DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen

The Story of Six Novels, Three Notebooks, a Writing Box, and One Clever Girl

Deborah Hopkinson author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:HarperCollins Publishers Inc

Published:8th Mar '18

Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date

Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen cover

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is one of our greatest writers.

But before that, she was just an ordinary girl.

In fact, young Jane was a bit quiet and shy; if you had met her back then, you might not have noticed her at all. But she would have noticed you. Jane watched and listened to all the things people around her did and said and locked those observations away for safekeeping.

Jane also loved to read. She devoured everything in her father’s massive library, and before long she began creating her own stories. In her time, the most popular books were grand adventures and romances, but Jane wanted to go her own way . . . and went on to invent an entirely new kind of novel.

Deborah Hopkinson and Qin Leng have collaborated on a gorgeous tribute to an independent thinker who turned ordinary life into extraordinary stories and created a body of work that has delighted and inspired readers for generations.

“A charming account of pride and persistence.” — Publishers Weekly “This is an up-close introduction to Austen…[and] a story of a girl’s empowerment.” — Booklist “Hopkinson’s light, conversational tone and obvious appreciation for her subject combine with Qin’s lively ink-and-watercolor illustrations to create an engaging portrait of this talented writer. A perfectly pitched celebration of an esteemed author.” — Kirkus Reviews A lively take on a woman who, despite publishing conventions that favored male writers, refused to let her authorial voice remain mute. This manages to successfully introduce Austen’s characteristic wit and social commentary to an audience who would otherwise be too young to digest the original works. A delightful read. — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

ISBN: 9780062373304

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 270g

40 pages