What matters in Jane Austen?

Have you ever wondered why some characters in Austen's novels never utter a word? What is the importance of weather or blushing or sickness in moving her stories forward? If you have (and , perhaps, you haven't) you are going to find all answers in John Mullan's fascinating book. Enriched with passages not only from Austen's novels but also excerpts from her letters to her sister, Cassandra, it is a study that shows her writings under a new light.

John Mullan's What Matters in Jane Austen? is an extremely informative, charming book that deserves its own space in the bookcase of every Jane Austen afficionado and every lover of British Literature in general.

Accessible, sometimes fascinating, genuinely fun - if I had read more Austen in advance of reading this, I'm fairly certain I would give it 5 stars.