This lovely book was a pleasure to read, with an engaging style and full of interesting tidbits. The author probes the social history of tea in Regency England, and along the way, she illuminates new aspects of familiar passages from Jane Austen's novels by explaining the social context that readers of that time would have automatically understood. What does it mean that Mr. Darcy chooses coffee over tea when he dines at Longbourn? After reading this book, I have a new understanding of that scene.

I collect books on tea and this was a must with my fondness for Jane Austen and tea.

I bought this as a gift but I wanted to buy it for myself. It is so charming and full of recipes. I'm getting it soon...

This is a good history on tea. It explains lots of things I never knew before. I questioned the validity of a couple of stories in here, but that doesn't mean they're not true...just hard to imagine. It's small enough that it won't get tedious, but long enough that you actually learn some things.

This is - and there is no doubting this - the vag-iest book I've ever seen.

This is a lovely short little book which will not only teach you how to make a good cup of tea but at the same time takes a lovely cultural walk through the historical significance of tea both in society and literature.

The Georgian era really saw the rise in tea as a social institution, which is of course the time of Austen. Kim Wilson manages to extract references to tea in novels and letters using them as examples of its importance at the time, and its use as a literary device.

this has a series of lovely recipes in it which are true to Austen's time, well as true as they can be. Ingredients and measurements not withstanding. But how wonderful to do tea just as Austen did.

This book is highly specialised around Tea and really Austen and perhaps the Jane Austen in the title was supposed to draw in more readers on the Jane Austen bandwagon. However I do think it has merit. Firstly it tended to stick with things of Austen's time and I felt it gave a fairly good discussion of what her life would have been.

It really suffered from lack of illustration, not only throughout the book, but also for the cooking items at the end. I recommend reading this with another illustrated book of Austen's life if you want to see more of the places and things mentioned in here. There is one excellent book I have read recently called Regency Design which (while not on Jane Austen) will illustrate so much of what they used, ate from, drank from and lived in. It is fully illustrated, I think the author is Morley - anyway - a book like that is an excellent accompaniment to lovely short books such as this.

Before sitting down with this book, turn to the very last chapter, which explains how to make the perfect cup of tea -- and prepare a whole pot for yourself. Because once you begin reading Kim Wilson's engaging discussion, you'll want nothing so much as a good cup of tea (except, perhaps, a rout cake or Bath bun to go with it) but will not want to put the book down long enough to boil water. "Tea with Jane Austen" is like the best blends of the beverage, its individual components smoothly combining to create a delightful experience richer than the sum of its parts. Primarily a social history of tea in Georgian England, the book also explains how Austen and other authors use tea as a literary device, and includes period recipes with modern conversions. Though extensively researched, this is not dry history -- Wilson's warm, conversational style and gentle humor make the book as entertaining as it is informative. Indeed, the reader feels as if Wilson is our hostess rather than a lecturer as she educates us by turns on tea itself (how it was transported, sold, and prepared) and the social contexts in which it was enjoyed. She also enhances our appreciation for Austen's writings by revealing subtle cues Austen incorporates into tea-drinking scenes that likely escape most modern readers -- but that her contemporaries would have recognized as character-defining elements. Among the many fascinating insights Wilson offers, we learn why the Austens, hardly well-to-do, bought their tea only from one of London's most reputable merchants, that naval officers often brought along their own tea so as to improve conditions aboard ship by indulging in a small comfort of home, and the real reason Mr. Darcy drinks a cup of coffee rather than tea toward the end of "Pride and Prejudice." By the end of the book, you'll be trying to decide which of the intriguing recipes to attempt first, and which Jane Austen novel to read or reread whilst sipping tea (with sugar, but no cream) from a Wedgwood cup.

Fun and interesting, loaded with anecdotes and quotes from family and contemporaries, Tea With Jane Austen is truly a valuable asset to anyone's Jane collection! Jane herself made the tea for her family, so you cannot ignore this addition to the her "lore" and still be a true Janeite! Need I say more?
Linore Rose Burkard
Author, Before the Season Ends,
An "Austenesque" Regency Romance
[...]

Fun and interesting, loaded with anecdotes and quotes from family and contemporaries, Tea With Jane Austen is truly a valuable asset to anyone's Jane collection! Jane herself made the tea for her family, so you cannot ignore this addition to the her "lore" and still be a true Janeite! Need I say more?
Linore Rose Burkard
Author, Before the Season Ends,
An "Austenesque" Regency Romance
[...]

This book is entertaining and relaxing as well as educational. We received "Tea" as a gift last Christmas, and I have since recommendeded it to my sister-in-law. My curiosity about such a fascinating character led me to purchase Jane Austen's own book, EMMA. I thought the interesting old and new recipes made "Tea" even more authentic as well, and loved comparing them as I am an ardent baker. A pound cake was really a "pound" cake in Austen's day. If you want to spend quality time enjoying a delightful book, I highly recommend Tea With Jane Austen. It certainly deserves a five star rating.

For anyone interested in how Jane Austin and the people in her books lived, this is a must read! In this entertaining and well researched book you can find out how to make a whole host of unusual delicacies and serve it with the proper etiquette of the day. My hat is off to Ms Wilson for giving us a delightful book that is sure to please all Janites! And now, I will sit down to read "Emma" with my cup of tea...

This book is entertaining and relaxing as well as educational. We received "Tea" as a gift last Christmas, and I have since recommendeded it to my sister-in-law. My curiosity about such a fascinating character led me to purchase Jane Austen's own book, EMMA. I thought the interesting old and new recipes made "Tea" even more authentic as well, and loved comparing them as I am an ardent baker. A pound cake was really a "pound" cake in Austen's day. If you want to spend quality time enjoying a delightful book, I highly recommend Tea With Jane Austen. It certainly deserves a five star rating.

For anyone interested in how Jane Austin and the people in her books lived, this is a must read! In this entertaining and well researched book you can find out how to make a whole host of unusual delicacies and serve it with the proper etiquette of the day. My hat is off to Ms Wilson for giving us a delightful book that is sure to please all Janites! And now, I will sit down to read "Emma" with my cup of tea...

It's not often that a book showing diligent research is also fun to read. Wilson has selected the most evocative quotations from Austen's novels and the most telling domestic tidbits from Austen's letters to add a rich flavor to her own intelligent prose. I had no idea that my tea-drinking pleasures had such a well-developed social history as Wilson describes. From the recipes to the period woodcuts, even the font and layout--all contribute to a fine sensory experience. Thank you for a delightful visit for Tea With Jane Austen. --Pat Meller, Greensboro, North Carolina