Jane Austen Obstinate Heart

Jane Austen’s world-famous novels give readers a small glimpse into the author’s real life, which was filled with as many ups and downs as those of Emma Woodhouse or Elizabeth Bennet. She too had to navigate her way through a stratified society, filled with rules and repressions that she strove to break. But Austen was even more fascinating than her fiery female protagonists. In Jane Austen: Obstinate Heart, Valerie Grosvenor Myer explores the writer’s life with detail that will make Austen’s books even more enjoyable for fans. Grosvenor Myer, who has previously written biographies of Margaret Drabble and Charlotte Brontë, delves into letters, family memories, and Austen’s novels to illuminate a perceptive picture of the woman herself and the social climate in which she lived. Surprises abound, and the reader is left with a sense of relief that Austen remained true to her “obstinate heart.” This is an invaluable companion for anyone who has been absorbed in one of her spirited novels.

One hundred and fifty years after she lived and wrote, Jane Austen has become, in the words of Variety, magazine, a "worldwide mega celebrity". How did this unmarried "poor relation" from a middle-class family of clergymen come to write the passionate, witty novels about love and money that have made her one of the most popular writers of all time? How much of what she wrote was taken from what she really lived? Austen's obstinacy made escape impossible -- she would not consider marrying without love. She died poor and single, and thought of her books as her children. Taking a fresh and perceptive look at Jane Austen's life and undoubted genius, Valerie Grosvenor Myer draws on Austen's letters, family papers, and other candid accounts by her friends and relatives to bring this humorous, lovable woman to life. Jane Austen: Obstinate Heart is a delightful and entertaining portrait that will appeal to Austen fans of all walks. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Jane Austen’s world-famous novels give readers a small glimpse into the author’s real life, which was filled with as many ups and downs as those of Emma Woodhouse or Elizabeth Bennet. She too had to navigate her way through a stratified society, filled with rules and repressions that she strove to break. But Austen was even more fascinating than her fiery female protagonists. In Jane Austen: Obstinate Heart, Valerie Grosvenor Myer explores the writer’s life with detail that will make Austen’s books even more enjoyable for fans. Grosvenor Myer, who has previously written biographies of Margaret Drabble and Charlotte Brontë, delves into letters, family memories, and Austen’s novels to illuminate a perceptive picture of the woman herself and the social climate in which she lived. Surprises abound, and the reader is left with a sense of relief that Austen remained true to her “obstinate heart.” This is an invaluable companion for anyone who has been absorbed in one of her spirited novels.

For many middle-class women of Austen's day, marriage was paradoxically the only method of achieving independence. Marriage could also be a life sentence. Myer shows that by many accounts Austen was pretty and flirtatious (though occasionally also sharp-tongued), and the object of at least two proposals, but obstinate in her refusal to marry for other than love. Her obstinacy condemned her to reliance on her family for financial support. As Myer points out, it also enabled Austen to write her immortal novels.

What can Jane Austen teach us about health? Prepare to have your bonnet blown... From the food secrets of Pride and Prejudice to the fitness strategies of Sense and Sensibility, there’s a modern health code hidden in the world’s most popular romances. Join Bryan Kozlowski as he unlocks this “health and happiness” manifesto straight from Jane Austen’s pen, revealing why her prescriptions for achieving total body “bloom” still matter in the 21st century. Whether that’s learning how to eat like Lizzie Bennet, exercise like Emma Woodhouse, or think like Elinor Dashwood, explore how Austen’s timeless body beliefs are more relevant, refreshing, and scientifically sensible now than ever before. After all, it's still a truth universally acknowledged – Jane Austen’s heroines don’t get fat.