'Sturrock reads the novels through the lens of ethical criticism, and explores how the heroines differ from their parents in terms of morality. [...] Sturrock's contribution lies in her exploration of the various intrafamilial relations: those between sisters, between mothers and daughters, and between fathers and daughters. [...] Exhaustively researched and well written, "Jane Austen's Families" is a pleasure to read.' —'Forum for Modern Language Studies'

‘Sturrock […] has researched, written, and published extensively in the field of 19th-century women’s writing, a fact that is very apparent from the well-researched and knowledgeable tone of this book. […] The author focuses primarily on the role of parents in influencing how children act, think, and feel, both in how they regard one another and in how they deal with society as a whole. She also discusses sibling relationships in great depth. […] Sturrock is clearly conversant with the scholarship in the field of family relationships in Austen and in other novels of the time period. She includes detailed notes and an exhaustive bibliography; despite some dense prose, Sturrock’s style is still engaging and easy to follow. Summing Up: Recommended.’ —R. Stone, ‘Choice’

‘Sturrock’s pseudo-sociological study almost has a “naturalist’s eye” worthy of Austen herself. […] She deftly links Austen’s writing process with the development of characters.’ —Mika Ross-Southall, ‘Times Literary Supplement’

‘Sturrock writes with elegance and ease. But more than that with sympathy and compassion for both the fictional characters and for the hand that created them. […] [A] concise but convincingly argued study.’ —Joceline Bury, ‘Jane Austen’s Regency World’

“Sturrock correctly notes that Austen eschewed the orphan heroine so central to the development of fiction both before and after her.” —Adela Pinch, “Studies in English Literature”

“June Sturrock’s comprehensive, up-to-date, and engagingly written book examines Jane Austen’s artistic exploration of family dynamics. Part of the ethical turn in literary criticism, ‘Jane Austen’s Families’ focuses on the role that ‘creative attention’ to others plays in the individual emotional and moral development of Austen’s characters, in their overcoming or failing to overcome the effects of deeply flawed intergenerational relationships. The study provides new insights into these classical texts and shows the reasons for their continuing relevance to ethical theory despite their being rooted in the cultural codes of their time and place.” —Professor Leona Toker, Faculty of Humanities, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

 “Writing within the resurgent ethical tradition of Jane Austen criticism, June Sturrock reveals in ‘Jane Austen’s Families’ how important a role family dynamics, more even than romantic encounters, play in the achievement of her novels. This well-informed, perceptive and wise book is a notable reminder that through her own attention to minute moral choices, Austen creates an ethics of ordinary life.” —Professor John Wiltshire, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry, La Trobe University

“June Sturrock examines Jane Austen’s fiction with clarity and with her own ‘creative attention,’ revealing the ways families and family relationships become a mode of character development, an index to thematic issues, and a structuring principle as Austen develops ‘an ethics of ordinary life.’ A most enjoyable and illuminating study!” —Susan Allen Ford, Editor, “Persuasions” and “Persuasions On-Line”