'Everything a reader could desire: wit passion mystery brilliant detective work a love of
rare books a deep dive into literary history and best of all the restoration of reputation
for a group of great women authors whose names should never have been forgotten' Elizabeth
Gilbert author of Eat Pray LovePublishing to coincide with the 250th anniversary of Jane
Austen's birth. It all started with a book that made me curious. When rare books dealer Rebecca
Romney found an emerald clothbound edition of Evelina by Frances Burney she was happy to
discover that she'd stumbled across a novel by one of Jane Austen's favourite authors. Inspired
by the connection between the two writers she returned to Austen's books with a new lens
picking out clues sprinkled throughout her works that pointed to the writers she had admired.
Austen read William Shakespeare John Milton Daniel Defoe and Samuel Richardson all authors
Rebecca had read. But Austen also read Frances Burney Ann Radcliffe Charlotte Lennox Hannah
More Charlotte Smith Elizabeth Inchbald Hester Piozzi and Maria Edgeworth all authors
Romney hadn't. These female writers all sat proudly on Austen's bookshelf but have disappeared
from ours. Romney became fascinated with these writers and wanted to answer three important
questions: What were the stories behind the lives of these women? Why have they disappeared
from our bookshelves? Who wrote them out of history? She had a mission an obligation: she
needed to collect Jane Austen's bookshelf.
