Nancy Moser is the author of three inspirational humor books and a dozen novels, including Mozart's Sister and Time Lottery, a Christy Award winner. She teaches writing at a regional college and is an inspirational speaker. She has earned a degree in architecture; runs a business with her husband; traveled extensively in Europe; and performed in various theaters, symphonies, and choirs. She and her husband have three grown children and make their home near Kansas City.
In Just Jane: A Novel of Jane Austen’s Life, author Nancy Moser attempts to go deeper than the biographers have ever gone. She lets the novel unfold through the eyes of Jane herself, painting a bold, intimate portrait of the author, whose personality and personal life remain largely veiled. The undertaking is admirable, but Jane Austen deserves a greater tribute. Although Moser takes a first-person approach in narration, she does not attempt to tell the story in Austen’s eloquent style. Moser admits this in an appendix at the back of the book, but the sentence fragments and three-word paragraphs will chase off dedicated Austen fans long before they reach the appendices.
The novel is not without some virtue, however. Just Jane is clearly the product of exhaustive research, and the “What Is Fact and What Is Fiction?” section is honestly and thoroughly compiled. Moser’s characterizations of Jane and Cassandra are superb, and she insightfully reveals traits in Jane’s acquaintances and events in her life that may have inspired her classic novels.
The first-person, present-tense approach gives Just Jane the feel of a journal. Like a journal, it recounts Jane’s everyday experiences, but the superfluous details bog down the storyline considerably. Just Jane deals very little with Jane’s writing, rather, the book revolves around Jane’s frequent visits with her many friends and family, no matter how trivial the visit. Each scene and chapter has its own focus, which is generally unrelated to the book as a whole. The reader would be spared many extra pages—and some boredom—if Moser had trimmed some of the deadweight, especially insignificant locations and characters. However, a family tree would have made Jane’s enormous family much more manageable.
But the last straw for many Jane-ites may be the anachronisms. Just Jane contains Austen-era English words and spellings like “chuse,” “shew,” “’tis,” “e’en,” “o’er,” and “gaol.” But sharply contrasted against these are the anachronistic references to Niagara Falls and “wannabes.”
One line in Just Jane says it best: There is “too frequent a change from one set of people to another, and ... circumstances will be sometimes introduced to apparent consequence, which will lead to nothing.” (p. 342) – Rose Rider, Christian Book Previews.com
Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars(4.5 out of 5 stars)
8 of 8 Reviews Showing:
3 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Fay Oxford (Broken Bow, NE), March 25, 2009
It took me awhile to get into the story. To bad she was born 200 years to soon. As she had a talent to write. So pleased her stories did get printed.Very happy that she was to move to a place she could enjoyed.
4 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Jennifer @ Quiverfullfamily.com (Canada), September 01, 2008
Printed by the Christian book publisher Bethany House, and written by a woman of faith, I was eager to see how Jane’s faith was portrayed. I was familiar with her status as the daughter of a pastor, but was entirely unfamiliar with how her faith played out in her life – God rarely makes an appearance in her own novels. Moser incorporates Jane’s belief in God throughout the story most naturally. Jane questions God, pleads with Him and at times must be content to rest in Him. Her faith-filled musings and references to God’s power are not at all stilted or obviously inserted; they blend beautifully into the text and never appear overtly “preachy” or moralizing. Due to the natural incorporation of Jane’s faith this title will be enjoyable for all Austen lovers regardless of their spiritual beliefs.
Just Jane is character-driven; the life of a single 19th-century woman of strong moral character does not make for an action-packed page-turner. It is most enjoyable when read slowly – savouring the development of relationships and emotional drama. A cup of tea, an open fireplace, or bathtub seem to be ideal locations to indulge in reading this title. As an Austen lover I felt that I was sitting down with a friend to learn more about her, to ask her questions – receiving both expected and surprising answers. Simply put - no devotee of Austen’s work will be able to resist this fresh, historically based foray into her life.
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Myrtia (greece), August 17, 2008
An absolutely wonderful book! it contained everything I wanted to know about my beloved author, Jane Austen, her relationship to God, how her novels were related to real facts of her life. I also learned a lot about her era. It was well-written, down-to-earth and truly, truly beautiful.
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Carrie M (C.J., MO), May 27, 2008
What a great book! Historically accurate, really opens up the life and times of Jane Austen. A must read for any Jane Austen fan!
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by MJ (Georgia, USA), May 05, 2008
Jane Austen of course is legend to us today. Although I have heard some historical discrepancies from one or two things in this novel of her life, I really see this as a depiction that is the most true to how I see Jane's life. Nancy Moser did a wonderful job bringing the light of Jane to a realistic picture for me and I could imagine every scene of her story. At first I was reading on a depressed note, thinking of the Jane movies I have seen recently just knowing that it will end with her death. At the end of the novel I was quite pleased with the way that Nancy arranged things. I believe this is the way that things should be. Jane should be missed surely, but not pitied. She would not want that I think. But I do believe she claps for joy each time someone else on our earth discovers the words that she has left to share with us all.
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Melanie Dickerson (Harvest, Alabama), December 19, 2007
I loved this book! It's my very favorite of the year. I felt so immersed in Jane Austen's life and thoughts. I felt as though I really knew her by the time I finished this book. Author Nancy Moser used real letters from Jane Austen herself to get her facts--and the personality--right. She perfectly captured the time, the language, the attitudes and mores of the day. I so enjoyed finding out the real events that led to Jane's first publication. I was shocked that she had had so much trouble getting published. I just assumed it had been easy for her. Shouldn't it have been obvious to anyone that she was a genius? Apparently not. I was surprised that she went through years of waiting and doubting that she would ever be published. She wanted her works to be published, and I wanted it for her, too. I couldn't wait to find out how it would finally happen. This book is wonderful. I highly recommend it. My favorite book of the year.
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Stephanie (North Carolina), November 21, 2007
This is one of those, I'd give it unlimited stars if I could, books. This is also one of those books to which I say, READ IT--I KNOW YOU'LL LOVE IT even if you're not a Jane-ite like me. I could so identify with Jane, on everything from books, to writing (I'm an aspiring author myself), to desire for musical talent (that has never been fulfilled), to hatred of crowded, noisy places like Bath and dislike of superficial people. I'm still torn over whether I wanted her to marry Tom or not, but I enjoyed that, actually, because it means Nancy didn't give into the "happily ever after just because it's a romance" trap. I loved it, and it made me want to speak with Jane in person. Again--READ IT, I KNOW YOU'LL LOVE IT.
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Deborah (Portsmouth, VA), October 22, 2007
I love all things Jane Austen. I love all the movie versions that have come out of her books. Right now it's very "in" to be an Austen fan especially with the two recent movies that have come out about Jane Austen. I kept forgetting at times while reading that this was a fiction novel and not really Jane Austen's memoirs! The first person narrative is done extremely well that will make the reader think they have discovered the lost diaries of the author. I felt like I was literally dropped into the time period because the rich narrative made the story come alive. I liked how Jane would get the inspirations for her characters. She and her sister Cassandra were very much like Elizabeth and Jane Bennett from P&P while you could also seem resemblances from the people she would meet. Her reasons for never getting married are portrayed here as her reaction to societies' expectations on the role of women. I loved the authenticity with the way the book was written, right down to the "olde English". The only fault I found with the book is that you are dropped right into the middle of the story but are not given that much background info. There are a lot of characters mentioned as well, and it is easy to get quickly confused. Other than that, I found this book a joy to read. This book is highly recommended for historical fiction fans and those Austen fanatics who get enough of that 6 hour version of Pride and Prejudice.
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