Jane Austen loved a garden. She took a keen interest in flower gardening and kitchen gardening alike. This book strolls through the sorts of gardens that Jane Austen would have known and visited: the gardens of the great estates, cottage gardens, gardens in town, and public gardens and parks. Some of the gardens she owned or knew exist still in some form today; among the gardens highlighted is the restored garden at Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton, England, complete with a sample planting plan of the flowers grown there now. The book also includes touring information for gardens featured in film adaptations of the novels. With lush photos, social history, excerpts from the novels, information on her life, and period drawings, this book brings Georgian and Regency gardens and Jane Austen’s world to life. In the Garden with Jane Austen captures the essence and beauty of the traditional English garden. As the heroine of Mansfield Park Fanny Price observes, “To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment.”

Eccentric Fran wants a second chance. Thanks to her intimacy with Jane Austen, and the poet Shelley, she finds one. Jane Austen is such a presence in Fran's life that she seems to share her cottage and garden, becoming an imaginary friend. Fran's conversations with Jane Austen guide and chide her - but Fran is ready for change after years of teaching, reading and gardening. An encounter with a long-standing English friend, and an American writer, leads to new possibilities. Adrift, the three women bond through a love of books and a quest for the idealist poet Shelley at two pivotal moments of his life: in Wales and Venice. His otherworldly longing and yearning for utopian communities lead the women to interrogate their own past as well as motherhood, feminism, the resurgence of childhood memory in old age, the tensions and attractions between generations. Despite the appeal of solitude, the women open themselves social to ways of living - outside partnership and family. Jane Austen, as always, has plenty of comments to offer. The novel is a (light) meditation on age, mortality, friendship, hope, and the excitement of change.

While to us tea is an everyday commodity, in Austen's time it was relatively expensive, and to be able to offer it to visitors implied some degree of social status. This book examines the social customs of the time, and includes recipes.

* INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * "This novel delivers sweet, smart escapism." —People "Fans of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society will adore The Jane Austen Society... A charming and memorable debut, which reminds us of the universal language of literature and the power of books to unite and heal." —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris Just after the Second World War, in the small English village of Chawton, an unusual but like-minded group of people band together to attempt something remarkable. One hundred and fifty years ago, Chawton was the final home of Jane Austen, one of England's finest novelists. Now it's home to a few distant relatives and their diminishing estate. With the last bit of Austen's legacy threatened, a group of disparate individuals come together to preserve both Jane Austen's home and her legacy. These people—a laborer, a young widow, the local doctor, and a movie star, among others—could not be more different and yet they are united in their love for the works and words of Austen. As each of them endures their own quiet struggle with loss and trauma, some from the recent war, others from more distant tragedies, they rally together to create the Jane Austen Society. A powerful and moving novel that explores the tragedies and triumphs of life, both large and small, and the universal humanity in us all, Natalie Jenner's The Jane Austen Society is destined to resonate with readers for years to come.

Jane Austen was deeply inspired by the landscape and rural comforts of southern England. Her family's final move to Chawton, in the depths of the Hampshire countryside and so near the Steventon rectory of her childhood, gave her great satisfaction and led to her most creative period.

Explore the homes which shaped our best-loved novelist. Jane Austen is among the most widely read and beloved authors in English literature. Her novels vividly depict the society and world in which she lived with humour and sharp social commentary. Jane’s own life and emotional experiences, deeply influenced by where she lived in southern England and her travels to other parts of the country, are reflected in her works and in the importance of house and home to her characters. With newly commissioned photographs of Chawton House and Steventon Church and village in Hampshire, and a wide range of contemporary illustration, Kim Wilson explores the homes which shaped this best-loved novelist, bringing to life the domestic settings of her great works.

Bringing Jane Austen's gardens--real and fictional--to life with excerpts from her novels and letters, period songs, poetry, and illustrations, this charming recollection offers tips for creating English gardens alongside Austen. This lavishly illustrated exploration with color photographs of gardens associated with the writer offers a rich experience to admirers of both Austen and gorgeous gardens. Complete with a reference section that includes important dates in Austen's life, locations and dates of her houses, and a map of 1809 England, this delightful book is perfect for the history and garden enthusiast alike.