Only a Novel: the Double Life of Jane Austen

I picked up this book by Jane Aiken Hodge at Pazzo, the used bookstore around the corner from me in West Roxbury. It is my friend Erin's birthday today and she has borrowed my copy of Pride and Prejudice for 2 years now, so for her birthday, I figured I'd get her her own copy that way she doesn't have to worry about borrowing mine anymore. While in the Jane Austen section, I picked up this and the unfinished novels, which I've borrowed but never read, from a co-worker for a year now. Thing is, the re-read of Northanger (because the first one was 14 years ago) and the first read of the unfinished have to be saved for that, hopefully, very distant rainy day when I need the solitude of Jane. In the meantime, I'm enjoying this biography so far and look forward to have something to read while staying inside due to cold weather. (Just as I got used to the 70+ of New Orleans, I return to 3 fluffy inches of new snow. Blurg.)