’s personal anecdotes as she hunted down these lost literary gems. But overall, Jane Austen’s Bookshelf is a must-read for Austen devotees and anyone interested in the hidden corners of literary history.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC. I’ll be making space on my own bookshelf for the authors Romney has so lovingly resurrected!

As someone who took AP Lit in high school and majored in Gender and Sexuality Studies in college, this was exactly my kind of book!!! Jane Austen’s Bookshelf dives into the books that shaped Austen’s writing, and I loved seeing how her influences connected to bigger literary and societal themes. It gave me a fresh perspective on her work and made me want to go back and reread some of her novels with this new context in mind.

That said, some parts were a little dense—understandable for a book like this, but still something to note if you’re looking for a breezy read. Overall, though, it was super insightful and such a fun deep dive for anyone who loves Austen, literary history, or nerding out over what famous authors read.

As an avid Jane Austen fan since high school, I found this book to be completely fascinating. I have read and re-read those novels over the years but gave very little thought to what authors would have help to shape Austen's own writing style and ideas. As part of a college course centered around Austen we did read an Ann Radcliffe novel (Sicilian Romance if my memory is correct) and I found a copy of Mysteries of Udolpho at my local library a few years after that, but beyond that I have not read novels by any of the authors included here. I am not surprised by this considering we barely covered any female authors in high school English classes - not even Jane Austen, I discovered her on my own thanks to the Emma Thompson Sense & Sensibility movie and an 11th grade Brit Lit research assignment that allowed us to write a report on the British author of our choice. It always frustrated me that I didn't get to read many female authors because "boys wouldn't like them" but I still had to suffer through plenty of books by male authors that I did not like. The biggest takeaway from Jane Austen's Bookshelf is a long list of books and plays that I am now searching for so that I can read the work of the authors included this book. Some I have already located on my library's e-book collection (sorry book collectors/sellers). The only aspect I did not like about this book was when the author strayed away from talking about the authors and their works and talked in detail about the antique book business - some of that was interesting but most of the time she would get a little off-topic and I found myself wanting to skip ahead to when she got back to the author for the chapter. As I am sure is the case with just about everyone who reads this book, I found it so frustrating when it was pointed out how many of these female authors have been lost to history because of a group of men with fragile egos who couldn't stand to see a woman succeed or step outside society's very narrow definition of what was appropriate for women. I didn't agree with the author on all of her opinions regarding Austen's work and characters, but that is one of the great things about Austen, there is room in the discussion for everyone's ideas and preferences. As a side note, my favorite Austen novels are Northanger Abbey and Persuasion and I don't dislike Mansfield Park because I find Fanny to be weak, I dislike it because she deserved better than to be Edmund's second choice. I highly recommend this book for high school libraries and wish there were more opportunities for female authors to be included in school curriculums.

“It is natural that novels about women in this era would focus on the most critical point in a woman’s life, one of the few moments where she exercised power: the question of marriage.”

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf investigates Austen’s female literary heroes and recounts the author’s experience reading them and curating her own collection. She digs in to how each writer has been largely forgotten—and it’s not because they were untalented, uninteresting, or unpopular in their day.

The author is a rare book dealer and this reads more like a memoir of reading and collecting these titles rather than a purely academic biographical read of these forgotten writers. This well-researched investigation makes good observations about the criticisms romance books and books written by women and for women, both now and when these authors wrote two hundred years ago.

“A story with a heroine who achieves a happy ending is a symbol of the heroine’s complete victory, of getting both what she wants and what she deserves in a world that works very hard to take that choice from her. Remember, eighteenth-century critics of the novel thought it was dangerous specifically because it encouraged women to be picky about their romantic partners!”

Austen super fans might find sections about her slow, but there is plenty here even for the ones who know the gothic romance reads in Northanger Abbey. And you only think you’re certain where the phrase pride and prejudice came from. A few of the sections felt a little long with her reflections. Those looking for literary critics won’t find much. Those looking to start their journey into women writers of this time period will find a lot to learn.

This is an accessible, fascinating look at a genre once dominated by women, and geared toward women, whose pioneers have been forgotten. Austen was brilliant and has earned her place, but she was not the first.

This book was absolutely lovely. It was super informative about Jane Austen, but also the authors that influenced her. I learned about so many amazing authors that I can't wait to explore further. But also, the author does a great job at recognizing how we as readers don't tend to question the Canon when we maybe should. Who gets to say what is worth reading and what isn't? It was also fun to learn more about the rare book trade in general.

Thank you Netgalley, Simon & Schuster and Marysue Rucci Books for this E-ARC!

Title: Jane Austen's Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney
Genre: Non-fiction, History, Literature
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 4.5/5 stars rounded up for Goodreads.

Part memoir, part history, Jane Austen's Bookshelf is the story of rare book collector Rebecca Romney's journey in discovering the literature written by women who influenced Jane Austen. Romney paints a vivid picture of what it's like to be a book collector as well as the work that goes into discovering the story beyond the story - the story of the book itself. This book chronicles the history and biographies of 9 women authors from the 1700s, including Jane Austen herself.

While info-dumpy at times, as a lover of literature and history, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Learning about the literary canon and what makes an author or their work impactful enough to be embraced by it was really cool. Rebecca has a matter-of-fact but witty and personable writing style that made this book feel very accessible. You might not know much about 18th century British literature but by the end you will have learned quite a bit.

I think my favorite part about this story was how wholeheartedly Rebecca embraced this passion project as a collector and how encouraging she is throughout the book about readers becoming collectors if they have the itch to do so. If you like classic literature or history, this book just might be for you!

Rare book dealer Rebecca Romney has, like many of us, nurtured a lifelong love of Jane Austen. Much of her works revolves around reading and collecting canonical literature, and for most of her career she assumed that books were in the canon because they were the best of their time period. But eventually she began to question why Austen is one of the few canonical female authors of her time period. To learn more, she embarked upon a project to read the books that most likely would have been on Jane Austen’s bookshelf. Unsurprisingly, she found that many works by female authors of the time period were, in fact, phenomenal.

I have mixed feelings about this book. Everything Romney argues is true and important, and there were a number of authors in this book that I had not heard of. If you are coming from a place of “I love Jane Austen and want to learn more about her influences” this book is fantastic; it is well written with a nice blend of information about the authors plus interesting details about Romney herself. But if you are coming in with a solid academic foundation already in place, this book does not add much to your knowledge bank. My educational background is in feminist criticism of the Victorian period, meaning that much of what she is interrogating are themes I already studied in college 20 years ago. However, this is much more engaging and approachable than many of the titles I was assigned!

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Element for an Advanced Reader Copy - pub date 2/18/2025. For me, one of the best indications of a great non-ficgion book is that you close it to find you have an entire list of Further Reading that has miraculously appeared on your scratch pad... and then you actually GO AND FIND THE FURTHER READING. Romney's Jane Austen's Bookshelf nails this in spades. Some of the female authors mentioned were ones I knew. What self-respecting literary dork was unaware of the name Ann Radcliffe, after all? But the fascinating lives and works belonging to the likes of Charlotte Lennox, Elizabeth Inchbald, etc? Those were a complete mystery to me.

Starting from the premise of "I love Jane Austen and surely she cannot have developed her writing in a vacuum and why are there these strange gaps in the canon for those years," Rebecca Romney uses all of her knowledge about books and publishing and literature to search out the mysterious writers who inspired and encouraged and, in some cases, surpassed Jane Austen as a Great Female Novelist. The book is part mystery, part literary critique, part biographies, and all well researched and so much fun to read. It's also aggravating to read because, just like Romney, I found myself hissing at random (mostly male) critics who decided that, while there could be multiple exceptional male authors, there could only be ONE exceptional female at any time and Austen was IT. I imagine Austen herself would have had something brilliant and cutting to say on the topic. So would her favorite authors who I came to meet and admire in this book.

Like I said, the ultimate praise I can give a non-fiction book is that I have a list to go Read More and this one nailed that. In fact, while my head and heart are excited for the trip, my wallet is already starting to groan because, not only did Romney get me excited about new authors but her professional eye and descriptions made me want particular editions. Whoops! Thank you so much. I really mean that.