Updated 21/7/2024

So you’ve read all of Jane Austen’s novels… now what?

Among the Janeites reminded me of just how active the Jane Austen fandom is, so I thought it would be fun to put together an Austen-focused book recommendation post! I’ll be linking to my full reviews of the books and otherwise stated, these links are to pages on this blog.

Fiction

General Fiction

Books that Austen was influenced by!

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe: Mentioned directly in the text of Northhanger Abbey, The Mysteries of Udolpho is a gothic novel that was extremely popular in Austen’s time. An heiress? Evil uncle? Romance? This book has got it all! It is a little bit difficult to read, but if you can manage extremely long sentences, you can probably manage this book. (Full review here – Goodreads)

Evelina by Frances Burney: A “comedy of manners” that influenced Austen, Evelina is a fun and melodramatic read. Our titular character has a heart of gold and we basically follow her as she heads to London for the first time and learns what London society is all about. I really liked the epistolary style and thought that Evelina was great fun! (Full review here)

Fanfiction

What is a fandom without fanfiction?

Unequal Affections by Lara S. Ormiston: This is my hands-down favourite Jane Austen fanfiction EVER. It takes the premise “what if Elizabeth accepted Darcy’s first proposal” and then writes a fantastic love story for the both of them. To me, the language and characters here stayed true to their original versions, which is why I loved this book so much. (Full review here)

Pssst…I have to admit that while writing this post, I got caught up rereading some of Ormiston’s other Austen tales because they are just so delightful!

Longburn by Jo Baker: Have you ever thought about the lives of the people who worked for the Bennets? I’ve to admit that I never considered them until I heard about Longburn. This novel contains an entirely different set of events from Pride and Prejudice, but the two storylines run parallel to one another, making this a new and interesting viewpoint to the novel. (Full review here – Goodreads)

Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James: Pride & Prejudice with a murder mystery? That alone is enough to earn it a place in this post. While I have to admit that I didn’t enjoy it as much while rereading, I felt that Death Comes to Pemberley stayed largely true to the Pride and Prejudice universe and was fun to read. (Full review here – Goodreads)

Nonfiction

Nonfiction – General

For when you want to start learning about the world Austen lived in

Jane Austen for Dummies by Joan Elizabeth Klingel Ray: I really, really don’t like the title of this book but it is a fantastic introduction to Jane Austen. Klingel Ray doesn’t just introduce Austen’s novels, she also provides an accessible introduction to the literary and social background to the novels, making it easy for a beginner to Jane Austen to deepen their enjoyment of the books.

Jane Austen’s Guide to Modern Life Dilemmas by Rebecca Smith: What I liked about this book was that Smith drew upon the letters and works of Austen to offer advice to imaginary situations, which made it a fun way to learn about Austen and how she might have thought. (Full review here)

The Real Jane Austen – A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne: This is a rather unconventional biography of Austen because instead of examining her life chronologically, we examine her life through different items, like a topaz cross, a picture, etc. I thought it provided a new way of looking at her life and works and I think you will too, as long as you’re okay with a non-chronological look at her life. (Full review here – Goodreads)

The Jane Austen Writer’s Club by Rebecca Smith: If you are a Janeite who wants to indulge your love of writing, look no further for a writing book inspired by the way Austen wrote. While we all can’t master the Free Indirect Discourse narrative style the way Austen did, Smith does a good job using examples from Austen to talk about how we can craft our characters, think about setting, and plot our story. The book is also full of exercises that writers can do to put the advice into practice.

Among the Janeites by Deborah Yaffe: Although a little too America-centric for my taste, this book shines when Yaffe is interviewing Janeites about how they fell in love with Austen and that alone, I think, is worth a read.

Nonfiction – Analysis/Technica;

For the academic Janeites.

A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz: Are you looking for a book that combines literary analysis with personal accounts of Austen can help you grow as a person? If so, A Jane Austen Education is the book for you. I personally learnt a lot from this book and enjoyed both reads of it very much! (Full review here)

Jane Austen, Game Theorist by Michael Suk-Young Chwe: This book looks at Austen from an extremely specific lens, but as someone whose undergraduate degree was in Economics, I loved it. The text is rather dry and academic but it’s fascinating to see how game theory can be found in Austen’s novels. (Full review here – Goodreads)

What Matters in Jane Austen by John Mullan: Is Jane Austen an experimental novelist? Does age matter? Why is Austen so enduring? What Matters in Jane Austen tries to answer twenty such big questions. This book made me appreciate the genius of Austen so much more. (Full review here – Goodreads)

Jane on the Brain by Wendy Jones: I reread this in 2024 and realised that I missed it the first time I made this list. If you’re interested in the topic of social science, this is the book for you. Jones explains how our brains work (sometimes in great detail) and uses the characters in Austen’s novels as examples for the various ideas she explains. It’s not the easiest read – I remember struggling with it the first time – but do stick with it, I found it easier to understand on this reread and enjoyed the Austen examples as proof that Ausen really knew how to write realistic characters!

Nonfiction – Food

Books are best enjoyed with a spot of afternoon tea

Tea: Tea with Jane Austen: I read this a few years ago and I am still planning to buy a copy for myself! If you’re a tea-nerd like me, you’ll appreciate knowing how tea is enjoyed during the regency period. This book also has recipes, so you can have your tea like Austen. (Full review here)

Dining with Mr Darcy by Pen Vogler: If you want an Austen-related recipe book, this may be the book for you. Dining with Mr Darcy contains a good balance of sweet and savoury recipes (with lots of interesting information about the food). I’ve tried a few few of the sweet recipes in my review and I thought that except for one particular recipe, they were pretty easy to follow. (Full review here)

As you can see, this list is a bit short, especially considering the fact that I’ve been reading Austen for over a decade by now, so if you have any recommendations about books about Jane Austen, please send them my way! And if you liked this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea via ko-fi or checking out one of my books (one is free!)!