The Jane Austen Remedy: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a book can change a life

‘Wilson’s memoir is essential reading for anyone who wants to experience and understand the unique comfort that Austen’s works universally provide.’ NATALIE JENNER (author of The Jane Austen Society)

At 70, Ruth Wilson began to have recurring dreams about losing her voice. As she grappled with feelings of unfathomable sadness, she made the radical decision to retreat from her conventional life with her husband to a small sunshine-yellow cottage in the countryside where she lived alone for the following ten years.

From the moment she first encountered Pride and Prejudice in the 1940s she had looked to Jane Austen’s heroines as her models for the sort of woman she wanted to become. She resolved to re-read Austen’s six novels; to reflect on her life in relation to what she discovered in each of them. And as Ruth read between the lines of both the novels and her own life, she began to reclaim her voice.

A life-affirming memoir of love, self-acceptance and the curative power of reading, The Jane Austen Remedy is an inspirational account of the lessons learned from Jane Austen over nine decades, as well as a timely reminder that it’s never too late to seize a second chance.