Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #184896 in Books
• Published on: 1997-03-15
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Once again Aiken ( Mansfield Revisited ) playfully recreates the fictional world of Jane Austen by appropriating her characters: Jane Fairfax is the friend and rival of the heroine of Emma . Here, headstrong, self-important Emma Woodhouse is pushed from center stage as the limelight falls on the childhood and maturation of her foil. Orphaned Jane is brought up by her shabby-genteel aunt and grandmother in Highbury, near the Woodhouse family estate. Jane joins Emma in her music lessons, where Jane's talent and diligence invite a jealousy in Emma, which is partly overcome after the death of her mother leaves a disconsolate Emma receptive to too-good-to-be-true Jane's sympathy. Then an old family friend whisks Jane off to London in order to educate her alongside his daughters, so that she might eventually support herself as a governess. A grown-up Jane returns to Highbury secretly engaged to Frank Churchill, whose aunt refuses to die and leave him the money and freedom to marry as he chooses. While Aiken lacks Austen's incomparable style and wit, her light, diverting novel captures the flavor, if not the substance, of Austen's milieu.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Those who remember reading Jane Austen's Emma (Audio Reviews, LJ 2/15/97) will enjoy this superbly crafted novel, read winningly by Marlene Sidaway, that tells about the "other heroine" in Austen's novel, the mysterious and enigmatic Jane Fairfax. This delightfully refreshing work recounts the circumstances shaping Jane's personality. Aiken manages to assume the language of Austen's time, with wit, subtle humor, and wise insights drawn from the most ordinary affairs of daily life. Those insights especially concern relations between the social classes and the sexes. Sidaway narration hits just the right tone. One need not have read Emma to enjoy this audiobook. It is a fine work likely to please the more serious listener, especially those who love Austen. This won't have a place in the strictly "popular, mass market" audiobook collection, but if you have a more comprehensive collection, this gem is recommended.?Nancy Paul, Brandon P.L., WI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Others may try, but nobody comes close to Aiken in writing sequels to Jane Austen." --Publishers Weekly

Customer Reviews

Stupid
I have read some attempts at Jane Austen sequels and spin offs and - of course - none could come anywhere near the original novels, but Aiken's story is among the worst: almost as stupid as Emma Tennant's soap-opera style things and that's certainly saying something.

Whilst "Emma" is a beautifully written, cleverly-plotted, complex story with flesh and blood people, Aiken's stuff is stuffed with paper-thin characters. Most of them are copied directly from one JA novel or another (you can recognize Robert Ferrears, Lucy Steele, Mrs Ferrars or Lady Catherine etc.) but without any success at breathing life into them.

Emma is shown at her worst, Frank Churchill is without any charm and so on... Jane herself - though the whole thing is shown from her point of view - is "dull like ditchwater", Aiken can't make us care about her at all. In Emma - though she was a more marginal character - JA's compassion and wit made a perfect characterization for her. You could understand and sympathize with her much more though given less information than here.
Alas - this "more information" is what totally destroys the book, for the background that is given as Jane's story is so downright stupid and incredible, so totally out of character with her that I threw up my hands in desperation several times. What was Aiken about with serving us just the storyline that in "Emma" proved to be nothing else but Emma's foolish fancy at the end without any ground!! And now we get it back: Jane is actually in love with Mr Dixon, who returns her feelings but marries Miss Campbell for her money -OH MY!!- and she only accepts Frank Churchill's offer of marriage because she is desperate! Well, if this isn't stupid ... Every reader who read Emma with just a little attention is aware of the fact that Jane Farifax is so upright and honest that nothing but the deepest love would have induced her to accept such an offer - here she does not seem to care about him at all...

If you feel like you have to read this book then try to borrow it from your local library, but don't waste money on it, it's not worth it!

A Satisfying Read
Probably one of the best Jane Austen sequels I've read and just re-read. I keep very few books, but this is one of five. Despite a few problems, the interior monologue rings true to the original tale.

If anything JANE FAIRFAX is more entertaining than the original EMMA--Ms. Austen forgive me--but perhaps only because one can enjoy the comparisons between the stories.

Are you new to Jane Austen sequels? Then this is a good place to start as are all of Aiken's novels. If P&P is your all-time favorite, then I also recommend The Bar Sinister (which now goes by another name in second printing). But I recommend restraint in buying the sequel of Bar Sinister, as it pretty much stinks.

Excellent close reading of Emma
Joan Aiken's Jane Fairfax was a real suprise to me since I never really enjoyed Jane Austen characters with other writers. The fact that the book involves a relative existence in time with Emma which is one of Austen's most detailed books is hard enough but the author seems to capture several nuances of the experience of a relatively minor character. The author's close reading of Emma allows readers to enjoy Emma more after reading this novel. She posits that Emma's jealousy of Jane began when they were children and Emma's mother encouraged Jane's musical talent. This is very perceptive and interesting hypothesis and an excellent example of Aiken's subtle and sensitive observation.