Blog Tour: Jane Austen's Best Friend by Zoe Wheddon

As a long-time and forever Jane Austen fan, I am always keen to learn more about her life and the people in it. I was so excited to read a new book about her and her best friend Martha.

I found Jane Austen's Best Friend a really enlightening and interesting read. I knew so little of the friends in Jane's life and actually I didn't realise just how little I knew overall. 
I know there will be things in here that avid Jane Austen fans will already be aware of, but I hadn't known what a tease Jane could be with her friends and family. I also loved reading all the letters from Jane about the goings on throughout her life. I also hugely admired that she treasured her friends and family more than she did finding a husband, and if she had married, I do not think we would have the treasures of her books that we have today.
Yes there were some assumptions and deductions made throughout as unfortunately there aren't records of everything, but Zoe's research really shone through. It must have taken quite some research to find and deduce all the letters that went from place to place and person-to-person. I do wish we could have had something concrete from Martha herself, but the consistency of Martha's presence in Jane's life is testament to how much she meant to Jane. 
What this book has made me want to go and do now is reread all of Jane's books (and read the ones I still haven't gotten around to) because I wanted to see if I could see where Martha's influence came in, because it clearly did. And there were definitely other people in Jane's life that 'appeared' as characters in her stories.
From what we can deduce about Martha, she sounds like the ultimate BFF and I am glad to say I have a friend who has been in my life for a very long time and I know she will continue to be, just like Martha was to Jane.
Jane Austen fans will enjoy this new perspective on Jane's life and her best friend Martha.

Part of the Jane Austen's Best Friend Blog Tour