Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!

Last week, I reviewed The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club. The Intrepid Reader gave us a brand-new Christmas romance set in an English village: A Christmas Gift by Sue Moorcroft. Jeanie’s October reading round-up included some British mysteries.

Book: The Novel Life of Jane Austen: A Graphic Biography by Janine Barchas and Isabel Greenberg
Genre: Biography in graphic novel format
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
Publication date: 2025

Source: Physical copy borrowed from library

Summary: In the first chapter, we see Jane Austen in London visiting the Shakespeare Gallery where she and her brother view paintings of Shakespeare scenes. This is a graphic novel, so we get to see renderings of the paintings, in the style of the book.

Most of the pictures in the book are done in black, white, yellows, and blues. We get a brief preview of the switch to raspberry and pinks that indicate when we’re seeing something in Jane’s imagination. As Jane gazes at two different interpretations of Puck from a Midsummer Night’s Dream, she thinks, “I imagine Puck as a girl.”

Later in the book, we’ll see scenes from Austen’s books done in shades of red to distinguish them from scenes in Austen’s life.

Thoughts: This book came courtesy of Nonfiction November. Jane Austen’s 250th birthday is next month, so I picked two different biographical works to read this month. But then, I spotted this graphic biography of Jane Austen on the list of nonfiction books at the blog What? Me Read?

I immediately requested The Novel Life of Jane Austen from the library since it fits in my end-of-year Jane Austen theme, and it wouldn’t take me very long to read.

This book pulled out some details that I haven’t seen in the other biographies. Plus, of course, the charming illustrations bring the story to life.

Appeal: I recommend The Novel Life of Jane Austen for anyone who wants to find a quick way to honor Jane Austen’s 250th birthday on December 16.