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Hits: 6
Sidorova O. G.
- Рубрика:
REVIEWS
- Article:
DOI: 10.26170/2071-2405-2026-31-1-196-199
Abstract: The article reviews two books published to mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen, a classic of English and world literature: a volume of her letters entitled “A Collection of Important Trifles” and the novel “Miss Austen” by J. Hornby. The former represents the first Russian edition of the English writer’s letters, while the latter is a novel by a contemporary English novelist, chronicling the fate of Austen’s epistolary legacy. It is noted that the style of Austen’s letters is distinctly similar to that of her novels, which is also masterfully recreated in “Miss Austen”. It is shown that the novel is based on documentary evidence and recounts the life of Austen and her sister, Cassandra, the main person in her life, who published the novelist’s epistolary legacy after her death. The reviewer states that the books under analyses partially compensate for the existing shortage of scholarly and popular literature in Russian devoted to the life and creative activity of Austen. The books will be of interest to scholars specializing in English literature and to the numerous Russian admirers of the talent of the English novelist.
Key words: English literature; English women-writers; literary creative activity; literary genres; J. Austen; epistolary legacy; epistolary genre; private letters; fate of the letters; literary styles; translation; reviews
Для цитирования:
Сидорова, О. Г. «Общепризнанно, что писание писем – талант главным образом женский»: две книги об эпистолярном наследии Джейн Остин / О. Г. Сидорова // Philological Class. – 2026. – Vol. 31 • No. 1. – С. 196-199. DOI 10.26170/2071-2405-2026-31-1-196-199.
For citation
Sidorova, O. G. (2026). “It Is Generally Acknowledged that Writing Letters Is a Talent Primarily Possessed by Women”: Two Books about Jane Austen’s Letters. In Philological Class. 2026. Vol. 31 • No. 1. P. 196-199. DOI 10.26170/2071-2405-2026-31-1-196-199.
About the author(s) :
Olga G. Sidorova
Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin
(Ekaterinburg, Russian Federation)
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2813-7514
Publication Timeline:
Date of receipt: 11.01.2026; date of publication: 31.03.2026
References:
Austin, J. (2025). Sobranie vazhnykh pustyakov (pis′ma sestre i blizkim) = J. Austin. A collection of important documents (letters to my sister and family. Saint Petersburg: AZBUKA Publishing House, 347 p.
Coolidge, S. (2025). Predislovie ot sostavitelya = Preface from the compiler. J. Austin. A collection of important documents (letters to my sister and family), 5–12. Saint Petersburg: AZBUKA Publishing House.
Hornby, J. (2026). Miss Ostin = Miss Austin. Moscow: Alpina Pablisher Publishing House, 432 p.
Sidorova, O. G. (2020). Literaturnaya reputatsiya pisatelya pri perevode ego proizvedeniy: Dzheyn Ostin v Rossii = The literary reputation of a writer when translating his works: Jane Austen in Russia. Philological Class, 25(1), 144–152. DOI: 10.26170/FK20-01-14. EDN RMYDOZ.
Tomalin, K. (1999). Zhizn′ Dzheyn Ostin = The Life of Jane Austen. Moscow: KoLibri Publishing House, 415 p.
