SALE Living with Jane Austen

This book is unused and unread. It has some cosmetic imperfections such as scuffing and creasing. Its dust jacket is damaged. It is also stamped 'damaged'.

This book cannot be discounted further.

Fanny Price, in Mansfield Park, tells her persistent suitor that 'we have all a better guide in ourselves...than any other person can be'. Sometimes, however, we crave external guidance: and when this happens we could do worse than seek it in Jane Austen's own subtle novels. Written to coincide with Austen's 250th birthday, this approachable and intimate work shows why and how - for over half a century - Austen has inspired and challenged its author through different phases of her life. Part personal memoir, part expert interaction with all the letters, manuscripts and published novels, Janet Todd's book reveals what living with Jane Austen has meant to her and what it might also mean to others. Todd celebrates the undimmable power of Austen's work to help us understand our own bodies and our environment, and teach us about patience, humour, beauty and the meaning of home.

• Janet Todd is a leading critic of Jane Austen and this accessible book distils the 'essence' of her thinking into readable and concentrated form, which can be read by anyone with an interest in Austen
• Combines astute literary reflection with memoirs of a reading life
• Shows how Austen's books remain surprisingly applicable to contemporary settings, exploring themes such as self-regard and the obsession with our bodies, English patriotism and the destructive march of tourism