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Book review
Jane Austen: A Companion

by Josephine Ross

Published by John Murray, 2002

This is a most appropriately titled book as it provides a detailed and insightful guide to Jane Austen, with information about her life, her writing, social customs, historical events and significant literature of her time.

The first chapter is a concise but comprehensive account of Austen’s life, sufficient enough for an initial introduction to the famous author but also a useful chapter for any Austen devotee.

Josephine Ross is an extremely competent writer; her beautifully written book is well researched, scholarly but not pedantic. Each chapter heading, illuminating and enticing, is followed by a relevant Austen quotation, such as Chapter 2: ‘The Common Daily Routine’ – ‘Composition seems to me Impossible, with a head full of Joints of Mutton and doses of rhubarb (from a letter to Cassandra, 1816).’

The reader is given a faithful insight into all aspects of Austen’s life, her family, her romantic relationships, friends and connections. These are explored to reveal their influence on Austen’s characters and their stories.

Ross puts pay to many Austen critics by implying that it is their lack of knowledge and perception rather than her inadequacies that limit appreciation of her work. Austen’s novels and letters constantly reinforce her observance of correct protocol, procedure, manners and social customs. We learn, from Ross, the significance of every aspect of behaviour, conduct and appearance, including Austen’s preference for quality and elegance in dress, as she wrote to Cassandra in 1800: ‘I greatly prefer having only two pair of that quality to three of an inferior sort’ when recounting a purchase of stockings.

Austen, through her writing, demonstrates the importance of adherence to the codes of conduct of her times and Ross supplies the background, purpose and relevance of such social structures. She provides the reader with a very clear image of the impact and influence of 18th and early 19th century literature and local, as well as world, events on Austen and in turn, on the characters and developments of her novels.

Some fine, interesting illustrations are included in the book. One is a particularly charming reproduction of a drawing by Cassandra of Jane Austen’s beloved niece, Fanny Austen-Knight, done in 1805.

Ross has an impressive knowledge and a sensitive understanding of Austen, her writing and the period in which she lived. She extrapolates from the texts truths and depths that lie below the surface of Austen’s enchanting fiction.

Being a firm believer in the precept that appreciation of literature requires a knowledge of the ‘source from which it springs’, I found Jane Austen: A Companion an excellent book, a delight to read, brimming with information and an invaluable resource for any new or experienced Jane Austen reader.

I was also captivated by the link between the present and Jane Austen’s time, with the mention of Bath Buns, Bath Oliver biscuits, Twinings Tea and the fact that John Murray, publishers of Ross’s book, also published several of Austen’s novels.

Audrey Keown

14 February 2004

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