![]() ![]() “Book of Ages” is much more than a biography it is a story about how the 18th century world differed for different genders. Yet, we can tell she had a fiery wit, no small amount of courage, and that, but for the discriminatory strictures of her time, she might have been as great as her brother. We know practically nothing about Jane, and therefore cannot remark much about her. Lepore, who has won awards both scholarly and popular - including being a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award - would be the first to point out that Jane is only unremarkable in the narrowest sense. It is not the life of Benjamin Franklin, but rather that of his unremarkable sister Jane that is detailed in “Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin,” by Harvard historian Jill Lepore. And she lived in an era in which women were kept low to make way for enlightened men. ![]() The house had belonged to Jane Franklin Mecom, the youngest sister of Benjamin Franklin. In 1939, the city of Boston tore down a small house that was obstructing the view of a monument of Paul Revere. ![]()
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