
I was first introduced to Jane Austen when I was in college. I signed up for a semester class thinking that it would be something fun and would fulfill needed credits. I didn't know how very much I would fall in love with her writing, wit, and the time period in which she lived.
Since then, I devour as many books as I can get my hands on that give insight into Jane's life, works, or the Regency period.
The Jane Austen Guide to Life by Lori Smith piqued my interest.
I read Lori's book A Walk with Jane Austen several years ago. It was like being on a journey with her as she traveled to all the places I've dreamed about seeing since I was a teen. Lori has a gift with words; reading them is like sitting down and having a conversation with your best friend.
When I heard about her latest work, it piqued my curiosity. If Jane were here today, what would she think about our modern notions about love, life, womanhood, and pop culture?
This book has many nuggets of wisdom with great examples from Jane's life and works that answers this question. Lori lays out each lesson with ease and ties it all together for you. It's almost as though she personally picked Jane's brain.
My favorite word of advice: "Don't be afraid of a small life." Lori writes, "While we may look to fame for significance, Austen found meaning in the things that seem smaller to us--in her relationships with family and friends....The very quietness and smallness of that life might inspire fear in us--fear of not being significant or big enough--but for Austen, it was inspiration itself."
This is a wonderful read that will make you fall in love with Jane's writing all over again. It inspired me to go back and re-read Austen's novels and see what other lessons Jane whispers from the pages.
The Jane Austen Guide to Life by Lori Smith
Jane Austen has become our patron saint of romance, our goddess of happy endings. Her name is synonymous with romantic sighs, period costumes, and the ideal of what love should be. But if she could give us advice about life and love, what would she tell us? What would she make of Match.com, of our Real Housewives, or of our obsession with finding The One?
Austen’s stories give us relationship advice that still works today, but her life offers us more wisdom than just that pertaining to love. In our fame-obsessed culture, it’s refreshing to think that Austen preferred to remain anonymous. Ironically, Jane Austen—master of love stories—never married and can teach us something about being single. She also endured many painful circumstances and managed them with grace and humor.
In this light biography and guide, author Lori Smith surmises about Austen’s sensible advice for twenty-first-century women—on everything from living our dreams, being a woman of substance, finding a good man, managing money, and more.
As such an astute student of human nature, Austen can teach us much about ourselves and about what it means to live well.
Read Lori Smith's guest post.
Bio:

For her last book, A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith, Lori spent a month in England tracing Austen’s life and works. Readers voted to give that book the Jane Austen Regency World Award for best nonfiction.
Blogs: www.writerlorismith.com, www.austenquotes.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/writerlorismith
Twitter: @writerlorismith
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