Jane Austen
Jane Austen is universally recognised as one of England's greatest novelists. Born in 1775 in the Hampshire countryside, she was the seventh child in a family of eight. Her father, George Austen, was a clergyman; the family was middle class and comfortably off. Austen started writing as a young teenager; even at that age her works were incisive and elegantly expressed.
Jane Austen's family was lively and affectionate. Like most country people of that time, the family lived a fairly restricted social life, since travel was difficult. Austen received several proposals of marriage. However, she never married, and lived an uneventful life, happy to remain in the family home. We know that she wrote her novels at her desk in the drawing room, with her family around her. She was an attractive, lively and witty young woman, much loved and respected by family and friends. The whole family recognised her genius. Her brother
wrote 'In person she was very attractive; her figure was rather tall and slender ... She was a clear brunette with a rich colour ... If not as handsome as her sister, yet her face had a charm of its own ...'Austen wrote six major novels. Sense and Sensibility was published in 1811, Pride and Prejudice in 1813, Mansfield Park in 1814, Emma in 1816. Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published after her death. The novels were popular. Highly placed public figures such as the Prince Regent (the heir to the throne) admired her novels greatly. The Prince kept a set of her novels in each of his homes.
Like many geniuses, Jane Austen died relatively young. She developed Addison's disease and died in 1817 in Winchester at the age of 41.