I’ve long been of the opinion that anyone who thinks Jane Austen and her work is prim, or staid, or old-fashioned, is completely missing something. Austen is not exactly the (early nineteenth-century equivalent) of thrilling car chases and nail-biting mystery, but she and her work is so much… well, wilder than she is generally given credit for.

And this is not a new thought by any means. Scholars and enthusiasts have long been analyzing Austen as such, picking apart the preconceptions we have and bringing to light biographical detail and context to references that we, as modern readers, miss in her novels.

One of my favourite Jane Austen scholars is Devoney Looser, and I was so glad to have been gifted a copy of her new book Wild for Austen, which delves into Jane Austen’s wildness. With a subtitle of A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane, you just know it’s going to be good!

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The book is split into three parts: Wild Writings, Fierce Family Ties and Shambolic Afterlives.

First of all, we get to take a journey through all of Austen’s work. Best of all, Looser devotes chapters not just to the six complete novels, but her juvenilia, Lady Susan, and her two incomplete novels, Sanditon and The Watsons.

My favourite chapter in this section was Looser’s dive into the theory that Austen’s first published piece of work was under the name ‘Sophia Sentiment’ when she was just thirteen years old. It just goes to prove that we think we know Austen, but there is still so much to discover, whether you agree or disagree with the theory.

Turning to her family, this section delves into her connections, her influences and the world around her. Particularly fascinating is Looser’s research into the shoplifting case of her Aunt Leigh-Perrot and the Austen family’s views, actions and relationship to the abolition of slavery. This is fresh and exciting work that does a great job of contextualising Austen’s life and writing and firmly planting it within the history that shaped it.

One of the aspects of Jane Austen I think is so interesting is her legacy since her death, and how her work has changed and grown in its afterlife. This is the spotlight in the third part of the book. From early Austen fan-fiction (in the 1820s!), to film adaptations that never quite made it, to Austen’s work being given an erotic spin in literature, this is fascinating.

As Looser writes in the introduction, “Austen’s life and writings are also curious ciphers.” It’s true. We have enough left behind to feel like we know her, but not enough to answer nearly every question we have about her. She’s tantalising and elusive, and this book opens up a whole new side of her to us as fans, readers and researchers.

Looser’s writing is so entertaining and whip-smart, I found myself racing through this book in two sittings, and I know I will use it as a point of reference for years to come.

The book is out TODAY, published by Manchester University Press, and I hope that if you pick up a copy, you enjoy it as much as I did.

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Thank you to Manchester University Press for gifting me a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.