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Jane Austen (1775-1817)
Who?
One of the major writers and the first woman in the great tradition of the serious English novel. Daughter of a Hampshire clergyman, she led an uneventful life.
Must reads
Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1816) and Persuasion (1818).
Darkest hour
In 1805, her father died.
Greatest triumph
In 1816, Sir Walter Scott reviewed Emma favourably in the prestigious Quarterly Review.
Essential quotes
'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.' (Pride and Prejudice)
'One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.' (Emma)
'She believed he had been drinking too much of Mr Weston's good wine.' (Emma)
'Three or four families in a country village is the very thing to work on.' (advice to her niece on novel-writing)
Gossip
Although her novels are about marriage, she never married. Once she accepted a suitor, only to change her mind the following morning. After her death, her sister Cassandra censored her letters, although occasional bits of coarse language remain.
Did u know?
Encouraged by her father, Austen began writing when she was 12, but was not successful until she was 35. She wrote in the busy family parlour at Chawton. Her novels were not particularly popular: only two reached a second edition in her lifetime. However, the Prince Regent kept a set of her novels in each of his residences.
What to say
She was the first real novelist, devoting herself to making her writing subtle, refined and polished. Her seeming effortlessness conceals a mastery of technique, in particular the ability to switch seemlessly from narrative to an individual character's point of view.
Don't say
Why aren't there any battles in her books?
Copies of the featured books can be purchased from various suppliers including Amazon, Blackwell's and WHSmith.
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