A rare-book dealer traces the books that Austen admired. Many were by women writers who were the literary stars of their day.

A chance encounter with Frances Burney's 1778 novel, Evelina, sent rare book dealer Rebecca Romney on a yearslong quest to find the women writers who influenced Jane Austen's work. One of Romney's ...

Shortly after it begins, Rebecca Romney’s first solo work of nonfiction “becomes something of a mystery novel,” said ...

The 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth this year brings an overdue opportunity for a general audience to discover the female writers who most importantly influenced her – figures such as ...

“Jane Austen’s Bookshelf” contends that virtually every part of that sentence is wrong. Rebecca Romney, the author and occasional “Pawn Stars” guest who wrote “Bookshelf,” is a fan ...

In addition to this event, the Special Collections department of Kelvin Smith Library has an exhibition entitled Jane Austen's Library, featuring 18th and 19th century books which inspired her writing ...

On a special episode (first released on March 13, 2025) of The Excerpt podcast: There are few writers who have as devoted a following as celebrated English novelist Jane Austen, author of classics ...

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As a bookseller, Rebecca Romney usually makes a profit from satisfying other people’s curiosity. In “Jane Austen’s Bookshelf,” however, she takes us along on a self-defined quest that grew ...

We tend to think of Jane Austen as the first great female novelist, whose originality paved the way for creative descendants to dazzle critics and readers. “Jane Austen’s Bookshelf” contends ...