The life and opinions of jane franklin jill lepore. This book attempts to bring a remarkable woman out of. Oct 01, 20 book of ages the life and opinions of jane franklin by jill lepore. Taylor, the washington times go read jill lepore s book of ages. Jill lepore born august 27, 1966 citation needed is an american historian. Guest jill lepore, professor of history at harvard university and. While benjamin was able to forge a path to greatness from his obscure beginnings, jane, trapped by gender, starved of education, was not. The life and opinions of jane franklin, her observations about womens history motivating its project of recoveryand repair. The life and opinions of jane franklin, jill lepore brings benjamin franklins sister and her story out of historys fog and into the open. She deduces the contents of janes lost letters from benjamins replies. Entertaining and illuminating, this book showed us things that we didn. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone.
Jill lepore opens a smeared casement on the life of jane, benjamin franklins gifted sister, confidante, and lifelong correspondent. Historian lepore the mansion of happiness, who has a knack for crafting a beautiful, inventive, and accessible story, has delicately and creatively pieced together a biography of jane franklin, despite a lack of surviving letters jane wrote little else, except for a small handstitched book in which she recorded the births and deaths of her. An ardently told life story, brimming with love and loss against a background of political strife and war. The books subtitle, after all, refers to janes opinions, and, as lepore. Jan 01, 20 the subtitle of book of ages, the life and opinions of jane franklin, is what drew me to request this book. She tells janes little known life story in book of ages. While ben is on currency and splashed across textbooks, jane s life. The life and opinions of jane franklin audiobook by jill lepore. Jun 27, 2014 check out these 15 books about the american revolution. National book award finalist from one of our most accomplished and widely admired historians, a revelatory portrait of benjamin franklins youngest sister and a history of history itself. This, however, is a cautionary tale about the differences between them, not in intelligence, but in opportunities.
Now jill, i wonder if youve reflected on that question from our caller austin. Lepore also uses jane franklin to explore a lessdocumented side of revolutionary era boston due to the fact that jane lived in the city for the majority of the war. Book of ages, by jill lepore for centuries, the memory of jane franklin has languished in brother benjamins shadow. The life and opinions of jane franklin by jill lepore.
The life and opinions of jane franklin virginia woolf, writing a room of ones own, invented a sister for shakespeare. The life and opinions of jane franklin ebook written by jill lepore. The life and opinions of jane franklin kindle edition by lepore, jill. The life and opinions of jane franklin by jill lepore in doc, fb2, txt download ebook. And she muses at length about janes book of ages, the document that supplies lepores own volume with its title. Lepores life of jane franklin, with its strikingly original vantage on her remarkable brother, is at once a wholly different account of the founding of the united states and one of the great untold stories of american history and letters. In writing about jane mecom, the younger sister of benjamin franklin, lepore investigates how history is written and considers the silence of material that does not exist. The life and opinions of benjamin franklins other half. The life and opinions of jane franklin, in which she recalls the life of benjamin franklins youngest sister, jane franklin. Sep 29, 20 what would it mean to write the history of an age not only from what has been saved but also from what has been lost. She is the david woods kemper 41 professor of american history at harvard university and a staff writer at the new yorker, where she has contributed since 2005.
Using period spelling and reproductions of archival documents, jill lepore gives us a book about books. The life and opinions of jane franklin, which was a finalist for the 20 national book award for nonfiction. It was a chronicle of births and deaths in her family, including her 12 children. This week in the magazine, lepore writes about her decades. The life and opinions of jane franklin, jill lepore argues, little of what benjamin franklin wrote not the silence dogood essays, not poor richards almanack, not the way to wealth. From one of our most accomplished and widely admired historiansa rev. A biography of jane franklin, benjamins sister, it is simultaneously a fascinating look at early america, a meditation on one remarkable mind by another, and, implicitly, a biography of all the other janeshistorys anonymous and overlooked women. Like her brother, jane franklin was a passionate reader, a gifted writer, and an astonishingly shrewd political commentator.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading book of ages. The life and opinions of jane franklin 9780307948830. Nov 18, 20 jill lepore joins me from harvard university where she is an historian. Apr 25, 2014 jacob riis coopted it to highlight the gap between the tenements and townhouses in late nineteenth century new york, while jill lepore uses franklins saying as the epigraph to her work focused on the founding fathers sister, titled book of ages. Jill lepore opens a smeared casement on the life of jane, benjamin franklin s gifted sister, confidante, and lifelong correspondent. Jill lepores luminous story of the life of benjamin franklins sister is stitched together from fragments and scraps, a lifes remains a word with. Jane was benjamin franklin s youngest sister, and as they were close in age they were also close in spirit. The life and opinions of jane franklin, recently placed on the long list of nominees for the national book award in nonfiction, this moon casts a beguiling glow. The life and opinions of jane franklin, broke my longstanding aversion to nonfiction. To stare at these siblings is to stare at sun and moon. But in jill lepore s meticulously constructed biography, book of ages.
Making use of an amazing cache of little studied material, including documents, objects, and portraits only just discovered, jill lepore brings jane franklin to life in a way that illuminates not only this one woman but an entire worlda world usually lost to history. What lepore means by that line of nearpoetry is that jane franklins life, beginning at age 17 when she gave birth to the first of her 12 children, was one of nursing, lugging pails of night soil. The life and opinions of jane franklin, a biography of ben franklins sister, comes out this fall. Jane s actual book of ages documented the lives of her family, and while she suffered many tragedies her life is definitely an inspiration. Knopf all there is to know about edward mecom is a scant paper trail of failure furniture. Lepore pieces together jane franklins life from other documents, including newspapers, benjamins letters, and also a small book that jane herself wrote, which she titled book of ages. Benjamin franklin, who wrote more letters to his sister than he wrote to anyone else, was the original american selfmade man. So we learn in book of ages, an astonishing, if necessarily sketchy, biography of jane franklin 171294 by jill lepore, a harvard university history professor and new yorker staff writer. Jill lepore, harvard historian and staff writer for the new yorker, has recreated the story of an obscure woman with a famous brother, though jane franklin, sister of benjamin, was real, and she. Lepore also posits a more direct connection between woolf and jane franklin, who, lepore believes, may have been a model for the memorable figure of judith shakespeare. Oct 20, 20 she deduces the contents of janes lost letters from benjamins replies.
But in jill lepores meticulously constructed biography, book of ages. This biography of benjamin franklins sister, jane franklin mecom, does not. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Entertaining and illuminating, this book showed us things that we didnt know.
What would it mean to write the history of an age not only from what has been saved but also from what has been lost. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read book of ages. The life and opinions of jane franklin by jill lepore knopf. Book of ages is a beautiful portrait of a forgotten woman, whose importance lies in her ordinariness. The life and opinions of jane franklin 20 is a biography of the eighteenthcentury figure jane franklin mecom by american historian jill lepore. Jill lepore reconstructs the life of an 18thcentury woman, benjamin. In book of ages, historian jill lepore draws a portrait of one of the american revolutions little. The life and opinions of jane franklin, recently placed on the long list of nominees for the. The life and opinions of jane franklin, recently placed on. The life and opinions of jane franklin, by jill lepore. Out of a little book jane called her book of ages, lepore has recreated the life and the lineage of a personality worth knowing, one whose opinions her illustrious brother could not do without. The life and opinions of jane franklin in new york journal of books.