{"product_id":"jane-austens-remarkable-aunt-philadelphia-hancock-a-girl-of-genius-and-feeling-9781036111854","title":"Jane Austen's Remarkable Aunt, Philadelphia Hancock: A Girl of Genius and Feeling'","description":"\u003cb\u003ePhiladelphia Austen's journey from orphan to independent woman reveals the challenges faced by women in the 18th century, inspiring Jane Austen.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe orphaned Philadelphia Austen was forced to seek for herself those objects of eighteenth-century womanhood: social esteem and financial independence. Her story is circumscribed by the limitations of women's lives of that time and opens up a wider exploration of those times through a detailed examination of one particular woman: Jane Austen's 'aunt Phila'.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe story of her aunt had impressed the young Jane Austen when she created a character, Cecilia Wynne, in her short fiction, Catharine or the Bower, written when she was sixteen. Cecilia's experience as an orphaned 'girl of genius and feeling' being 'sent in quest of a husband to Bengal', mirrored that of her recently deceased aunt. Such a connection between author and aunt sparked an interest in an otherwise neglected member of the Austen clan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow did this aunt who had provided inspiration for the young Jane manage to make her way in the world? How did the course of her life reflect the lives of other women of her times? What worlds did she move in? What people did she meet? Little was known about Philadelphia, yet her daughter Eliza, was said to be a central figure in Jane Austen's life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe conventional trajectory Philadelphia's was changed when, after completing a millinery apprenticeship in London, she took the chance of a journey to India and an arranged marriage. There she became part of the colourful world of the Honourable East India Company and encountered many of its most notable people. Her life was transformed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Pen and Sword History\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/02\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781036111854\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.14lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.29h x 6.22w x 1.18d","brand":"Jan Merriman","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45131002085557,"sku":"9781036111854","price":33.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_da9a02ae-57d5-48de-9b31-8ae8750fdb54.jpg?v=1740460254","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/jane-austens-remarkable-aunt-philadelphia-hancock-a-girl-of-genius-and-feeling-9781036111854","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}