A rare-book dealer traces the books that Austen admired. Many were by women writers who were the literary stars of their day.

An American rare-book dealer, Rebecca Romney, has managed it, by searching where Austen’s secrets lie hidden in plain sight: ...

There are few writers who have as devoted a following as celebrated novelist Jane Austen. But is she really the “first” great English female author?

Romney vividly communicates her sometimes surprised enjoyment of the works that shaped Austen, finding them in some ways ...

By chance, Romney, a rare-books collector, comes upon a 1778 novel by a woman who turns out to have been one of Jane Austen’s ...

A chance encounter with Frances Burney's 1778 novel, Evelina, sent rare book dealer Rebecca Romney on a yearslong quest to find the women writers who influenced Jane Austen's work. One of Romney's ...

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf’ presents women whose writing Austen admired — and how modern author Rebecca Romney found them.

JANE AUSTEN’S BOOKSHELF: A Rare Book Collector’s Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend, by Rebecca Romney It is a truth universally acknowledged (at least in publishing ...

"Jane Austen's Bookshelf" spotlights eight women writers, largely lost to history, who influenced the English novelist. Rare book dealer Rebecca Romney dedicates a book to the women Jane Austen ...

Shortly after it begins, Rebecca Romney’s first solo work of nonfiction ... comes upon a 1778 novel by a woman who turns out to have been one of Jane Austen’s favorite authors.