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<p> Harman's shrewd critical study, brimming with Brit wit, freshens up our impression of Austen -- an enterprise always hampered by the overarching fact that Austen's life, like Shakespeare's, left behind few biographical fossils, not even a decent portrait to bow down before and worship.... With nimble steps, Harman dances through 200 years' worth of critical reception of Austen's novels, sharing the good, the bad and the brainless.... Harman's informed and elegant chronicle of the rise of 'Divine Jane' (as the late Victorians called her) is an eye-opener. The fact that Austen's posthumous success is also an affirmation of the ideal of a literary meritocracy -- the notion that the canonical cream always rises to the top -- makes Jane's Fame as happy a fairy tale as any of Austen's own novels. --Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air <p> Harman's book ... presents the story of Austen's self-fashioning and later popularity in a convincing, enjoyable way. Harman describes Austen's reputat

<p> Harman's shrewd critical study, brimming with Brit wit, freshens up our impression of Austen &#8212; an enterprise always hampered by the overarching fact that Austen's life, like Shakespeare's, left behind few biographical fossils, not even a decent portrait to bow down before and worship.... With nimble steps, Harman dances through 200 years' worth of critical reception of Austen's novels, sharing the good, the bad and the brainless.... Harman's informed and elegant chronicle of the rise of 'Divine Jane' (as the late Victorians called her) is an eye-opener. The fact that Austen's posthumous success is also an affirmation of the ideal of a literary meritocracy &#8212; the notion that the canonical cream always rises to the top &#8212; makes Jane's Fame as happy a fairy tale as any of Austen's own novels. &#8212;Maureen Corrigan, NPR&#8217;s Fresh Air <p> Harman's book ... presents the story of Austen's self-fashioning and later popularity in a convincing, enjoyable way. Harman

<p> Harman's shrewd critical study, brimming with Brit wit, freshens up our impression of Austen -- an enterprise always hampered by the overarching fact that Austen's life, like Shakespeare's, left behind few biographical fossils, not even a decent portrait to bow down before and worship.... With nimble steps, Harman dances through 200 years' worth of critical reception of Austen's novels, sharing the good, the bad and the brainless.... Harman's informed and elegant chronicle of the rise of 'Divine Jane' (as the late Victorians called her) is an eye-opener. The fact that Austen's posthumous success is also an affirmation of the ideal of a literary meritocracy -- the notion that the canonical cream always rises to the top -- makes Jane's Fame as happy a fairy tale as any of Austen's own novels. --Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air <p> Harman's book ... presents the story of Austen's self-fashioning and later popularity in a convincing, enjoyable way. Harman describes Austen's reputation from her own lifetime to the current era of Jane Austen Inc., synthesizing a good deal of scholarship into a series of tidy chapters offering an accessible guide to the evolution of her subject's renown. --Sophie Gee, The New York Times Book Review <p> There is much to divert and please in Claire Harman's well-blended biography and cultural commentary, Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World. Harman, an award-winning biographer, turns her sharp scholarly eye, acutely sensible prose and considerable wit on the life of the 'divine Jane' in this gem of a book, tracing Austen's early years and literary pursuits through to the present-day cult of Austenmania.... This biography-history fills in many blanks, brimming with entertaining anecdotes and quotes, robust scholarship and ironic humor. --Alison Hood, BookPage <p> <p> A must for Austen bibliophiles. -- Kirkus Reviews <p> <p> [A] sharp and scholarly analysis of Jane Austen's life and the posthumous exploitation of he

Author Information

Claire Harman is the author of ""Sylvia Townsend Warner,"" which won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize; ""Fanny Burney,"" which was short-listed for the Whitbread Prize, and the critically acclaimed ""Robert Louis Stevenson."" Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2006, Harman teaches at the universities of Manchester and Oxford in England and Columbia University in New York City.

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