In 1939, the city of boston tore down a small house that was obstructing the view of a monument of paul revere. While ben is on currency and splashed across textbooks, janes life. Its a worthy question, one that seeks to recover the experiences of the. Lepore is the history and literature department chair at harvard university. New yorker writer lepore historyharvard univ the story of america, 2012 masterfully formulates the story of benjamin franklin s youngest sister, who will be virtually unknown to many readers, using only a few of her letters and a small archive of births and deaths. Reader response for jill lepores book of ages essaypaper. Jill lepore is an extraordinarily gifted writer, and these truths is nothing short of a masterpiece of american history. Book of ages book central rappahannock regional library.
The life and opinions of jane franklin kindle edition by lepore, jill. Jill lepore books list of books by author jill lepore. Deftly combines biography and cultural history to trace the entwined stories of marston, wonder woman, and 20thcentury feminism. A history of the united states, outside the widener library at harvard, where. Sep 27, 20 but in jill lepores meticulously constructed biography, book of ages. Blindspot pays more attention to sensory truths than most history writing does. The youngest sister of the inventor and politician benjamin franklin, jane franklin was his closest confidant. Scheduled to meet monthly on the second saturday, newcomers are always welcome to join the group. A convincing fictional world needs the truths of the flesh, ear, nose, and eye more than the truths of the archive. Historian jill lepore pieces together the life of ben franklins sister jane and in doing so not only reveals the life of a fascinating ordinary 18thcentury woman who happened to be the beloved little sister of a founding father, but also demonstrates her own prodigious skills as an historian. She writes about american history, law, literature, and politics.
Oct 20, 20 jill lepore reconstructs the life of an 18thcentury woman, benjamin franklins favorite sister. Her book of ages was a finalist for the national book award. Book of ages, about ben franklins sibling the new york times. Jill lepore is not simply an historian or a literary essayist or a social philosopher although she is an exceptional practitioner of all three. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Book of ages was a 20 national book award finalist in the nonfiction category.
Gelles is a senior scholar at stanfords clayman institute for gender research and the author of. The life and opinions of jane franklin by jill lepore knopf. 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. The life and opinions of jane franklin, by jill lepore june 27, 2014. Dec 10, 2018 jill lepore is the david woods kemper 41 professor of american history at harvard university and a staff writer at the new yorker. While benjamin was able to forge a path to greatness from his obscure beginnings, jane, trapped by gender, starved of education, was not. Her books include the name of war, which won the bancroft prize. 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. The book of ages refers to a book at certain points lepore draws parallels between janes life and that of the sister virginia woolf imagined for shakespeare a life limited by misogyny and a woeful lack of opportunity, completely dependent on the men in her life. And she muses at length about janes book of ages, the document that supplies lepore. Historian jill lepore explores this extraordinary, overlooked life in a discussion of her new book book of ages. In book of ages, historian jill lepore draws a portrait of one of the american revolutions little women.
Data science, jill lepore reminds us in this brilliant book, has a past, and she tells it through the engrossing story of simulmatics, the tiny, longforgotten company that helped invent our dataobsessed world, in which prediction is seemingly the only knowledge that matters. Although janes effects are few, lepore crafts an evocative and imaginative narrative of janes life. Book of agesthe life and opinions of jane franklinby jill lepore knopf. Her many books include the secret history of wonder woman, a national bestseller, and book of ages, a finalist for the national book award. Book of ages the life and opinions of jane franklin. She is also a staff writer for the new yorker magazine, and her 2005 book new york burning was a finalist for the. Largely uneducated, poor, married to a man who likely suffered from mental illness, jenny nonetheless remained close. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read book of ages.
National book award finalist one of the best books of the year npr time magazine the washington post entertainment weekly. This reminds me of henry fords contention that history is bunk. Jill lepore has 25 books on goodreads with 120819 ratings. The life and opinions of jane franklin virginia woolf, writing a room of ones own, invented a sister for shakespeare. Book of ages a wonderful story told with great care. 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. In riveting prose, these truths tells the story of america, beginning in 1492, to ask whether the course of events has proven the nations founding truths or belied them. Her many books include the secret history of wonder woman, a national bestseller, and book of ages, a finalist for. Taylor, the washington times go read jill lepore s book of ages. Book of ages is an ardently told life story, brimming with love and loss against a background of political strife and war. Mar 28, 2014 to be sure, book of ages isnt perfect. A revelatory portrait of benjamin franklins youngest sister and a wholly different account of. Lepore has teased from the tiny remaining residue of jane franklin mecoms life her book of ages, her surviving letters to her brother, a will in which she lists descendents and possessions. By engaging with our countrys painful past and present in an intellectually honest way, she has created a book that truly does encapsulate the american story in all its pain and all its triumph.
But in jill lepores meticulously constructed biography, book of ages. Sep 20, 2018 lepore recounts the founding of the new yorker in the 1920s and the origin of the magazines devotion to factchecking. Book of ages, by jill lepore for centuries, the memory of jane franklin has languished in brother benjamins shadow. And lepores manner of writing can sometimes get annoying.
And she muses at length about jane s book of ages, the document that supplies lepore s own volume with its title. A biography of jane franklin, benjamins sister, it is simultaneously a fascinating look at early america, a meditation on one. National book award finalist one of the best books of the year npr time magazine the washington post entertainment weekly the. Her books include new york burning, a finalist for the pulitzer prize. Lepore spends pages pondering things only peripherally related to the book at large, such as pages and pages of painful detail about the frankln family soap recipe. The life and opinions of jane franklin, broke my longstanding aversion to nonfiction.
Only jill lepore has the verve, wit, range, and insights to pull off this daring and provocative book. For her part, she adored him, doting on his letters and seeking out his other writings. The life and opinions of jane franklin, recently placed on the long list of nominees for the national book award in. 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. Lepore is a scholar of this era and has a wealth of study to fill in the gaps of the documentary record. 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.
But, having said that for what little information the author had to work with she. Wonder woman, lepore argues, is the missing link in the history of the struggle for womens rightsa chain of events that begins with the womens suffrage campaigns of the early 1900s and ends with the troubled place of feminism a century later. Jill lepore opens a smeared casement on the life of jane, benjamin franklin s gifted sister, confidante and lifelong correspondent. Jill lepore on writing the story of america in 1,000. Jill lepore opens a smeared casement on the life of jane, benjamin franklins gifted sister, confidante and lifelong correspondent. She lyrically describes this register of births and deaths jane kept for her. Book of ages the life and opinions of jane franklin book. Jill lepore on writing the story of america in 1,000 pages or less jill lepore, the author of these truths. She was, all his life, his anchor and, in the end, his only anchor to his past, lepore writes of the sibling relationship. 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. 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. Meet bens sister jane, historys forgotten franklin listen 5. In the most ambitious onevolume american history in decades, awardwinning historian jill lepore offers a magisterial account of the origins and rise of a divided nation.
From one of our most accomplished and widely admired historiansa rev. Jill lepore born august 27, 1966 citation needed is an american historian. Dari michele, photo distributed by knopf doubleday publishing what would it mean to write the history of an age not only from what has been saved but also. In the remarkable book of ages, harvard professor and new yorker staff writer jill lepore examines the life of jane franklin mecom. The life and opinions of jane franklin jill lepore.
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. Jill lepore is the david woods kemper 41 professor of american history at harvard university and a staff writer at the new yorker. Making use of an amazing cache of littlestudied 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. With consummate skill, lepore moves us beyond the story of a famous brother and his woebegone sister, instead bringing both benny and jennyand the relationship between themto life. Jan 01, 20 jill lepore does a great job of recreating jane franklins life as best as she can, given that, as the author says, her paper trail is miserably scant. Knopf all there is to know about edward mecom is a scant paper trail of failure furniture. Book of ages by jill lepore, 9780307958341, available at book. The house had belonged to jane franklin mecom, the youngest sister of benjamin franklin. Books by jill lepore author of the secret history of.
Jill lepore talked about her book, the secret history of wonder woman, in which she examines the feminist underpinnings of the november 16, 20 interview on book of ages. Author jill lepore joins me from a studio in cambridge. With careful and ingenious research, jill lepore uncovers the surprising life of the obscure sister to a very famous man. This is a story of many janes, stretching in time from the nine days queen, lady jane grey, to jane austen. Book of ages on apple books apple books apple apple. It was a chronicle of births and deaths in her family, including her 12 children. The life and opinions of jane franklin by jill lepore. Author interview jill lepore, author of book of ages. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading book of ages. Jill lepore is a staff writer at the new yorker and the david woods kemper 41 professor of american history at harvard university. 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. The life and opinions of jane franklin, she proves to be something more fabulous. The life and opinions of jane franklin, which was a finalist for the 20 national book award for nonfiction.
The life and opinions of jane franklin, historian jill lepore uses these items, mentioned above, to explore the life of benjamin franklins littleknown younger sister, jane. The life and opinions of jane franklin 20 is a biography of the eighteenthcentury figure jane franklin mecom by american historian jill lepore. Book of ages is the name of lepores extraordinary new book about jane franklin, but to call it simply a biography would be like calling bens experiments with electricity mere kite flying. This she has done by divining the meanings left in historys erasures and then writing into. Reviewed by rachel adams, columbia university the question now inevitably asks itself, in 1939, wrote virginia woolf whether the lives of great men only should be recorded.
Entertaining and illuminating, this book showed us things that we didnt know. In 2 pages, write a book report that would respond to the following questions. Largely uneducated, poor, married to a man who likely suffered from mental illness, jenny nonetheless remained close with her famous brother throughout their lives. 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. Bibliography note includes bibliographical references pages 327417 and index carrier category volume carrier marc source rdacarrier content category text. Jill lepore, a staff writer, has been contributing to the new yorker since 2005. Book of ages discussion questions history book discussion group. Interweaving many lively biographies, these truths illuminates the origins of the passions and causes, which still inspire and divide americans in an age that needs all the truth we can find. Her books include the new york times best seller the secret history of wonder woman and book of ages, a finalist for the national book award.
Jill lepore reconstructs the life of an 18thcentury woman, benjamin franklins favorite sister. The life and opinions of jane franklin by jill lepore join us for a friendly discussion with a group of people who love to read and discuss good books. Because of that, book of ages becomes almost more of a reflection about the lost lives of those who arent documented, especially the women of the past. In the story of america, harvard historian and new yorker staff writer jill lepore investigates american origin stories from john smiths account of the founding of jamestown in 1607 to barack obamas 2009 inaugural address to show how american democracy is bound up with the history of print. From the hype i was hoping for much more information on jane franklin, but got more about her brother franklin instead. Author interview jill lepore, author of book of ages bookpage. Making use of an amazing cache of littlestudied material, including documents, objects, and portraits only just discovered, jill lepore brings jane franklin to life in a way that illuminates not. Thats just one of a multitude of striking observations that jill lepore makes about jane franklin, the baby sister of ben. The life and opinions of jane franklin ebook written by jill lepore. These truths by jill lepore overdrive rakuten overdrive. Lepore a professor of american history at harvard, a new yorker writer, and the author of book of ages is an endlessly energetic and knowledgeable guide to the fascinating backstory of wonder woman. Lepore is the author of book of ages, new york burning and the. Dec 12, 20 lepore is the history and literature department chair at harvard university. Book publishers dont have the budgets to comb so closely.
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