Jane Austen's transatlantic sister: the life and letters of Fanny Palmer Austen

摘要

In the ever-popular field of Austen studies, it can be hard to imagine the discovery of source material which sheds fresh light onto the work of one of the world's best-known authors. Yet this book, which tells the story of Jane Austen's sister-in-law, Fanny Austen (nee Palmer) does exactly this. As well as providing an overview of Fanny's life - from her childhood on the island of Bermuda to her death at the tragically young age of twenty-four - Kindred's book publishes Fanny's letters for the first time. These provide an invaluable resource not only for Austen scholars but also for those interested in the wider experience of naval wives during the early nineteenth century. Fanny not only accompanied her husband Charles (later Admiral) Austen on various postings but sailed with him and their small daughters on the ships he commanded, including across the Atlantic as part of convoy. She also spent the last few years of her life living with her young family on board HMS Namur, a working warship at permanent anchor on harbour service off the coast of Kent. This reminder that naval wives were not necessarily expected to wait patiently at home while their husbands were deployed on active service challenges general perceptions of the Royal Navy as an historically all-male preserve and also speaks to the wider question of reassessing the range of socially acceptable roles available to married women in Regency society.