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A review by mg_in_md_
Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore
3.0
To be rated/reviewed closer to this month's book club meeting
I felt like the book's title was a bit of a misnomer, as the book did not focus solely on Jane Franklin. It presented a glimpse into life just before the American Revolution, during the war, and after. I went into the book with the expectation that it would focus on Ben Franklin's youngest sister Jane and the letters "Benny and Jenny" wrote to one another; however, given the dearth of existing documentation about Jane's life and this period of history in general, it was broader in scope. It was interesting to learn more about this period of history and about how Ben Franklin encouraged his sister to learn to read and write despite having no formal education opportunities. The author was clearly taken with Jane Franklin and did an admirable job of researching her subject given the roadblocks she encountered. However, I felt like Jane got a little lost in the filler material, which was interesting but seemed to stray from the primary theme of the book. Perhaps if the book's title had been different or some of the filler material omitted to bring the focus more clearly on Jane Franklin, I would've connected with the material sooner in the reading experience.
I felt like the book's title was a bit of a misnomer, as the book did not focus solely on Jane Franklin. It presented a glimpse into life just before the American Revolution, during the war, and after. I went into the book with the expectation that it would focus on Ben Franklin's youngest sister Jane and the letters "Benny and Jenny" wrote to one another; however, given the dearth of existing documentation about Jane's life and this period of history in general, it was broader in scope. It was interesting to learn more about this period of history and about how Ben Franklin encouraged his sister to learn to read and write despite having no formal education opportunities. The author was clearly taken with Jane Franklin and did an admirable job of researching her subject given the roadblocks she encountered. However, I felt like Jane got a little lost in the filler material, which was interesting but seemed to stray from the primary theme of the book. Perhaps if the book's title had been different or some of the filler material omitted to bring the focus more clearly on Jane Franklin, I would've connected with the material sooner in the reading experience.