# Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney review – the women behind the woman

 

## Review

The introduction by Tom Shone

An erudite exploration of the female writers who influenced the celebrated 19th-century author brings to light neglected or forgotten but often captivating literature.

I It would be easy to mistake Rebecca Romney’s _Jane Austen’s Bookshelf_ for one of the many books produced annually by the Jane Austen industrial-entertainment complex: _Jane Austen at Home_, _Jane Austen: Her Homes & Her Friends_, _Jane Was Here: An illustrated Guide to Jane Austen’s England_. So much cultural real estate has been built off those six published books of Austen’s, it’s a wonder someone hasn’t thought before to do a little detective work into the authors that influenced her: , whose 1794 gothic thriller _The Mysteries of Udolpho_ peppers every other conversation in _Northanger Abbey_; Elizabeth Inchbald, whose 1798 play _Lovers’ Vows_ is rehearsed by the characters in _Mansfield Park_; and Frances Burney, whose third novel, _Camilla_ (1796), originated the phrase “pride and prejudice”. “There are two Traits in her Character which are pleasing,” Austen once wrote of a friend, “namely she admires Camilla, & drinks no cream in her Tea.”




Ann Radcliffe: her novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho, ‘still captivates like a waking dream’. Photograph: Alamy



## Review

I It would be easy to mistake Rebecca Romney’s _Jane Austen’s Bookshelf_ for one of the many books produced annually by the Jane Austen industrial-entertainment complex: _Jane Austen at Home_, _Jane Austen: Her Homes & Her Friends_, _Jane Was Here: An illustrated Guide to Jane Austen’s England_. So much cultural real estate has been built off those six published books of Austen’s, it’s a wonder someone hasn’t thought before to do a little detective work into the authors that influenced her: , whose 1794 gothic thriller _The Mysteries of Udolpho_ peppers every other conversation in _Northanger Abbey_; Elizabeth Inchbald, whose 1798 play _Lovers’ Vows_ is rehearsed by the characters in _Mansfield Park_; and Frances Burney, whose third novel, _Camilla_ (1796), originated the phrase “pride and prejudice”. “There are two Traits in her Character which are pleasing,” Austen once wrote of a friend, “namely she admires Camilla, & drinks no cream in her Tea.”

* Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: The Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend by Rebecca Romney is published by Ithaka (£25). To support the _Guardian_ and _Observer_ order your copy at . Delivery charges may apply

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