Just Jane

Title: JUST JANE (a novel about Jane Austen’s life)
Author: Nancy Moser
Publisher: Bethany House
September 2007
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0356-5
Genre: Inspirational/historical/

Many of us read and loved Pride and Prejudice as required reading during high school. Now, for the first time, we can read a bio/fiction account of Jane Austen’s life.

Jane was one of many children in her pastor father’s household, and the book starts out with a family tree, listing all her siblings, their spouses, and their children. That alone is interesting reading, but even more so as you get to “meet” each future member of the family as they are introduced, and you realize how exactly they came to be there.

Jane, like the characters in her stories, never ventured far from home, yet like all young women in that time, she dreamed of the rich and famous hero to come riding up and carry her off into the sunset. But while she waited, she struggled to find her own place in life.

In JUST JANE, author Nancy Moser carefully researched family letters, historical writings, and used this method to transport readers of JUST JANE into the life that Jane Austen lived.

The next time you read (or reread) Pride and Prejudice, or view the DVD instead, make sure you pick up a copy of JUST JANE to go along with it. You will be impressed with how Jane wrote the story, about the whole story of her own life, and learn a lot more about the time period in the process. Excellent for homeschoolers, as well as historical readers. $13.99. 352 pages.