Jane Austen, arguably the greatest novelist of the English language, lived from 1775 to 1817. Her fiction focuses on the gentry and aristocracy, and her heroines are young women looking for love. Yet the comfortable, tranquil country that she brilliantly devised is a complete contrast to the England in which she actually lived. For twenty-nine of Jane Austen’s forty-one years, the country was embroiled in war.
Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England explores the real England of that time. Roy and Lesley Adkins vividly portray fascinating aspects of the daily lives of ordinary people, from forced marriages and the sale of wives in marketplaces to boys and girls working down mines or as chimney sweeps, this book eavesdrops on the daily chore of fetching water, the horror of ghosts and witches, Saint Monday, bull baiting, sedan chairs, highwaymen, the stench of corpses swinging on roadside gibbets and the horrors of surgery without anaesthetics.
To celebrate the release of the paperback edition f Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England, we are giving away four copies of the book to four lucky readers!
If you would love to be in with a chance of winning a copy of this intriguing and brilliantly entertaining book, simply answer this question correctly:
In which year was Jane Austen born?
A) 1779
B) 1775
C) 1772
Answers in the comments box below.
Good luck!
Open to residents of the UK only. A winner will be chosen at random from all correct answers. Competition closes 11th May 2014. Any entries made after this date will not be recognised.