Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane - Devoney Looser - ★★★

AUTHOR: Devoney Looser

GENRE: Literature, Biography

PUBLICATION DATE: September 2, 2025

RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: A nonfiction investigation of the ‘wildness’ contained in Austen’s writing, her life, and in the extraneous ventures capitalising on her name. Thus divided into three sections, the first section was easily my favourite. The second was a bit boring and the third went the mixed way. Might work for some Austen fans, though this Austenite was only partly impressed.

Given that 2025 has the 250th birth anniversary of the evergreen Jane Austen, there are plenty of books coming out this year celebrating Austen and her timeless works. As a huge fan of all of Austen’s writing, I feel like I have a bonanza of Austen nonfiction to choose from. I have read three such titles so far. I loved ‘Jane Austen’s Bookshelf’ and found ‘The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen’ decent enough. This book, however, wasn't that easy to rate. I absolutely loved some chapters and was thoroughly bored by some others.

Author Devoney Looser (pronounced ‘LOH-ser’) is a regent professor at Arizona State University, a roller skater performing under the name ‘Stone Cold Jane Austen”, AND an Austen scholar. There’s no doubting the extent of her knowledge of all things Austen; every chapter of this book highlights her grasp of the subject. But as is often the case with any topic a person are obsessed about, they fall victim to their bias and refuse to see contrary arguments. They also find it difficult to discard any subtopic from their extensive repertoire and try to include everything possible within their work. Both these shortcomings prevented this work from being more impactful for me.

The book is founded on an interesting query: Is Jane Austen mild or wild? Several scholars and readers might go with the first option, but the author is determined to prove that Austen was not just wild, but she was possibly wilder than most writers of her time. I was quite impressed with this concept as I have always thought of Austen as rebellious. No one else could have made such tongue-in-cheek jabs at the British society in such a sarcastic way that many readers don’t even see the satirical nature of her writing. I was excited to discover how an Austen scholar would present the proof of Austen’s “wildness”.

The introduction of the book spoke straight to my heart, questioning all those who claim that Austen - and by extension, her stories - is unremarkable, ordinary and straightforward. As the author says, "Make no mistake. There are wows aplenty, with remarkable, extraordinary things in the world of Austen and her fiction." The purpose of the book is also made clear: to get closer to Austen's unsung realities. So far, so good.

The book is divided into three parts. Part I, comprising eleven chapters (not counting the introduction), is about Austen’s writings, with each chapter focussing on one of her works. (I am sure her fans know that she has written far beyond the six novels she is most known for.) Part II, which has six chapters, focusses on the wild side of Austen’s family ties, and Part III, with the remaining seven chapters, is dedicated to exploring Austen’s posthumous legacy in fiction and beyond. These twenty-five chapters form about 63% of this 336-pages book. The rest is backmatter, including extensive footnotes. However, the pacing of the book is extremely slow, so even to reach that 63% mark took me ages! Maybe try the audiobook if you have access to it. I have heard that the narrator is good.

I believe that there are two kinds of Austen superfans: those who devour anything Austen and those who devour only Austen. I belong to the second category. I can read and reread any Austen work whenever I want, but I do not venture near any Austen retelling knowingly.

Given the above, it won't take a genius to guess that the first part was, by far, my favourite section. I absolutely loved these eleven chapters, covering not just Austen’s six famous novels but also her novella ‘Lady Susan’, her unfinished works, and the writings of her youth. It came as a shocker to me that Austen wrote poems as well. (No, I won't read poems even for my beloved Jane Austen!) It was great to see the analysis begin with the underrated Juvenilia collection, penned by a teenaged Jane. Anyone who wants to see how mischievous the young author could get, must read Juvenilia. These chapters contain many spoilers, obviously; these can’t be avoided in the analysis of classics.

Of course, every chapter in this set was a treat to me because I was at an advantage: I have read all of these works. This also meant that I could easily spot some parts where the book forces in a “wild” meaning where there is possibly none. Luckily, this doesn’t happen often and most of the analysis is superlative. I am not sure how anyone unfamiliar with Austen’s writing would find this section. Then again, only hardcore Austen fans would pick up such a nonfiction work, right? 🤭

The second part was informative but boring to me. It felt like the book suddenly shifted from Austen to her family, trying to prove that wildness ran in several family members, whether through relatively trivial misdemeanours such as shoplifting or through participation in major “crimes” such as rallying for abolition or women’s suffrage. The content, evaluated by itself, was researched well and shone light on several unknown facts about Austen’s extended family. However, if the tagline intends to show us a “rebellious, subversive, and untamed Jane”, then such a detailed analysis of her family members feels off topic.

The third part did a somewhat better job in bringing the focus back to Austen, not to her life or novels, but to her legacy, mainly through the myriad branches of artistic works spun off from her original writing. However, the “wildness” factor in this section was quite forced. The topics in this section range from Austen’s portraits (potentially six in existence, though we lay readers see only one used every time!) and Austen’s ghost (No comments!) to the plethora of movie adaptations and fictional spinoffs (mostly interesting) and Austen erotica. (I skipped this chapter after reading the first sentence. 🤐) Not having read any of her retellings, I was at a disadvantage when it came to the chapter on Austen spinoffs. I liked the one about her portraits and of course, the one focussing on the TV and movie adaptations. (Reiterating: The 1995 six-episode adaptation of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by the BBC is the best P&P screen work. By far.)

Overall, this book is a highly informative analysis of all things Austen. If I have to rate the book section-wise, Part I will get an easy 5 stars, Part II earns 1.5 stars, and Part III gets 2.5 stars. It might seem like the second and third section would hinder my recommendation, but no. The book would still make a good gift to all hardcore Austen fans, even if they read just the first twelve chapters.

Recommended to Austen superfans.

3 stars. (averaging the sectional ratings.)

My thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing the DRC of “Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.