Jane Austen, Illuminated by The Message

Jane Austen says things so eloquently and prophetically that it seems only right to sing out in gratitude that perhaps some of the things we are experiencing are as timeless as the Bibles says they are. Austen cuts to the heart of the human condition, revealing our deepest sense of who we are, the relationships we value, and even the natural world we occupy.

As a mother of three, Rachel Hart Winter has discovered a new depth and poignancy in the works of Jane Austen she had devoured in her youth. Devotion to family, the centrality of Austen’s Anglican faith, attention to the details of nature and ordinary life, a profound understanding of love and commitment—these are a few of the themes that reveal Austen’s love of humanity and the world around her. These same themes, illuminated by the modern language of The Message resonate with our own experience some 200 years later. Sources include Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and—perhaps new to many readers—original prayers.

This book is a perfect gifts for fans of Austen, or for those who have yet to discover her writings.

Other volumes in this series include William Shakespeare, Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens, Walt Whitman, Hans Christian Andersen, Herman Melville, and Louisa May Alcott.

About the author

Rachel Hart Winter has always enjoyed using literature, poetry, and music as creative entry points to prayer and meditation. She is director of St. Catherine of Siena Center and adjunct professor of biomedical and healthcare ethics at Dominican University, Lake Forest, Illinois. Her published works include Healing the Earth, which she co-authored through the International Jesuit Ecology Project. She is married to Patrick Winter and has three children.