JANE AUSTEN: Love Is Like A Rose

Whereas many aspects of Jane Austen's life are well known and documented, others are shrouded in mystery and this was not a result of any action on her part. It was principally because of the actions of her sister Cassandra who, after Jane's death, deliberately destroyed numerous letters sent by her to family and friends. They alluded to the fact that, at the turn of the 17th to 18th century, Jane fell in love with a person whose identity has remained a mystery. It is possible that after a passage of more than two centuries and despite the fact that Cassandra destroyed letters that this mystery lover is identified. Barrington Court in Somersetshire is one of the National Trust's most prestigious properties and evidence is produced for the very first time that this property was Jane's inspiration for Kellynch Hall, home of Sir Walter Elliot in Persuasion. The book chronicles her relationship with family and friends who would later populate her novel like her sister and the vivacious Francophile Eliza de Feuillide. From amateur dramatics held in her family home in Steventon and early experimentations in Juvenilia, to her sojourns in Bath and fatal illness while penning Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, the correspondence compiled here gives a touching account of the places and personalities which inspired Jane Austen. The book is supplemented by relevant incisions into her novels, and Andrew Norman's biography yields an intriguing new solution to the mystery of her unrequited love. With family trees and appendices and photos, 157pp in paperback.