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“Book of
Ages is an ardently told life story, brimming with love and loss against a
background of political strife and war. Jill Lepore opens a smeared casement on
the life of Jane, Benjamin Franklin’s gifted sister, confidante, and life-long
correspondent. While Benjamin was able to forge a path to greatness from his
obscure beginnings, Jane, trapped by gender, starved of education, was not. The
contrast between the two destinies is by turns captivating, enraging, and
profoundly moving. As Lepore sheds light on this one, unsung life, she
brilliantly illuminates an entire era.”
— Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of Caleb’s Crossing
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“Jane Franklin’s indomitable voice and hungry,
searching intellect shine through these pages; she will not be forgotten, and
the world is richer for it.”
— Time
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“A thoughtful and illuminating biography.”
— O, The Oprah Magazine
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“As she stitches together Jane’s story, Lepore
gives us a side of Benjamin Franklin we have never seen—an evocative look at
what life was like for most eighteenth-century women.”
— Entertainment Weekly
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“Meticulously constructed…Consistently first-rate.”
— New York Times
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“It is uncanny how vividly personal, how
vibrantly colored, Jane’s voice sounds from these pages…let’s call it genius.”
— Barnes&Noble.com, editorial review
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“Luminous…Jane emerges as witty, curious, and
resilient in the face of unimaginable grief, yet she is not an unsung hero of
the revolution, a forgotten Abigail Adams. Her importance, as Lepore’s portrait
memorably shows, lies in her ordinariness—her learning thwarted by circumstance
but her intelligence shaped by her uniquely female experience. We may know
about Jane Franklin only because of her famous brother, but he is not why she
matters.”
— Washington Post
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“A tour de force that can only evoke admiration.”
— Washington Times
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“It is simultaneously a fascinating look at early America, a meditation on one remarkable mind by another, and, implicitly, a biography of all the other Janes—history’s anonymous and overlooked women.”
— New York
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“Astonishing…This is a work of meticulous
reconstruction and high ambition….In Book
of Ages, Lepore has lovingly resurrected [Jane Franklin].”
— Boston Globe
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“In this beautifully written double biography,
Lepore brings into focus not just the life of Jane Franklin Mecom, alongside
that of her brother, but illuminates the dynamic era through which they lived
and gives us a birds’-eye view of history from the vantage point of a powerless
woman who grew up in a Boston family alongside one of the eighteenth century’s
greatest authors, entrepreneurs, scientists, and statesmen…This lyrical and
meditative book ranks familiarly as a history or biography, but is more than
either…It descends historiographically from Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s A Midwife’s Tale as a classic and
enduring tribute to an obscure woman, only this one also had a famous brother.”
— San Francisco Chronicle
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“Book of
Ages is the name of Lepore’s extraordinary new book about Jane Franklin,
but to call it simply a biography would be like calling Ben’s experiments with
electricity mere kite flying….The end product is thrilling—an example of how a
gifted scholar and writer can lift the obscure out of silence. In so doing,
Lepore enriches our sense of everyday life and relationships and conversational
styles in Colonial America…The brilliance of Lepore’s book is that plain Jane’s
story becomes every bit as gripping—and, in its own way, important—as Big Ben’s
public triumphs.”
— NPR
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“Eloquent…deeply sensitive to language.”
— New York Review of Books
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“Book of
Ages is an artful, serious, marvelous book. Lepore brings to it focus,
intensity, and proud delight in her subject.”
— Christian Science Monitor
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“By restoring Jane so vividly to the historical
record, Lepore provides a fresh, personal perspective on Benjamin. And so
extraordinarily demanding was her research, even the appendixes in Lepore’s
vibrantly enlightening biography are dramatic…Lepore’s stature grows with each
book, and this first telling of a remarkable American story, supported by a
national tour and generous print run, is destined for an even greater readership.”
— Booklist (starred review)
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“Lepore masterfully formulates the story of
Benjamin Franklin’s youngest sister, who will be virtually unknown to many
readers, using only a few of her letters and a small archive of births and
deaths…Jane Franklin was an amazing woman who raised her children and
grandchildren while still having the time to read and think for herself. We can
only see into her mind because her correspondent was famous and because a
vastly talented biographer reassembled her for us.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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“This book is an important, inspiring portrait of
a determined and faith-filled woman who just happened to be the sister of a big
shot. It will be enjoyed by all.”
— Library Journal (starred review)