A biography worth reading

The author has looked at Miss Austen more through his own eyes, and less through the eyes of her many illustrious eulogists, than any other writer we know of. Even when he is in harmony with the opinions of Miss Austen's posterity one feels his first-handedness. Not one of his more heretical opinions exists for the sake of saying something new.

This critical study of Jane Austen falls into three parts: the novelist; the realist; the woman. Part 1 is a searching and unsparing analysis of the six novels, with particular reference to plot. Part 2 is a more brief and general treatment of the characters. Part 3, the biographical section, is a study of Miss Austen's personality as revealed in her letters and reflected in the novels.