Jane Austen - Children's Author

Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon near Basingstoke, the seventh child of the rector of the parish. She lived with her family at Steventon until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. After his death in 1805, she moved around with her mother; in 1809, they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire. Here she remained, except for a few visits to London, until in May 1817 she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. There she died on 18 July 1817.

As a girl Jane Austen wrote stories, including burlesques of popular romances. Her works were only published after much revision, four novels being published in her lifetime. These are Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously in 1818 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen, the first formal announcement of her authorship. Persuasion was written in a race against failing health in 1815-16. She also left two earlier compositions, a short epistolary novel, Lady Susan, and an unfinished novel, The Watsons. At the time of her death, she was working on a new novel, Sanditon, a fragmentary draft of which survives.

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Featured Books, with extracts by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice (Oxford Children's Classics)
Jane Austen
Best loved of all Jane Austen’s novels, the classic love story of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy has thrilled readers ever since its publication. Strong willed Elizabeth Bennett is determined not to be impressed by her family’s wealthy new neighbour,...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 14+ readers | Children's Classics
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/08/2010
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Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
Chosen by the public through a survey to coincide with the 10th birthday celebrations of World Book Day 2007, this title is one of ‘the ten books the nation can’t live without’.  Have you read them all? Below are...
Featured in: 14+ readers | eBooks
Format: Paperback (b Format) - Released: 30/01/2003
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Northanger Abbey
Jane Austen
"Northanger Abbey" 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. Austen observes with insight and humour the interaction between Catherine and the various characters whom...
Featured in: 14+ readers | eBooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/09/1995
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Persuasion
Jane Austen
At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune...
Featured in: 14+ readers | eBooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 02/07/2007
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