Only a Novel: The Double Life of Jane Austen

An intimate portrait of the two sides of the inimitable Jane Austen: the extraordinary public life of England’s best loved novelist and the more private world of the woman behind the words. Pulling together the decorous and genteel young woman dedicated to family life and the enigmatic author who shied away from the spotlight, this biography sheds light on the great mind that, with acerbic wit and razor-sharp observation, illuminated women’s lives ruled by English manners. Weaving in historical records and family letters, Aiken Hodge’s endearing and affectionate profile of the esteemed author of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion unites these two worlds and finally answers the question: who, exactly, was Jane Austen? Only a Novel was first published in 1972.