The Other Jane Austen: Frances Burney

Frances Burney was born on June 13, 1752 in Lynn Regis, England (now called King's Lynn). Her father was a musical historian, so she spent much of her young life in the fascinating company of artists and musicians. When she was a little older, she became a keeper of the robes to Queen Charlotte of England and maintained a friendship with the royal family long after her time there.

Burney's novels were published around the time Austen began writing the early drafts of her soon-to-be classics. And, guess what? As mentioned above, Jane Austen not only considered herself a fan of Burney's work, she was actually inspired by it! Since we all know Miss Austen had impeccable taste, it's worthwhile to pick up a Frances Burney novel on that recommendation alone.

But, perhaps, the most striking aspect for me about Frances Burney is how accessible she is as an individual. Austen fans everywhere curse Jane's sister, Cassandra, for burning some of her letters. While the surviving letters are a fantastic read, we'll never really know what Austen was like when she was uncensored.

For Burney, there exists an entire collection of letters AND journal entries at our disposal--making the reading experience so much richer. Unlike Austen, she eventually married, but it's clear from her teenage journal entries that most of her early suitors were disappointing. When she did marry, she married a French exile, much to the dismay of the English society around her. She was an independent woman in a time when this was frowned upon. She was determined to write, even though her mother didn't want her to. In one of my favorite sections of her journal entries, Frances complains about her mother for telling her not to keep a journal at all. Burney's mother thought it was unladylike and scandalous, but the reader can imagine the prototype of a modern teenager venting her frustrations in her diary and defying authority as she describes her mother's frustration.

Burney's journal entries are so vibrant, that they're almost more intimate and compelling than the novels, themselves. After reading them, I felt as if I'd made a new best friend named Fanny.

Since early novels can leave a reader feeling lost in translation with the cultural norms 18th and 19th century authors took for granted, I've provided sources below that help the reader understand the ins and outs of Burney's 18th century life. Because, let's be honest, Vauxhall Gardens might have been all the rage in 1796, but most of us today have no idea what to compare it to (think of Vauxhall Gardens as part posh country club, part trendy dance club, and part Las Vegas).