​Disclaimer: When I quote opinions from this two hundred-year-old book, I am not endorsing them. 
    In an early post on this blog, I referenced Matilda, or, the Barbadoes Girl (1816) by the prolific author Barbara Hofland as an example of a book which openly discussed enslavement, plantations, and the slave trade. I was countering the argument that Jane Austen had to pull her punches when discussing slavery. Hofland's pro-abolition opinions, stated openly by the "good" characters in the book, were not controversial at the time, even in a book written for children.
    The abolitionist message of this book reflects the reality that evangelical Christians were the driving force behind the anti-slavery crusade in England. That said, the moral issue of slavery and the welfare of enslaved persons is subordinate to the personal reformation of the main character, a spoiled daughter of a planter who repents of her bad temper and selfish behavior after she is taken into a loving Christian household. In addition, the topic of slavery is left behind in favour of a different moral danger in the last chapters of the book.
       Matilda, or, The Barbadoes Girl was reprinted for over fifty years, which is pretty good innings for an author. In most editions, the title is simply The Barbadoes Girl. I have not found any contemporary reviews. One American journal praised Mrs. Hofland’s “interesting little stories which are not less marked with tenderness than with morality” but the reviewer admitted he had not had time to read The Barbadoes Girl. Here is a synopsis...

       So where are you in your journey from Austen fan to Austen superfan? Have you worked out the Austen family tree? Do you smile politely when someone quotes Austen's "little bit of ivory" at you, because you've already heard or read it a hundred times? Have you read any or all of the novels mentioned in Northanger Abbey? Did you know that "Lover's Vows," the play performed by the young people in Mansfield Park, was a real play?
      In my opinion, Jane Austen's Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney is geared toward people who are not far along in their Austen journey, but are ready and eager to learn more. On the other hand, well-informed Janeites might find that it covers familiar territory, while others might be bemused by the proposition that Maria Edgeworth and Frances Burney are forgotten writers whose connection to Austen was waiting to be rediscovered.
    I don't mean that as a criticism of a well-written and deeply researched book, which this is. For someone wanting to learn more about Austen and her literary world, Jane Austen's Bookshelf is packed with revelations for the reader (I'll get back to that later) and a valuable guidebook to the literature of her time.   

​     What makes a hero? You’ll find lots of modern readers putting down Austen heroes—Edmund Bertram of Mansfield Park tops the list of disliked heroes, followed by Edward Ferrars of Sense and Sensibility. Edmund is clueless and Edward is feckless. Mr. Knightley of Emma and Henry Tilney of Northanger Abbey are mansplainers. Persuasion’s Captain Wentworth flirts with the Musgrove girls in front of Anne Elliot, and don’t tell me he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice usually escapes unscathed, unless you fault him for being a wealthy landowner in a nation where so many were desperately poor.
     Well, at this blog we look at Jane Austen’s novels in context, not only in the context of her times but in the context of the novels of her times. And I can report that there are many un-heroic heroes in these novels. Their chief failing is how readily they believe any malicious gossip attacking the heroine's reputation. In other cases, as with Edward Ferrars, they are trapped in circumstances arguably beyond their control. Although he should have mentioned he was engaged. See what you think of the hero of Maria, a 1785 novel by Elizabeth Blower...