Jane Austen

Jane Austen was born on December 16,1774, in the tiny village of Steventon, where her father, the Reverend George Austen, served as the town rector. Her mother, Cassandra Leigh Austen, was the daughter of a rector herself, and Jane was the seventh of eight children. She had an older brother, George, who suffered from epilepsy and did not live with the family. Wealthy, childless relatives who were very involved with the boy throughout his childhood adopted …

…wit that are the unmistakable hallmarks of her style. Jane Austen’s work offers ample proof that, in the hands of a gifted writer, stories of ordinary lives filled with everyday events can transcend their outward simplicity and capture the intricacies of human nature. Austen’s ironic portraits of the world she knew are both a revealing look at her own time and a perceptive examination of the workings of the human heart and mind.