Jane's Life and Work

What is Free Indirect Discourse?

Why did Jane Austen choose Free Indirect Discourse? Find out in this blog.

Did Jane Austen Find Love in Lyme?

Miss Austen cuts a tantalizing figure. She is kept from us at arms-length by the span of about two centuries as well as by the protective arms of her beloved sister and closest friend Cassandra who...

Horrid gothic tales courtesy of Isabella Thorpe!

It's that time of year- cosy, novel reading season. What better for October than a Gothic novel? Let's see what Northanger Abbey's Isabella Thorpe recommends.

Ten things you might not know about Sense and Sensibility

Ten snappy and interesting facts about Sense and Sensibility

Harris Bigg-Wither’s Marriage Proposal – An Ongoing Mystery?

In the late autumn of 1802, Jane and Cassandra Austen, then living in Bath, went to stay with their good friends, Catherine and Alethea Bigg at Manydown Park, not far from Steventon. The two return...

Cassandra Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Queen Victoria and a Destruction of Letters

Margaret Mills shares her thoughts on Jane Austen's sister Cassandra's destruction of their correspondence.

Catherine Morland: A Failed Gothic Novel Heroine?

Lucie Rivet offers her thoughts on Northanger Abbey's heroine.

Jane Austen: Why do Millennials Love her so Much?

Why does Austen have such enduring popularity with young people?

Don't Insult Your Children, Give Them Jane Austen

Alison Burr extols the virtues of giving Jane Austen to your kids

Jane Austen: Family Therapist?

Patrice Sarath discusses the ins and outs of Austen's great family dynamics

Finding Happiness, Austen Style, with Emma, our favourite matchmaker

Feeling bummed out? Let Emma cheer you up!

The effects of the family’s misfortunes on Jane Austen's death

By Caroline Kerr Taylor 2017 marks the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death. She is one of the world’s most popular literary giants. It was a tragic loss that she died at 41, just as her star ...