The Real Jane Austen

“A vivacious portrait. . . . Byrne’s Austen emerges as a worldly woman, profoundly enmeshed in a wider world than she’s often acknowledged to occupy. This is an Austen with a sense for the political as well as for the finer points of sensibility—and one who will be unfamiliar (though never unrecognizable) to many readers.” —  Publishers Weekly In  The Real Jane Austen , acclaimed literary biographer Paula Byrne provides the most intimate and revealing portrait yet of a beloved but comp