Why Should We Care About Jane Austen's Bookshelf?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is one of our greatest novelists. Her place in the literary canon is secure. Her influence on later generations is profound. But what about the novelists who influenced Jane Austen? Hardly anybody reads them nowadays, and they are not in the canon. Using Rebecca Romney's book Jane Austen's Bookshelf as a guide, Sarah, Matt, and Mandy discuss how strange this situation is. If Jane Austen thought a novel was great, shouldn't we want to read it? The co-hosts make the case for adding these forgotten authors into the literary canon.