- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: WaterBrook Press (Oct 16 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1400073707
- ISBN-13: 978-1400073702
- Product Dimensions: 14 x 1.6 x 20.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 272 g
- Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #297,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In this engaging, deeply personal and well-researched travelogue, Smith (a PW contributor) journeys to England to soak in the places of Jane Austen's life and writings. The book is sure to ride the wave of Austen-philia that has recently swept through Hollywood and a new generation of Americans, but this is an unusual look at Jane Austen. Readers will learn plenty of biographical details-about Austen's small and intimate circle of family and friends, her candid letters to her sister, her possible loves and losses, her never-married status, her religious feelings, and her untimely death at the age of 41. But it is the author's passionate connection to Jane-the affinity she feels and her imaginings of Austen's inner life-that bring Austen to life in ways no conventional biographer could. Smith's voice swings authentically between the raw, aching vulnerability of a single Christian woman battling a debilitating and mysterious chronic illness and the surges of faith she finds in the grace of a loving God. And yes, she even meets a potential Darcy at the start of her journey. This deliciously uncertain romantic tension holds the book together as Smith weaves her own thoughts, historical research, and fitting references to Austen's novels into a satisfying whole. (Oct. 16)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
“A young woman goes looking for Austen in all the places Austen once lived and many of the places she wrote about. The Austen she finds is a woman of family, and of quiet but sustaining faith. Austen shares these things and many others with author Lori Smith whose book gives the reader the great pleasure of time spent with both. A lovely, intimate read.”
–Karen Joy Fowler, best-selling author of The Jane Austen Book Club
“Sensitively written and carefully paced this memoir takes the reader on a tour of the author’s experiences while journeying around England in the footsteps of Jane Austen. Lori Smith moves seamlessly from romantic daydreams, through a close questioning of her relationship with God, to battles with her mental and physical health. The book reads as an intimate and honest memoir and has enough to satisfy the non-Christian (like myself) if they choose to look beyond the somewhat unexpected (in a mainstream book at least) pairing of Jane Austen and Christianity. Above all else, this is a book about searching–for love, meaning, peace with oneself, health, a good night’s sleep, and a decent cup of coffee that wasn’t made with that freeze-dried-instant-powder–and these are experiences that anyone of any faith can relate to.... A welcoming read. Lyrical and questioning...perfectly pitched.”
–Emma Campbell Webster, actress, author of Lost in Austen, and founder of lostinaustenblogspot.com
“With wit, charm, and rare honesty–of which I have to believe Jane Austen would have thoroughly approved–Lori Smith weaves her personal life experiences throughout her journey into the life that was Jane’s. Infused with faith, romance, loss, and a search for self, A Walk With Jane Austen makes for that rare book that keeps popping into one’s thoughts and beckoning one back.”
–Tamara Leigh, author of Perfecting Kate and Splitting Harriet
“With deep and sometimes heartwrenching honesty, Lori Smith weaves her story and Jane’s together into a wholly unique narrative. In the midst of a craze for treating Austen’s novels as little more than glorified bodice-rippers, Lori brings to bear her perspective as a single Christian woman who can identify in many ways with Austen’s own beliefs and experiences, exploring truths and ideas that others gloss over. The resulting book stands out like a beacon.”
–Gina R. Dalfonzo, editor of The Point weblog (http://thepoint.breakpoint.org) and writer for BreakPoint Radio
–Karen Joy Fowler, best-selling author of The Jane Austen Book Club
“Sensitively written and carefully paced this memoir takes the reader on a tour of the author’s experiences while journeying around England in the footsteps of Jane Austen. Lori Smith moves seamlessly from romantic daydreams, through a close questioning of her relationship with God, to battles with her mental and physical health. The book reads as an intimate and honest memoir and has enough to satisfy the non-Christian (like myself) if they choose to look beyond the somewhat unexpected (in a mainstream book at least) pairing of Jane Austen and Christianity. Above all else, this is a book about searching–for love, meaning, peace with oneself, health, a good night’s sleep, and a decent cup of coffee that wasn’t made with that freeze-dried-instant-powder–and these are experiences that anyone of any faith can relate to.... A welcoming read. Lyrical and questioning...perfectly pitched.”
–Emma Campbell Webster, actress, author of Lost in Austen, and founder of lostinaustenblogspot.com
“With wit, charm, and rare honesty–of which I have to believe Jane Austen would have thoroughly approved–Lori Smith weaves her personal life experiences throughout her journey into the life that was Jane’s. Infused with faith, romance, loss, and a search for self, A Walk With Jane Austen makes for that rare book that keeps popping into one’s thoughts and beckoning one back.”
–Tamara Leigh, author of Perfecting Kate and Splitting Harriet
“With deep and sometimes heartwrenching honesty, Lori Smith weaves her story and Jane’s together into a wholly unique narrative. In the midst of a craze for treating Austen’s novels as little more than glorified bodice-rippers, Lori brings to bear her perspective as a single Christian woman who can identify in many ways with Austen’s own beliefs and experiences, exploring truths and ideas that others gloss over. The resulting book stands out like a beacon.”
–Gina R. Dalfonzo, editor of The Point weblog (http://thepoint.breakpoint.org) and writer for BreakPoint Radio
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Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Walk With Jane Austen,
By
This review is from: A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith (Paperback)
I expected a little more Jane and a little less Lori in this book. Initially she begins with a section outlining all of the locations and appropriate website to investigate. My interest is peaked. Then she begins to talk about her trip. Shortly after that I lose interest rapidly. I understand the introspective into her ownpersonal faith and I could see a parallel or relationship that could be made to the faith & followings of the people in Jane Austen's time. What I don't get is all the self-serving whining. If you have an on-going physical or health problem then write a book about that. Don't disguise it as something else. I expected to read a descriptive narrative of the travels of a woman to many of the sites that pertain to Jane Austen. Well she did give perfunctory references to them when she was there but then usually went into some sort of diatribe about what a hard time she was having or how tired she was, etc. I just don't care! Also, I don't need to read the diary of a thirty-something woman who approaches relationships with the angle of a 15 year old. Grow-up and look at a man like a man. They are not boys, you are not in high school and again, I JUST DON'T CARE! I was very disappointed in the content of this book and I think it misrepresents itself to those of us that enjoy all Austen.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.3 out of 5 stars (36 customer reviews) 16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Braveheart,
By Fellow Traveler - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith (Paperback)
I thoroughly enjoyed Lori Smith's "A Walk with Jane Austen," it is unquestionably an enjoyable and thought provoking read. Once again Lori has bravely and generously let the reader sit beside her and hear her thoughts, listen to her humbly own her strengths and goodness, while at the same time actively confront and challenge her growing edges. Such self examination of her own character is an inspiration to the reader. Lori has a veritable gift for meaningfully writing about unquestionably challenging human struggles without making the topic overwhelming or odious---this is because the prose is so absolutely lovely, funny, and honest, that the reader feels completely natural and at ease at every turn.
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jane would have approved!,
By Austin Native - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith (Paperback)
This is a beautiful book about Lori Smith's real life adventures when she went to England to explore Jane Austen's world. Interwoven with her own stories are fascinating and little-known facts about Jane Austen. Lori lets us into her life, as well as Jane's, and everyone will find something to relate to and learn from. It is a fun and inspiring book, and way too short!
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A delightful addition to the travel memoir genre,
By K. Steakley "Avid reader" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith (Paperback)
Lori Smith joins the ranks of travel memoirists with the engaging story of her trip through Jane Austen's England and the coinciding Austenian romance that arose during her stay. Lori reveals herself to us as a quintessential Austenian character--charming, essentially good, but honestly and vulnerably flawed. Her struggles with faith and her exploration of Austen's religious roots, her musings on life as a single woman in the 21st and 19th centuries, and her detailed and insightful descriptions of Austen's history and the places that figured in her history will delight both Austen fans and fans of the memoir genre.
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