I've developed a Jane Austen fictionization (fixation + fiction) ever since I rewatched "Becoming Jane" with my roommate. This was exacerbated by my discovery of Just Jane: a Novel of Jane Austen's Life by Nancy Moser. This fictionalized account is one of Moser's many fictionalized biographies of historical women. The book picks up after Austen's disastrous romance with Tom Lefroy (those of you who have seen "Becoming Jane" will be brought up to speed). If you're more interested in that portion of Austen's life (and at some parts of this book, I certainly was,) I would bypass Moser altogether. If you're more interested in hearing how Austen used her life experience to become a world famous writer, then I highly recommend you pick this up. While Moser does her research well to accurately portray events in Austen's life, the majority of the book is inflated with fictionalized accounts connecting events and people described in letters and other accounts of Austen's life. The story could even be read in a series of vignettes concerning events (boring and riveting) that make up the life of Jane Austen including engagements, death, illness, social visits, and relocating all over England. The plight of Austen throughout this novel is her conflict with rising above society's expectations for her to marry and bear children in order to be less of a burden to her family in order to become a pubished author. Jane often becomes bored with the monotony of her life and the only time she is happy is when she's writing or discussing her writing with friends. If you're not familiar with Jane Austen's novels this will not hinder your understanding of Just Jane.
Some downsides to the vignettes are that while some are invigorating, others drag, and the time jumps are only reflected by Jane remarking about how much older she has become. The way the book is written, the events seems as if they could be happening within a span of a few weeks. But the reader must remember how often letters took to arrive anywhere considering the mode of transportation at the time (horse, carriage, or foot). The upside is learning about Austen's thought and writing process and her difficulties with finding inspiration. The writing comes off very solid for a fictionalization. Jane Austen's voice remains true though I did catch some instances of modern slang.
On the whole, I give it a rating of 3 out of 5. I definitely will be gifting this to a friend of mine who I know would enjoy it. Reading this has also made me want to pick up "Emma" as I'm already familiar with Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.
Review: http://www.curledup.com/justjane.htm
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