Patchwork - by Kate Evans (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In her later years, Jane Austen made a patch­work quilt. She folded thousands of tiny scraps of fabric over diamond-shaped slips of paper and painstakingly stitched them together. Kate Evans employs these slivers of cloth to illustrate Jane Austen's life story. Evans teases apart the threads that connect Austen's beloved novels, the events of her life, and the fabric of society in Regency England. Patchwork is a major new work of graphic biography. Kate Evans has an unparalleled ability to marry drama, comedy, and historically im­mersive detail, bringing Austen's story to life with fluid, dynamic artwork, at times embroi­dered onto cloth itself. The author's love for Austen shines throughout. Her incredible eye for historical detail - panes of glass, bits of lace, hedgelaying styles, the cut of a coat or the architecture of a Hampshire cottage -- creates a captivating vision of Jane Austen's world."--

Book Synopsis

A bold reimagining of the life of much-loved English Regency writer, Jane Austen, from the author of RED ROSA and THREADS

In her later years, Jane Austen made a patch­work quilt. She folded thousands of tiny scraps of fabric over diamond-shaped slips of paper and painstakingly stitched them together. Kate Evans employs these slivers of cloth to illustrate Jane Austen's life story. Evans teases apart the threads that connect Austen's beloved novels, the events of her life, and the fabric of society in Regency England.

Patchwork is a major new work of graphic biography. Kate Evans has an unparalleled ability to marry drama, comedy, and historically im­mersive detail, bringing Austen's story to life with fluid, dynamic artwork, at times embroi­dered onto cloth itself. The author's love for Austen shines throughout. Her incredible eye for historical detail - panes of glass, bits of lace, hedgelaying styles, the cut of a coat or the architecture of a Hampshire cottage - creates a captivating vision of Jane Austen's world.

Review Quotes

"A thing of beauty."
--Mary Talbot, author of The Dotters of Her Father's Eyes

"A fresh and vibrant reimagining of Austen's life, literally stitching her story into the wider tapestry of capitalism and colonialism. Kate Evans ties her well known talents for research and storytelling in with humour and heartbreak, reclaiming Austen from the dusty pages of history and rendering her with colour and energy. This stunning graphic biography is sure to draw new and diverse audiences into Austen's world and bring her story firmly into the 21st century. An impressive achievement!"
--Karrie Fransman, author of Death of the Artist

"A beautiful thing woven round a brilliant device, with snags to make you pause and think deeply, and maybe even cry as well as laugh."
--Martin Rowson, author of As I Please

"A treasure trove of a book"
--Lucy Adlington, creator of Bad Girls in Bonnets

"I'm an Austen fan who loved Kate Evans's Red Rosa, so I'm basically the target audience here. Particularly, I'm excited to see how Austen's patchwork quilt is handled as a storytelling device, and what that means for the book's artwork, panel to panel. It's so cool when narrative and form meet."
--Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2025

"Inspired by a quilt Austen made, [Kate Evans] pieces together the story of her life...The author's point is to situate Austen more firmly in lived reality; Evans' lively drawings similarly capture the past without prettifying it. A bracing corrective to the more simpering extremes of the Janeite universe."
--Kirkus Reviews

"This original and historically rich graphic biography uses a patchwork quilt as a framing device to pastiche together the story of Jane Austen's life. Evans employs an omniscient, storybook voice throughout, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions about the colorful cast of characters in Austen's life...Rich with creative liberties and historical detail."
--Booklist

"Evan's fascinating graphic biography of Jane Austen. A work of extraordinary depth...The art is charming, with expressive characterizations and period-accurate renderings of clothing, carriages, and architecture. Patchwork is an inventive graphic biography of Jane Austen, putting her works into personal context."
--Foreword

"This artful and thought-provoking graphic biography from Evans stitches a postcolonial layer into the narrative by examining the fabrics worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries...Evans pointedly and beautifully illuminates the seams of this quilted narrative."
--starred review, Publishers Weekly

"This energetic book, brimming with bright pages of illustration paired with often bounteous text, is premised on a piecing together - hence, the crafting metaphor of its title - of the threadbare record of its subject's short but productive life. The book will be highly satisfying to anyone craving more companionship with Jane Austen, both her life and her work."
--Tahneer Oksman, NPR

"NPR's Best Books of 2025"
--NPR

"Jane Austen's life is given copious context in this lively graphic biography; it takes a broader view of her life and is far richer for it. Evans's storytelling mirrors Austen's conversational, comedic, and occasionally bitterly sad narrative style, while her nervy, detailed cartooning has an intentional antiquity about it, reflecting the staid yet tense atmosphere of Regency-Era England."
--Library Journal, starred review

About the Author

Kate Evans is a writer, cartoonist, illustrator and public speaker with thirty years' experience. Patchwork is her eighth work of graphic non-fiction.