Jane Austen And Crime

by Susannah Fullerton, Reginald Hill (Foreword)

This new approach to Austen and her works uncovers the renowned author’s fascination with illegality and its brutal consequences. From murder, adultery, and duelling to gaols, hangings, and stocks, this book examines the criminal landscape of Austen’s England and highlights its significance in her novels.

Genres: Jane Austen, Nonfiction, History, Regency

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Susannah Fullerton, OAM FRSN, is Sydney’s best-known literary historian and lecturer on classic novels. She is a worldwide authority on Jane Austen's life and fiction, and her books have been praised by Claire Tomalin, Maggie Lane, Deirdre le Faye and Hazel Jones. She has been President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia since 1996.

Her latest book, 'Great Writers & the Cats Who Owned Them', published by Bodleian Library Publishing in 2025, is receiving rave reviews. Other books include Brief Encounters: Literary Travellers in Australia, Jane Austen and Crime, A Dance with Jane Austen: How a Novelist and her Characters went to the Ball, Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and Jane & I: A Tale of Austen Addiction. She has written and recorded two audio CDs Finding Katherine Mansfield, the first audio CD about New Zealand’s great short story writer, and Poetry to Fill A Room, a delightful edition of Susannah reading her best loved poetry.

Susannah grew up in New Zealand and has lived in Australia since 1986. She lectures regularly at the State Library of NSW, at conferences, schools and libraries. She gives talks on famous writers and their novels, poems and plays at a great variety of places around NSW, Australia and overseas.

Reviews

[Sophie Turner]

This is one of the very rare "Jane Austen and..." books that manages to set a greater context for the period Austen wrote in while also giving good literary analysis.

[Clyve Rose]

Fascinating read!

[Judith]

What I found most valuable in this book was Fullerton's references to seemingly small and unimportant details in Austen's novels, which would have been significant to her contemporaries. For example, when Harriet is accosted by gypsies I understood that it was very unpleasant to be surrounded and perhaps robbed--as i have been myself--but I did not know that it was illegal to speak to gypsies (recall, she pled with them). The chapter on prostitution notes that Mrs. Clay's lotion for clearing up freckles contains a substance then prescribed for sexual diseases; is this a hint that she may have supplementing her widow's pension or living a bit loosely? (Preparing us for her running away with Mr. Elliott the heir.)

Entertainingly written, this book explains much about what were considered crimes in Austen's time and what the punishments were. I always thought Mr. Rushworth was a dolt; now I understand that he was also cruelly indifferent to the poor.

Austerities, you must read this book!

[Carfig]

Interesting read but often repetitive, which takes away from enjoying it. And some odd phrasing. Best tidbits include: poaching and theft could be punishable by death but adultery wasn't illegal (neighbors would probably frown upon and disassociate from the couple); attempted murder was a misdemeanor; 'stealing an heiress' meant death because she was "property incarnate," but stealing a child was not an offense of any kind. Hanging was still prevalent, and even innocent Harriet Smith commits a hangable offense by simply TALKING to the gypsies who try to rob her.

Yet all this talk about her books makes me want to reread all the Austen again!

The typesetting is atrocious, running whole lines together so it looks like one word, font choices that run into the next word doesn't help.

[Dusty Folds]

This book provides great insight into the legal system in England during Austen's time (Regency period). That is what makes the book fascinating, but I had hoped to get some insight into how these crimes are dealt with in Austen's fiction. In short, I was hoping to learn something that I did not already know. Sadly, that was not the case. There are references to some crimes in Austen's juvenilia, which I was expecting, but there wasn't the deep and eye-opening analysis into her major six novels. That is not to say that I didn't learn anything new, but I was just hoping for more.

[Helen Smart]

Mixed feelings about this one. It was a fascinating insight into crime in Georgian times and I definitely learned a few new facts but felt that a lot of the connections to Jane Austen and her work were a bit of a stretch. However, it does provide good context for her novels in terms of understanding how people at the time would have understood them.

[Heather]

A smallish book that gives an angle on Jane Austen and her works that is more about her times than the actual crime in her novels. Interesting, but I ended up wanting more, but of what, I'm not that sure.

[Jonathan]

interesting and enjoyable book,i could read it again.

[Glong]

Regency life was not as pretty as it looks in the films of Jane Austen's books. Prisoners were transported to Australia or left to bide their time on crowded, disease-ridden prison ships in the Thames, while poachers -- many of them poor people who were starving because of the Enclosure laws -- were heavily fined. Talking to gypsies was a hanging offense, and much of England's tea was obtained from smugglers. A fresh and lively perspective on Austen's world.

[Julia]

3.5 stars. Some aspects of this book were fantastic. I loved how much information it gave me about life and crime during the time period. As one example, I never knew how badly Attorney's were looked down on, and that knowledge makes the part in Pride and Prejudice all the better. Sometimes there are some long-drawn bows to connect the crimes with Austen novels (the Persuasion link with suicide in particular comes to mind) but overall very informative.

[Donna Jo Atwood]

This is not the most exciting book in the world, but it was an interesting look at criminal actions and the way they were evolving during Jane Austen's lifetime. Fullerton supports her views from Austen's fiction and letters. In some cases, she makes suppositions based on actions of Jane's immediate family.

[Anne Marshall]

Not worth reading.