Austen’s 249th has come and gone but that means we can start planning for Jane Austen’s big 250th! There’s no better way to celebrate Austen’s birthday and her literary career without books and 2025 will grace us with exciting upcoming Austen related and inspired books that will guarantee that your 2025 year is filled with Austen wit and wisdom!
Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner
Expected Publication Date: May 6
Two pairs of siblings, devotees of Jane Austen, find their lives transformed by a visit to England and Sir Francis Austen, her last surviving brother and keeper of a long-suppressed, secret legacy.
In Boston, 1865, Charlotte and Henrietta Stevenson, daughters of a Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice, have accomplished as much as women are allowed in those days. Chafing against those restrictions and inspired by the works of Jane Austen, they start a secret correspondence with Sir Francis Austen, her last surviving brother, now in his nineties. He sends them an original letter from his sister and invites them to come visit him in England.
In Philadelphia, Nicholas & Haslett Nelson–bachelor brothers, veterans of the recent Civil War, and rare book dealers–are also in correspondence with Sir Francis Austen, who lures them, too, to England, with the promise of a never-before-seen, rare Austen artifact to be evaluated.
The Stevenson sisters sneak away without a chaperone to sail to England. On their ship are the Nelson brothers, writer Louisa May Alcott, Sara-Beth Gleason–wealthy daughter of a Pennsylvania state senator with her eye on the Nelsons–and, a would-be last-minute chaperone to the Stevenson sisters, Justice Thomas Nash.
It’s a voyage and trip that will dramatically change each of their lives in ways that are unforeseen, with the transformative spirit of the love of literature and that of Jane Austen herself. (Credit: St. Martin’s Press)
You can also pre-order the audiobook here.
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector’s Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend by Rebecca Romney
From rare book dealer and guest star of the hit show Pawn Stars, a page-turning literary adventure that introduces readers to the women writers who inspired Jane Austen–and investigates why their books have disappeared from our shelves.
Long before she was a rare book dealer, Rebecca Romney was a devoted reader of Jane Austen. She loved that Austen’s books took the lives of women seriously, explored relationships with wit and confidence, and always, allowed for the possibility of a happy ending. She read and reread them, often wishing Austen wrote just one more.
But Austen wasn’t a lone genius. She wrote at a time of great experimentation for women writers–and clues about those women, and the exceptional books they wrote, are sprinkled like breadcrumbs throughout Austen’s work. Every character in Northanger Abbey who isn’t a boor sings the praises of Ann Radcliffe. The play that causes such a stir in Mansfield Park is a real one by the playwright Elizabeth Inchbald. In fact, the phrase “pride and prejudice” came from Frances Burney’s second novel Cecilia. The women that populated Jane Austen’s bookshelf profoundly influenced her work; Austen looked up to them, passionately discussed their books with her friends, and used an appreciation of their books as a litmus test for whether someone had good taste. So where had these women gone? Why hadn’t Romney–despite her training–ever read them? Or, in some cases, even heard of them? And why were they no longer embraced as part of the wider literary canon?
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf investigates the disappearance of Austen’s heroes–women writers who were erased from the Western canon–to reveal who they were, what they meant to Austen, and how they were forgotten. Each chapter profiles a different writer including Frances Burney, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Lennox, Charlotte Smith, Hannah More, Elizabeth Inchbald, Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi, and Maria Edgeworth–and recounts Romney’s experience reading them, finding rare copies of their works, and drawing on connections between their words and Austen’s. Romney collects the once-famed works of these forgotten writers, physically recreating Austen’s bookshelf and making a convincing case for why these books should be placed back on the to-be-read pile of all book lovers today. Jane Austen’s Bookshelf will encourage you to look beyond assigned reading lists, question who decides what belongs there, and build your very own collection of favorite novels. (Credit: S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books)
A Jane Austen Year: Celebrating 250 years of Jane Austen by Jane Austen’s House
Expected Publication Date: March 13
This beautifully illustrated book charts the life, works and legacy of one of the world’s most beloved authors, offering a seasonal guide to Jane Austen’s life through the objects that surrounded her, the personal letters and manuscripts that she created, and the events that shaped her life and understanding.
It is created by Jane Austen’s House – the enchanting Hampshire cottage where her genius flourished, now a museum that attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year – and reveals highlights from the museum’s collection.
Arranged over the course of a calendar year, from snowy scenes in January to festive recipes in December, specially commissioned photography of Austen’s home and possessions are brought together with extracts from her books, reproductions of her letters, and stories of her life throughout the seasons. Highlights include affectionate letters to her sister Cassandra, the story of the publication of the first edition of Pride and Prejudice, and the ‘topaze crosses’ that inspired Mansfield Park.
Read this book for a unique and intimate insight into Jane Austen’s world. Dip into it as you will, or visit each month, and enjoy a full year of Austen – her life, works and letters, people and objects she knew, and of course her idyllic, inspiring home. (Credit: Batsford)
Living with Jane Austen by Janet Todd
Expected Publication Date: March 20
Fanny Price, in Mansfield Park, tells her persistent suitor that ‘we have all a better guide in ourselves…than any other person can be’. Sometimes, however, we crave external guidance: and when this happens we could do worse than seek it in Jane Austen’s own subtle novels. Written to coincide with Austen’s 250th birthday, this approachable and intimate work shows why and how – for over half a century – Austen has inspired and challenged its author through different phases of her life. Part personal memoir, part expert interaction with all the letters, manuscripts and published novels, Janet Todd’s book reveals what living with Jane Austen has meant to her and what it might also mean to others. Todd celebrates the undimmable power of Austen’s work to help us understand our own bodies and our environment, and teach us about patience, humour, beauty and the meaning of home.
Miss Austen Investigates: A Fortune Most Fatal by Jessica Bull
Expected Publication Date: March 25
A witty, engaging murder mystery featuring Jane Austen as an intrepid sleuth–the second installment in the Miss Austen Investigates series.
1797: A broken-hearted Jane Austen travels to Kent to look after her brother Neddy’s children and further her writing. She soon realizes it’s imperative she uncovers the true identity of a mysterious young woman claiming to be a shipwrecked foreign princess before the interloper can swindle Neddy’s adoptive mother out of her fortune and steal the much-anticipated inheritance all the Austens rely on. (Credit: Union Square & Co.)
The Novel Life of Jane Austen: A Graphic Biography by Janine Barchas and illustrated by Isabel Greenberg
Expected Publication Date: April 29
A brilliant collaboration between internationally acclaimed Jane Austen expert, Janine Barchas, and New York Times bestselling graphic novelist, Isabel Greenberg.
The Novel Life of Jane Austen is a one-of-a-kind, impeccably researched, ecstatically drawn graphic biography of one of the world’s most beloved literary icons. Combining deep scholarship and serious whimsy, The Novel Life of Jane Austen presents this literary icon as the starring character in her own graphic novel. Told in three parts (Budding Writer 1796-1797); Struggling Artist 1801-1809; Published Author 1811-1817), the gritty circumstances of Austen’s own genteel poverty and the small daily injustices so often borne by creative women at this time, are told against the backdrop of Georgian England and reflect, down to the smallest detail, many of the plots and characters woven into Austen’s greatest works. All the settings and scenarios presented here are based upon the historical record, including the clothing, architecture, decor, and Regency locations. Sprinkled throughout, the Easter eggs and clever references to popular film adaptations of Austen’s novels will satisfy the casual and avid Austen fan alike. (Credit: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers)
The Elopement by Gill Hornby
Expected Publication Date: May 22
1820, and the marriage between wealthy widower Sir Edward Knatchbull and Jane Austen’s handsome, dutiful niece Fanny Knight is widely praised as being the most excellent match in the county.
As Sir Edward’s wife, Fanny is expected to apply herself to the raising of his five children with the same dedication she has shown towards her siblings at Godmersham Park. In particular, she pays care to young Mary Knatchbull – the only girl of the family, and the apple of her strict father’s eye.
Poor Mary has hitherto been raised under a cloud of quiet misery. But as the Knight and Knatchbull families merge, she discovers something like fun. The Knight girls are so sweet and the boys …. so very handsome and charming and madly athletic – especially Ned, the eldest and therefore the heir to Godmersham Park.
As Mary approaches her seventeenth birthday, a bond forms between her and Ned Knight, an understanding that leads, on the last day of the year 1825, to Ned declaring his hand. Sir Edward’s outrage is immediate; his refusal unyielding. Ned Knight is his own wife’s brother! The situation is simply unseemly. And besides, he dislikes the fellow. The marriage will never take place.
There appears to be only one solution for Ned and Mary – but can it really involve elopement? (Credit: Cornerstone)
Jane Austen for Every Day of the Year by Tara Richardson
Expected Publication Date: August 14
ane Austen for Every Day of the Year is a charming collection of 366 quotes and short passages drawn from Jane Austen’s novels, with excerpts from her intimate, witty letters scattered throughout.
This book is perfect for reading or sharing and brings you passages from Jane Austen’s best-loved classics alongside the lesser-known works. Packed full of witty remarks and wry observations, this is the perfect companion to inspire laughter and spark delightful conversation – a gift to treasure all year long.
Some of the most-loved quoted lines include:
‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’ Pride and Prejudice
‘There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.’ Emma
‘Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience – or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope.’ Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen, celebrated for her keen observations of social manners and romantic entanglements, is best known for classics such as Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma. Next year marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, and this celebratory collection – with beautiful vintage line illustrations – is the perfect gift for every Austen fan. (Credit: Octopus Publishing Group)
Wild for Austen: The True Story of a Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane Austen by Devoney Looser
Expected Publication Date: September 2
Incisive, funny, and deeply-researched insights into the life, writing, and legacy of Jane Austen, by the preeminent scholar Devoney Looser.
Thieves! Spies! Abolitionists! Ghosts! If we ever truly believed Jane Austen to be a quiet spinster, scholar Devoney Looser puts that myth to rest at last in Wild for Austen. These, and many other events and characters, come to life throughout this rollicking book. Austen, we learn, was far wilder in her time than we’ve given her credit for, and Looser traces the fascinating and fantastical journey her legacy has taken over the past 250 years.
All six of Austen’s completed novels are examined here, and Looser uncovers striking new gems therein, as well as in Austen’s juvenilia, unfinished fiction, and even essays and poetry. Looser also takes on entirely new scholarship, writing about Austen’s relationship to the abolitionist movement and women’s suffrage. In examining the legacy of Austen’s works, Looser reveals the film adaptations that might have changed Hollywood history had they come to fruition, and tells extraordinary stories of ghost-sightings, Austen novels used as evidence in courts of law, and the eclectic members of the Austen extended family whose own outrageous lives seem wilder than fiction.
Written with warmth, humor, and remarkable details never before published, Wild for Austen is the ultimate tribute to Jane Austen. Credit: St. Martin’s Publishing Group)
This is an ongoing list, so if you know of an Austen-related title coming out in 2025, fill out the form below!
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