Jane Austen's Best Friend: The Life and Influence of Martha Lloyd

The book will take the form of a “recipe for friendship” as Martha Lloyd is best known for her housekeeping and recipe book.

All fans of Jane Austen everywhere believe themselves to be best friends with the beloved author and this book shines a light on what it meant to be exactly that. Jane Austen’s Best Friend: The Life and Influence of Martha Lloyd offers a unique insight into Jane’s private inner circle. Through this heartwarming examination of an important and often overlooked person in Jane’s world, we uncover the life-changing force of their friendship.

Each chapter details the fascinating facts and friendship-forming qualities that tied Jane and Martha together. Within these pages we will relive their shared interests, the hits and misses of their romantic love lives, their passion for shopping and fashion, their family histories, their lucky breaks and their girly chats. This book offers a behind-the-scenes tour of the shared lives of a fascinating pair and the chance to deepen our own bonds in ‘love and friendship’ with them both.

A native of Jane Austen's beloved county of Hampshire, Zöe Wheddon has been married to Matt, (a stationery salesman, who keeps her supplied with post-it notes and gorgeous notebooks) for 30 years. They live in a North Hampshire village, on the outskirts of the town that they both grew up in, with their three grown up children and cat Princess Leia.

A perfectly imperfect local historian and aspiring writer, as the writer of her blog Zöe writes articles and book reviews on matters relating to friendship, self-compassion and personal development at mrswheddon.wordpress.com.

When she is not researching or writing she can be found in the classroom teaching Spanish and French or singing ABBA songs loudly in her kitchen.