Romney, Rebecca "Jane Austen's Bookshelf"

Romney, Rebecca "Jane Austen's Bookshelf. The Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend" - 2025

A Christmas present from my son. What a gift!

The subtitle says it all: The Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend. The Legend being Jane Austen.

Rebecca Romney is a rare book dealer and talks to us about her hunt for rare editions. And of the lives of the other female authors from two centuries ago.

Yes, we always read about Jane Austen and what kind of books she is reading. But do we give those authors a second thought? I know I didn't before reading this book.

There are so many different authors from that time. And more women than we might think.

After beginning with Jane Austen, the author takes us to the other ladies who wrote at a time where no women were supposed to write: Frances Burney, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Lennox, Hannah More, Charlotte Smith, Elizabeth Inchbald, Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi, Maria Edgeworth.

While we might not have heard all their names, a lot of the titles they wrote are known to us:

And since I love lists and know that many of you do, as well. Here is a list of the authors and some of their books:

Jane Austen (1775-1817, 41 years)

Frances Burney (1752-1840, 87 years)
Cecilia, 1782
Evelina, 1794
Camilla, 1796

Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823, 58 years)
Fountainville Forest, 1794
The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1794

Charlotte Lennox (c. 1829-1804, 74-75 years)
The Female Quixote, 1852
Shakespear Illustrated, 1854

Hannah More (1745-1833, 88 years)
Sir Eldred of the Bower, 1776
Percy, 1778
Coelebs in Search of a Wife, 1808
The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, 1810

Charlotte Smith (1749-1806, 57 years)
Emmeline, 1788
Desmond, 1792
The Old Manor House, 1793

Elizabeth Inchbald (1753-1821, 67 years)
Appearance is Against them, 1785
Mrs. Inchbald, 1786

Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi (1741-1821, 80 years)
Letters to and  from the late Samuel Johnson, 1788

Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849, 81 years)
Tales of Fashionable Live, 1809/1812
Patronage, 1814
Harrington, and Ormond, 1814
Helen, 1834

As you see, most of them got a lot older than our Jane. Oh, would she have lived eighty years, the novels we could have had!!!

I doubt that I willl ever be able to read all those novels but I hope to catch a few.

So, do I recommend this book? If you are a Jane Austen fan and want to know about the women who influenced her, definitely. If you love classics and would like to find some more authors that you haven't read, yet, for sure. If you like to read about books in general, go ahead. What do you think, would you like to read this?

It is definitely a pleasure to accompany the author on her quest to find out more about Jane Austen and her literature.

There are some quotes I just have to mention:

"On the one hand, we come back to certain books because we want to experience, again, the feelings they first sparked. But books inevitable change with us. We notice new aspects of old favourites because our lives are different. Books are not static things. …"

Very true. We think of a book that containes letters and words in a certain order that won't change. But we change. And with it the content of the book. Re-reading does not mean we have forgotten the book and try to remember it, it means we remember the book and want to experience it in a different lifetime.

And this one on not DNF a book:

"But I'm stubborn. I'm one of those readers who struggles to stop reading abook even when I dislike it. Logically, I know this is absurd. But emotionally, it makes me feel like a quitter. This comminemtn to follow through is how I finished James Joyce'S Ulysses, even thouhg I think I understood only about 35 percent of what I was reading. Joyce hadn't defeated me."

I had to smile. I never give JJ a thought when it comes to finishing a tough book. Because a tough book it is. But I was so happy when I finished it. Sometimes that's also great.

She also quotes Italo Calvino from his book "Why Read the Classics?" (IT: Perché leggere i classici?) which I have read and mentioned before. "A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say." Totally.

Book Description:

"Who were the women that inspired Jane Austen?

Why have they all but disappeared from our shelves?

When Rebecca Romney discovered a clothbound edition of Evelina by Frances Burney she was delighted to find a novel cherished by Jane Austen. Inspired by the connection between the two writers, she revisited Austen’s books with a new lens, picking out clues sprinkled throughout her works that pointed to the writers she had admired.

Romney noticed that while male writers like Shakespeare and Milton still dominate our shelves, the works of Austen’s favourite authors such as Frances Burney and Ann Radcliffe have all but vanished. This ignited a new mission for Romney, she needed to collect Jane Austen’s bookshelf.

Delve into the lives and works of these female writers, and explore their disappearance from history in this page-turning literary adventure."

Oates, Joyce Carol "The Accursed"

Oates, Joyce Carol "The Accursed" - 2013

As already announced in my Hello September post, and my Buddy Read post, Lisa @Capitvated Reader and myself are hosting a buddy read this month. And here is Lisa's post. Have a look at her review, there is a lot more to this part than what I have said.

Spoiler alert:

A buddy read like this cannot be as vague as many of my other reviews. On the other hand, I can't hide everything, so I will have to talk about this book as if I were in a book club and we all read the book.

Therefore, I will be quite open in the next couple of weeks but will, at the end, write a description of the whole book in the way you are all used to. So, if you haven't read the book but still would like to, be patient, I'll get there.

I am not a big fan of fantasy or fantastic, mythical figures. I probably wouldn't have even looked at the book were it not by one of my favourite authors and for a dear blogger friend who invited me to join her buddy read.

Week 1 (Oct 1–Oct 8)

• Author's Note & Prologue: Sets up the faux-historical framing in Princeton, New Jersey, during 1905–1906.

• Part One: Demon Bridegroom: Focuses on the bizarre seduction and abduction of a young bride at her wedding.

The beginning of the novel is quite interesting. There are well-known historical figures but what about the others? Do they exist? E.g. the Slade family?

I don't believe in ghosts, so this doesn't frighten me in any way. So, I can't really believe in a "curse". I do hope this leads people who believe in it to change their habits. Why do they think there is a curse on the town. They must be convinced that they did something wrong.

To dig deeper into the story, I used some discussion questions from LitLovers.

I believe, JCO uses a lot of her fantastic psychology to describe this and the conflict members of the town encounter.

The fictional narrator, M.W. van Dyck, always has his own opinions that he likes to add, even though he calls himself a historian and should therefore be more neutral. However, he also guides us to many questions of this "history". And we might learn from them, if we don't agree with him already.

A great quote from this part of the book:

"But we don't suffer nearly as much as most people", Meta said, hesitantly, "like Negroes, and the poorest immigrants. And We can read ... there is always the prospect of escape."

"Books are not a means of 'escape', Meta. Books are a means of knowledge, and of learning how to cope with the future."

This is a discussion between Upton Sinclair and his wife Meta. Do we agree with Upton or with Meta? I totally like the way of learning how to cope with the future. However, I also like books as a way of escape. Sometimes, this world is too hard on us and we need some distractions. Of course, we can get both from a lot of books. 

In the prologue, the questions gets asked whether the curse really exists or whether the narrator is inadvertently describing an outbreak of collective hysteria and moral decay. I believe in the latter.

One more question from the LitLovers list:

The Accursed asks us to ponder the nature of evil? What is "evil" in the scope of the novel?

That is an important question. And one that we should consider very heavily. Some people consider socialism an "evil", others the opposite of it. What is really evil, in my eyes, is selfishness, not caring about your neighbour (as the bible teaches us and those who claim they are "good Christians" like to preach but not live by).

Lisa said, it feels quite different than other books we've read by JCO.

I must agree but she is such a great author that I am sure we get the most of it.

There are plenty of real life people /and their relatives) in this book:
presidents: Woodrow Wilson, Grover Cleveland, Teddy Roosevelt
authors: Upton Sinclair, Jack London, Mark Twain
others: Andrew Fleming West

Book Description:

"This eerie tale of psychological horror sees the real inhabitants of turn-of-the-century Princeton fall under the influence of a supernatural power. New Jersey, 1905: soon-to-be commander-in-chief Woodrow Wilson is president of Princeton University. On a nearby farm, Socialist author Upton Sinclair, enjoying the success of his novel 'The Jungle', has taken up residence with his family. This is a quiet, bookish community - elite, intellectual and indisputably privileged. But when a savage lynching in a nearby town is hushed up, a horrifying chain of events is initiated - until it becomes apparent that the families of Princeton have been beset by a powerful curse. The Devil has come to this little town and not a soul will be spared. 'The Accursed' marks new territory for the masterful Joyce Carol Oates - narrated with her unmistakable psychological insight, it combines beautifully transporting historical detail with chilling fantastical elements to stunning effect."

#ThrowbackThursday. October 2016

I've been doing ThrowbackThursdays for a while but I noticed that I wrote a lot of reviews in a short time when I first started. So, I post more than one Throwback every week. These are my reviews from October 2016.

If you are looking for more bloggers who participate here, there is always a post on The Chocolate Lady's website where you can also add yours.

Maalouf, Amin "Samarkand" (French: Samarcande) - 1988

This novel takes us from the life of poet, mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyám and his poetry collection Rubaiyat in Samarkand of the 11th century to the voyage of the fictional character Benjamin O. Lesage on the Titanic in 1912. I was happy to learn not just about his poetry but especially about his life and that of his contemporaries in an area that is as unknown to me and most people in Europe in that time as it is today.

Obama, Barack "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" - 2006
The author gives an account of his first steps as a politician. I found it very interesting to look behind the scenes with someone who has been a Senator, who knows all the ins and outs and the pros and cons of politics. Very interesting.

Pye, Michael "The Edge of the World: How the North Sea Made Us Who We Are" - 2014

An exciting book. A look at how we became what we are. What has the North Sea done, how has it contributed to our history?

It looks like it has done a lot, it sent out fishermen and pirates, businessmen and adventurers. We didn't just find the American Continent by those first people who wanted to find new waterways, a lot of our system and how we live today started there. Our way of living, doing business, organizing, politics, law, science, insurance, money, art, everything comes from those explorations and how people first started to settle and find their way in this world. 

16 years of blogging

16^th Blogiversary

On Tuesday, Tuesday, 5 October 2010, I started this blog.

In the meantime, I have had 6572575 views, 87 followers, 3089 posts and 16400 comments.

My very first post was about my favourite author, Jane Austen, of course: Which Austen Heroine are You? At the time, I thought I might be Anne Elliot but it turned out I was Elinor Dashwood which I am convinced now is the more correct choice.

My lastest post from Saturday, Six Degrees of Separation ~ Life of M, has had 38 views so far.

And because not all of my reader friends speak English, I started a second blog on 30 October 2012: Mariannes Bücherecke/Der Bücherwurm (Marianne's Book Corner/The Book Worm). And though I didn't start all blogging all my books there immediately, I have had 1473 posts in the meantime and 353865 views.

I have always enjoyed sharing the books I read with fellow readers and I hope to do so for a long, long time.

Thank you to everyone who shares this passion with me and who contributes to my blog.

You can find more information under Statistics.

Six Degrees of Separation ~ Life of M

Rachel Cusk
"Life of M" - 2026

#6Degrees of Separation:
from Life of M (Goodreads) to One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch 

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

The starter book this month is "Life of M" by Rachel Cusk. As so often, I haven't read the starter book. But I recently read a book with an actress and I rather read books about normal people, about the girl or the guy next door.

This is the description of the novel:

"From the critically-acclaimed author of the Outline trilogy, an irresistible novel of fame, power, beauty and truth -- and a blazing renovation of the form

A little while ago, I told the actor M that I was thinking of writing her autobiography. She liked the idea. She's a good sport. Would you just make it up? she said.

M is a film star, and one of the most recognisable faces of our time.

With such fame, her life has the appearance of freedom: people are instantly obliging, spaces are altered to accommodate her, time can be rearranged. For her, it seems, the rules of reality have melted away.

Now M has agreed to let a stranger write her biography. Their project will sprawl and expand: to the olive groves and holiday beaches where M spends her days; across hotel rooms, bourgeois facades, film sets; through endless modern cities. It is hard not to feel ugly next to M, hard not to feel insignificant. But what truths - about the very experience of living - might this proximity allow the writer to briefly capture? And what in the end will M make of their work?

In Life of M, Rachel Cusk has again fashioned a new kind of literature. A novel stripped of artifice, it takes our emptiness and fills it with grace."

The last three months I found there was a word in the title which is repeated in quite a few books. I had Year, Land and Island. This was another title that I could use in this way, so we will go with Life this time.

Brecht, Bertolt "Life of Galileo" (German: Das Leben des Galilei) - 1938

An epic play about the life of Galileo Galilei, his discoveries, his conflicts with the Catholic Church, his conflicts with himself and the rest of the world. 

Bryson, Bill "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" - 2006

I don't know what I love most about Bill Bryson, his humour certainly is a big contender for number one. But it's not just that, he is a brilliant writer, I think even if he would write a cook book or a technical instruction, it would sound great.

Anyway, in this book we go back to his roots, meet his family, meet little William - or Billy - Bryson, his friends, his foes, his adventures as a young boy, his adventures as an older boy.

Clarke, Marcus "For the Term of His Natural Life" - 1870-72

This novel was recommended to me by one of my Australian friends, it describes the life of a convict from when he first gets condemned through the voyage to the new continent and the rest of his life. The story is very gripping and the author has a great way of describing the life of these poor creatures.

I am still looking for a book I read ages ago about someone who belonged to the first convicts who were released and settled on the land while the aborigines were not in the area and then had to face them when they returned. If anyone has a suggestion as to the title of that one, I’d be very grateful.

Naipaul, V.S. "Half A Life" - 2001

This novel takes place in a lot of different parts of this world, India, Africa, Europe.

A privileged son leaves his home and goes abroad to live a poor life. An interesting take on life in different settings. 

Pamuk, Orhan "The New Life" (Turkish: Yeni Hyat) - 1994

In this novel, the protagonist reads a book. Sounds familiar?

Now, even reading a brilliant book doesn't mean it will change your entire life. But in this case, it does. Osman is a student in Istanbul. He gives up his studies, leaves his family and friend behind and goes on a long journey through Turkey with no destiny or motive.

Solschenizyn, Alexander "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" (Russian: Оди́н день Ива́на Дени́совича Odin den' Ivana Denisovicha) - 1962

We always hear about the Gulag, the prisoners who sent to Siberia and have to work there etc. But we never really know what is going on there, what the work is like, how the prisoners are kept.

Unless we read about the one day in the life of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, starting the instant he opens his eyes in the morning until he closes them again in the evening.

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So, what's the connection between the starter book and the last one except for the word "life" in the title? In both cases the life is very different from ours (and from each other), like in all the others. No life is the same.

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Spell the Month in Books ~ October 2026

Reviews from the Stacks

I found this on one of the blogs I follow, Books are the New Black who found it at One Book More. It was originally created by Reviews from the Stacks, and the idea is to spell the month using the first letter of book titles.

October: First Names – First Names of Authors

Since we choose our own topics at the moment, it is always a little harder. I did get this inspiration from some other bloggers last month. I believe we all copy from each other.

I am happy to have found quite a few foreign authors and hope I can inspire some of my blog friends to read them.

OCTOBER

O

Pamuk, Orhan "The Red-Haired Woman" (Turkish: Kırmızı Saçlı Kadın) - 2016

This author always finds a new way to portray his country, the people who live there, the uniqueness of a place between East and West.

But he also combines history and present. He explains what is going on in present day Turkey in his own way. And he uses a lot of symbolism that is easy to understand. Just brilliant.

And then there is always a way where he brings us closer to Eastern culture.

C

Ruiz Zafón, Carlos "The Labyrinth of the Spirits" (Spanish: El laberinto de los espíritus) - 2016

The fourth book in the series of the Cemetery of Forgotten books. It was just as exciting as the first three that had originally been called a trilogy but - luckily - the author decided to turn it into a tetralogy. 
We have learned a lot about the family Sempere and the authors they read, their friends and their lives, esp. the lives of the people in Catalonia during the Franco regime.

T

Mann, Thomas "The Magic Mountain" (German: Der Zauberberg) - 1924

This author is a very famous German Nobel Laureate and he has written a lot of books worth reading. Even the title of this one sounds enchanting. Who wouldn't want to step into it, even if it means you have to go through 1,100 pages to get to the end? I think this book deserves five stars just for the brilliant title which is as magical in the original as well as the translated title.

A very philosophical novel. 

O

Grjasnowa, Olga "All Russians Love Birch Trees" (German: Der Russe ist einer, der Birken liebt) - 2012 

The protagonist is a young woman not unlike the author. She grew up in Azerbaijan and speaks several languages. So does Masha, our main character. She lives in Frankfurt with her boyfriend. After a tragedy, she goes to Israel where she tries to settle. Her home could be everywhere, yet, she finds it is nowhere.

B

Bryson, Bill "A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail" - 1998

Same as in all his other travel books, the author writes one of the funniest accounts of a mega-hike. The story itself is hilarious, Bill Bryson manages to describe everything in such a funny way that you cannot avoid laughing.

E

Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan) "A Passage to India" - 1924

This novel takes us both to a different time and a different area, India in die 1920s. Of course, the protagonists are British who live in the time of the Indian independence movement but the main character is a young Indian who gets into trouble just through the carelessness of the English. The book talks about friendship, colonialism, the wish of all human beings to be independent.

R

Schami, Rafik "The Dark Side of Love" (German: Die dunkle Seite der Liebe) - 2004

The author once said you cannot understand the history and present of the Arabs without the prohibition of love. And with this book he has shown us a great example and hopefully helps us to understand each other better.

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Happy Reading!

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Happy October!

Happy October to all my Friends and Readers

New Calendar picture with this
beautiful watercolour painting by Frank Koebsch
"Bryggen in Bergen im Herbst"
"Bryggen in Bergen im Herbst"

Frank says to this picture:

"Zum Herbst gehören auch Regentage und so haben wir für den Oktober ein Aquarell aus der regenreichsten Stadt Europas Bergen ausgesucht. "

"Rainy days also belong to autumn, so for October we have chosen a watercolour of Europe's rainiest city Bergen." 

Absolutely beautiful. and so Scandinavian. I have never been to Norway but we have been to Sweden several times. So I thought, I share another picture of a beautiful Swedish city: Göteborg.

Read more on their website here. *

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September was calmer than the months before with more friendly events like birthday parties, concerts, and a theatre play.

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My favourite book last month was "All Our Wordly Goods" (Les Biens de ce monde) by Irène Némirovsky, written in 1942.

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German proverb this month:
Den Teufel an die Wand malen

Literal translation: to paint the devil onto the wall.

Meaning: pessimistic. Fearing the worst, portraying a situation in an overly pessimistic light, or conjuring up a disaster through negative thoughts.

We often say: Mal den Teufel nicht an die Wand! Don't paint the devil onto the wall! if we want to tell people not to see things too negatively. Don't predict anything bad, it might happen.

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* You can also have a look under my labels Artist: Frank Koebsch and Artist: Hanka Koebsch where you can find all my posts about the two artists. 

🍁 I wish you all a very Happy October! 🍁