Jane Austens Journeys

(Hardback)

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Description

Jane Austen lived in an exciting age for travel. Improvements to roads and carriages meant that more people than ever were taking journeys for pleasure, to view picturesque scenery, to visit a spa town or the seaside, or to stay with distant relations. The Austen family were very much part of this trend, and Jane was familiar with most of the counties of southern England, from Kent in the east to Devon in the west, and as far north as Staffordshire. With one exception, all of her heroines leave home at some point in their story to travel to a different part of the country and, even in Emma, where the heroine remains in her village, other characters travel about in quest of health, amusement or a marriage partner. Hazel Jones provides the context for this rage for travel, drawing on a wide range of archives and contemporary printed material, as well as on Jane Austen's own letters and novels. From maps to inns, from travelling dress to turnpikes, every detail is brought vividly before the reader's eyes.

Reviews

Through all twelve chapters an intriguing web of connections is created in dealing with the theme of travel...This relatively inexpensive and handsomely illustrated book would grace any collection of commentaries on Jane Austen's life and writings..Hazel Jones's book is to be highly valued and it will certainly enhance and enrich any re-reading of her [Austen's] works. The Jane Austen Society 'Hazel Jones provides the reader with an enthralling study of travelling as it was experienced by both Jane Austen and her contemporaries. This is a book rich in detail, a book in which we have heaped upon us interesting aspects of Jane Austen's own journeys, as well as those of the travelling public of her day. Even richer for the enthusiast are Hazel Jones's insights into the mental journeys Jane Austen's characters undertake.' Jane Austen Society of Australia

Author Bio

Hazel Jones has published articles in Sensibilities, the journal of the Jane Austen Society of Australia, and Regency World magazine. The author of two previous books about Jane Austen, Hazel has also lectured to audiences in the UK, Australia, the Netherlands and the USA. Since 1995, she has delivered courses on Jane Austen's life, times, letters and fiction at adult residential centres in England and in 2009 she became a Pride & Prejudice Tours guide. She is currently membership secretary of the South West branch of the Jane Austen Society.