Fanny Burney: A Biography

Fanny Burney, despite herself, was a feminist. She would have hated that idea, but she was an intelligent woman in an age when women were considered either ornaments, mothers, or whores. No other avenue was acceptable for a women of that time, educating a women was considered a waste of time! Into this world, Fanny Burney, hindered by dyslexia, educated herself, and changed the literary world forever. Claire Harman has written a well documented biography that dives deeply into Fanny Burney's life, devotion to her father, and the world that surrounded and shaped her.

I confess that Burney's never been my favorite novelist, but I do like biographies so I picked this one up. I found it extremely readable and engaging, and I grew more sympathetic toward Burney and her writing upon learning more about her life--her learning disability and subsequent insecurity, her father's interference with her career, her miserable years at court, her rushing to publish novels so that she could pay the bills, and, of course, her horrifying mastectomy (about which I read with my fingers across my eyes, as one might hide one's face during the scary part of a movie).I wish there had been more room for "Harman's careful disentangling of fact from wishful thinking and manipulation," but I can see why this would be more appropriate for a book of criticism than a biography.If you're at all interested in Burney or the times in which she lived--even (or especially?) if you don't like her writing--I believe you'll find this book worthwhile.