Despite only a few surviving personal papers and letters, no autobiographical notes, and no diaries written by Jane Austen, attempts to piece together the life and personality of the author abound. An experienced biographer, Tomalin makes do by focusing more on the Austen family, acquaintances, and friends than on Austen herself, forthrightly acknowledging, "It is only because of her writing that we think them worth remembering; and yet she is at almost every point harder to summon up than any of them…she is as elusive as a cloud in the night sky." Like David Nokes’s recent biography, Jane Austen (LJ 9/1/97), Tomalin’s presents an engaging story of the life and times of the Austen family. Although Tomalin’s biography is not as detailed as Nokes’s, it offers a freshness in its attention to, and compassion regarding the child-rearing practices of the Austens, the physical demands on child-bearing women, and to the portrayal of Austen’s will, determination, and energy in her final days. Recommended for literature collections for its perspective and minimal speculations.