In her study of animals in Jane Austen, Seeber situates the author's work within eighteenth- and nineteenth-century debates about human-animal relations. She shows that Austen associates the domination of animals with that of women, challenges readings that identify Austen's depictions of nature as benign celebrations of England's imperial power.

In her study of animals in Jane Austen, Seeber situates the author's work within eighteenth- and nineteenth-century debates about human-animal relations. She shows that Austen associates the domination of animals with that of women, challenges readings that identify Austen's depictions of nature as benign celebrations of England's imperial power, and demonstrates that Austen links meat consumption to a human-nature dualism that objectifies not only nature, but also the women who serve men.

'Barbara Seeber offers us a fascinating new Austen by situating her writing - from letters and poetry to short fiction and novels - in astutely aligned histories of women and animals. Read through intersecting 18th-century arguments over animals' nature, the animal time of female biology, the assertion of dominance over lower creatures that made sport a pleasure, and unexpected claims for vegetarianism, Austen's imagined world grows darker, richer, and deeper even as literary approaches to animals gain added subtlety and nuance.' Teresa L. Mangum, The University of Iowa, USA '... a thoughtful account of Jane Austen's generally unremarked engagement with contemporary debates on animal rights.' Times Literary Supplement '... a wondrous, constantly surprising and illuminating, intricately interconnected study ... I wish to go on record as enthusiastically endorsing the well-formulated, deftly crafted arguments in Jane Austen and Animals.' Wordsworth Circle '... very thoughtful, interesting, deeply researched and critically nuanced ...' European Romantic Review