5/13/2023 0 Comments Jane Austen by Deirdre Le FayeLater moves with her family took her north to Farnborough and then to Reading: not perhaps the best of choices for a family living out the bombing raids of the Second World War. “Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure: seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken”?ĭeirdre was born in Bournemouth. The enterprise of writing the most factual biography of Jane Austen was fraught with difficulty. Her story, like her unparalleled contribution to the scholarly apparatus of Austen studies, is a remarkable one, revealing her tenacity, diplomatic skills, careful attention to every detail, and sheer enthusiasm. “Today, we celebrate a scholar who is acknowledged on both sides of the Atlantic as, in Paul Johnson’s tribute in the Spectator: “the greatest living Austen expert”. Below is a speech written by Dr Bill Brooks and Dr Gillian Dow, given at the time, and which details Deirdre’s life’s works and achievements, as well as giving a sense of the debt all Austen readers owe to her scholarship. In 2012, Deirdre Le Faye was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Southampton. Yablon archive of Brontë ephemera Īs tributes pour in from the Austen community for Deirdre Le Faye, we recall the life of the greatest Jane Austen expert.
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