After the Frankfurt Book Fair, we realized just how much everyone loved this book. We have already sold rights in three languages, and I know more will come, because this is not a book meant to be published only this year, when we celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. It is a book that pays tribute to the author for her insight, her irony, and her transformative power—and that, through her figure, allows all of us to learn how to approach our own lives.
Change Your Life With Jane Austen is an invitation to apply the British author’s timeless wisdom to the challenges of modern life. This formula has always worked for us with bestselling authors like Allan Percy, whose books have been translated into multiple languages and continue to sell in many countries after years on the shelves. That’s why I’m sure the same will happen with this book.
Jane Austen was a woman ahead of her time. She defended integrity, freedom, and self-respect. She challenged social norms and marriages of convenience that limited women’s autonomy. In her novels, beneath the veil of the comedy of manners, beats the rebellion, intelligence, and quest for authenticity of a woman who decided to live true to herself. Wouldn’t you give this book to your best friend? To your sister? To your boss?
As biographer Claire Tomalin notes, Austen was a woman of great moral courage. And David Nokes highlights her commitment to inner truth: she did not seek to please, but to be honest. Today, two centuries later, we face different but equally intense pressures: those of appearances, social media, and instant success. This book reminds us that Jane Austen’s elegance, sensitivity, and strength of character remain an infallible compass to find our way amid the noise.
In Change Your Life With Jane Austen, each chapter brings us closer to a life lesson inspired by her work: how to make decisions based on your own judgment, how to love without losing your dignity, how to live with humor even in adversity. It is a practical and illuminating guide that invites us to reconnect with what truly matters: self-respect, the search for meaning, and the courage to say “no” when the world expects us to say “yes”.
The author, Carla Gracia—who holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and teaches at UIC—combines her strong literary background with deep personal reflection. Her life experience—shaped by her son’s autism diagnosis and the reevaluation that followed—imbues this book with authenticity, tenderness, and courage. With warm and lucid prose, Carla guides us, through Jane Austen’s teachings, toward a more mindful, free, and values-driven life.
An essential read for anyone seeking inspiration, clarity, and purpose. Because, as Austen demonstrated, changing your life begins with daring to write your own story.
