Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon in Hampshire. In 1783 Jane and her older sister Cassandra went briefly to be taught by Mrs Cawley, who lived first in Oxford and then Southampton. They were brought home from Southampton after the outbreak of an infectious disease, and in 1785 they went to the Abbey boarding school in Reading, returning home in 1786. This was their only education outside of the family. At the age of twelve she began writing poems, stories, and plays for her own and her family's amusement. Jane enjoyed social events, and her early letters tell of dances and parties. However there is little solid evidence of any serious courtship, apart from a mutual flirtation with an Irishman Thomas Lefroy, and an unsubstantiated story of a holiday romance with ‘a young man’, who told Jane, at the end of the holiday, that he would seek her out again. However, they heard a little time later that he had died. In 1801 when Jane’s father retired, the family moved to Bath, and then in 1806 to Southampton. Three years later, together with her sister and mother they moved to Chawton, near Alton and Winchester, where her brother Edward provided a small house on one of his estates. She remained there for the rest of her life until she died, possibly from Addison’s disease, on Friday 18 July 1817 aged 41.

Persuasion (1817) Set in the fashionable societies of Lyme Regis and Bath, 'Persuasion' is a brilliant satire of vanity and pretension. Read Lyme Regis excerpts from Persuasion New:   Paperback   eBook   DVD Used: Paperback	Pride and Prejudice (1813) Pride and Prejudice, which opens with one of the most famous sentences in English Literature, is an ironic novel of manners. New:   Paperback   eBook   DVD
Northanger Abbey (1817) Tells the story of a young girl, Catherine Morland who leaves her sheltered, rural home to enter the busy, sophisticated world of Bath in the late 1790s. New:   Paperback   eBook   DVD Used: Paperback	Mansfield Park (1814) Mansfield Park is home to the wealthy Bertram family. Fanny Price, a 'poor relation' living with the Bertrams and conscious of her inferior status, dares to love their son Edmund... New:   Paperback   eBook   DVD
Sense and Sensibility (1811) Sense and Sensibility is a delightful comedy of manners in which the sisters Elinor and Marianne represent these two qualities. New:   Paperback   eBook   DVD	Emma (1811) Emma is inordinately fond of match-making in the village of Highbury, yet oblivious of the question of whom she might marry. New:   Paperback   eBook   DVD Used: Paperback   Hardback

Jane Austen: A Life From a study of the Austen family papers, this title paints a picture of the Austens and their neighbours. New:   Paperback	The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen A comprehensive guide to Austen's works in the contexts of her contemporary world and present-day criticism. New:   Paperback
101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen Sure, we've read the novels, but what do we really know about Jane Austen herself... New:   Paperback	Jane Austen Covers Jane's life from childhood to the happiness and sadnesses of later years. New:   Booklet
Life in the Country: With Quotations by Jane Austen and Silhouettes by Her Nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh Combines quotations by Jane Austen with silhouette drawings by her nephew James Edward. New:   Hardback
Penguin Classic Mug - Pride and Prejudice A porcelain mug with classic Penguin design and colours. Based on the classic book series designed by Edward Young in 1935. New:   Mug	Penguin Classic Mug - Persuasion A porcelain mug with classic Penguin design and colours. Based on the classic book series designed by Edward Young in 1935. New:   Mug
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Features the text of Jane Austen's novel with scenes of bone crunching zombie action. New:   Paperback	Miss Austen Regrets [DVD] Based on Jane Austen's letters and diaries that aims to reveal the secrets of this most elusive of novelists. New:   DVD