The Letters of Mrs Lefroy

This collection of letters is doubly fascinating, for Mrs Lefroy had many associations with Jane Austen and her family. They moved in the same social circles and by reading Mrs Lefroy's letters to her family we meet many of the same characters who were mentioned in Jane Austen's early letters and who played vitally important and influential parts in her life: the Biggs-Wither family, the Bramstons, the Portals, the Harwoods and the Heathcotes. However, we see them through a very different pair of eyes, that of a mature, intelligent, humorous and compassionate woman. Reading Mrs Lefroy's letters adds greatly to our knowledge of the society around Steventon. The 140 letters date from 1800 to 1804 (the last later included in the book is a very melancholy one, written by Charles Lyford, the surgeon, announcing the unexpected death of Mrs Lefroy, due to a fall from her horse). The members of the Austen family appear : James Austen, is mentioned most often, and as fellow neighbouring clergyman this is not a surprise. Tantalizingly there are few mentions of Jane, but we do hear of the Miss Austens when they are visiting the area from Bath, where they moved in 1801.