Rebecca Romney, a rare book dealer, was inspired by Frances Burney's 'Evelina' to seek out the women writers who influenced Jane Austen. Despite being well-versed in the male authors from Austen's time, she realized her knowledge of female authors, like Charlotte Lennox and Maria Edgeworth, was lacking. Romney's journey led her to compile these often-overlooked voices in her book 'Jane Austen's Bookshelf,' which seeks to rectify the historical oversight she terms the 'Great Forgetting.' Her bookshop in Maryland showcases this literary dialogue among these women writers, advocating for their recognition in the literary canon.
"Quickly, I realized I had read all of the men that she had read and then I was reading about all the women that she loved, and I hadn't read any of them..."
"I realized scholars see it this way too, because these women were so systematically excised from our understanding of the canon and the development of the novel that they gave it a name. That name is the Great Forgetting."
"Then you start seeing this interaction between the authors, which I think was so fun. It wasn't just everything about Austen. Soon it just becomes its own constellation of writers in the 18th century..."
"What I'm trying to do is not only get a sense of what their accomplishments are, but to say that this women’s literature is worth our attention and should be celebrated alongside..."
Collection
[
|
...
]