The great novels of Jane Austen picture a world of civility and reassuring stability. Was this the world she lived in? Not quite, as this fascinating biography shows.The family into which the writer was born were meritocrats struggling in the competitive society of George 3rd. From local archives Claire Tomalin has also reconstructed the lives of her Hampshire neighbours. And there are many surprises too about the writer who deemed herself to be formidable. A bestseller in hardcover, this was widely acclaimed as the definitive biography of Jane Austen. An authoritative, graceful, succinct account...which brilliantly illuminates the elusive Jane Victoria Glendinning A perfect biography: detailed, witty, warm Dirk Bogarde