Cohen has taken her fascination with – and personal dependence on – one great author and transmutes it into something any reader in the world will find downright marvelous ... The reading focus here, of course, is Austen, and even the most dedicated Janeites will find in these pages plenty of fascinating insights into their author. The book is at once an impressive analysis of Austen’s fiction and a first-rate biography of the author herself ... a shining account of how indispensable books can be.
... a complicated hybrid of a book that mixes Cohen’s singular insight into Austen as a writer with Cohen’s personal life ... The book’s ten chapters offer an artful mix of Cohen’s life, Austen’s life, the lives of Austen’s characters, and the insights of writers and critics who, in the two centuries since Austen’s books appeared, have uncovered the riches of her novels ... As a memoir, Austen Years has a guarded feel that can hold a reader at arm’s length. No doubt, it’s challenging to give characters enough heft to settle them into the minds of strangers without violating their privacy. Along these lines, Cohen has made some quirky choices, referring to her children by their initials, for example. Read the dedication and you can give them names ... Set aside the reserved tone of the memoir. Cohen’s Austen Years offers us a moving and intelligent guide to reading Austen in our days of death.
Cohen’s incisive new book explores her immersion into Austen’s work during a fraught period in her personal life. Ultimately a narrative about grief, loss and resurfacing, it also provides a deep dive into some of Austen’s most penetrating writing ... As a memoir, Austen Years is uncompromising and engaging, and as literary criticism, it is assured and perceptive ... an absorbing pleasure that will stimulate and augment the reading of Austen for fans old and new.
[I] hereby advise you to read at least four if not all six of Jane Austen’s novels before you attempt Cohen’s extended meditation on them, and do not try to get away with watching the movie versions. If you disobey me, the main thing you will take away from Cohen’s book is that you must read all of Jane Austen as soon as possible ... Among the myriad passionate readers of Austen, who seem to produce dozens of new books about her every year, Cohen occupies a special place ... Cohen writes with emotion and insight about her father and his death ... To my taste, there was a bit too much of the father and a bit too little of everything else ... I plan to go back to her Austen Years after I’ve put in mine.
'Criticism and memoir have always been near neighbors,' the author points out. Austen Years straddles the property line between the two neighbors brilliantly ... The chapters discussing Sense and Sensibility are especially powerful ... Cohen is not the only person to write about the personal experience of reading Jane Austen. She is attentive to the work of other literary discussions of Austen’s novels ... will appeal to lovers of Jane Austen, to those interested in memoirs about grief and mourning, and to all who recognize the companionship of literature. Readers who have especially enjoyed memoirs in the developing subgenre of personal literary criticism will be entranced by this graceful and deeply introspective book.
This is a wondrous mix of memoir and biography as Cohen provides detailed portraits of Austen, her family, and their world and analyzes how this context inspired Austen’s indelible novels. This is a book not to be hurried through but consumed in small portions and pondered over as it sparks introspection. The deep knowledge of and respect for Austen’s novels will equally impress Austenites and readers less versed in her works, and all will appreciate the information found in Cohen’s notes and bibliography. As readers absorb these pages, personal notes will be made and quotes shared.
...a thoughtful meditation on the interweaving of literature and life ... ohen brings to her analysis a thorough familiarity not only with Austen’s unforgettable characters, but also with her critics and biographers, including the “restrained but insightful” memoir written by Austen’s nephew. These works help her to contextualize the novels, which she analyzes with astute sensitivity. Austen’s characters, in fact, emerge more vividly than many individuals from Cohen’s own life ... A nuanced portrait of a writer and reader.
In this erudite if uneven exploration of connection and loss, essayist Cohen...draws parallels between her own life and Jane Austen’s life and literary legacy ... Cohen’s writing at its best is lush and lyrical, though it can become dense with anecdotal biography, academic literary criticism, and passages of self-analysis. And readers not well versed in Austen will have a hard time finding their way in, despite the synopses Cohen provides. Despite its clever premise, this memoir adds little to the canon of Austen appreciations.
