5 Facts You Might Not Know About Jane Austen

1. She Published Anonymously

When Sense and Sensibility was published in 1811, the title page read simply, “By a Lady.” Austen’s name never appeared on her novels during her lifetime. She valued privacy and, as a woman writing in the early 19th century, avoided the scrutiny and prejudice that might have come with attaching her name to her work. Her identity was only widely revealed after her death in 1817, when her brother Henry published a biographical note crediting her as the author.

2. She Was Nearly Unknown When She Died

It’s easy to assume that someone as influential as Jane Austen enjoyed fame in her own lifetime, but this wasn’t the case. When she died in 1817 at the age of just 41, her novels had achieved only modest sales and a small but devoted readership. There was no sense that she would go on to become one of the most celebrated writers in English literature. Her reputation grew gradually, especially during the Victorian era, when her novels were reissued and admired for their focus on family, morality, and social manners. By the end of the 19th century, she had become a literary icon, but in her own day, she was far from a household name.

3. Her Family Supported Her Writing Career

Austen was fortunate to grow up in a family that not only tolerated her writing but encouraged it. Her father, George Austen, was proud of her talents and even sent one of her early manuscripts to a publisher when she was in her early twenties. Although it was rejected, it showed how seriously he took her ambitions. Her brothers, too, played important roles. Henry Austen, in particular, assisted in managing her business dealings with publishers and played a crucial role in bringing her final works to print after her death. At a time when many women’s creative work was dismissed as a frivolous pastime, Austen had a rare support system behind her.

​​Jane Austen came from a very creative family, a family that put on private theatricals, that wrote poems, that created word games for each other. It seems everyone delighted in words.

Janine Barchas, author of The Lost Books of Jane Austen

4. She Had a Sharp Sense of Humour

Readers of Austen’s novels quickly recognise her trademark irony, but her playful wit extended well beyond the page. Her surviving letters reveal a woman with a mischievous streak and a keen eye for life’s absurdities. In one instance, she joked about the size of a friend’s baby, quipping that it was so small she could have easily tucked it inside a bonnet. This kind of humour often found its way into her characters, who deliver cutting observations about society while maintaining perfect composure. It’s part of what makes her work feel so modern - Austen wasn’t afraid to laugh at the world around her, even in her private life.

5. She Nearly Lost a Novel Forever

One of Austen’s best-loved works, Northanger Abbey, almost disappeared before it ever reached readers. In the 1790s, she sold the manuscript (then titled Susan) to a publisher, who chose not to release it. For more than a decade, it sat gathering dust while Austen continued to write other works. Eventually, her brother Henry managed to buy back the rights, allowing the novel to be published after her death.

Today, Jane Austen is as popular as ever. On the bicentenary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, Royal Mail put Austen’s picture on a postage stamp. This was followed in 2017 by the Bank of England announcing Austen would be the face of the new £10 note, replacing Charles Darwin. A year later, a first edition of Pride and Prejudice sold at auction for £38,000.

Jane Austen’s novels shine a light on the lives of the middle classes in Georgian and Regency England. She shows how dependent women of her time were upon marriage, but her themes of why – and if – women should marry still ring true for many.

Austen wrote about domesticity and romance, relatable characters and their weaknesses, terrible parents and dysfunctional families.

Her iconic novels have rarely been out of print since she died. While Jane wasn’t rich or famous during her lifetime, her novels – with their sharp wit and sparkling dialogue - have lived on to become timeless classics.

Every day, I wake up thinking Jane Austen will have burnt out, But she is burning as brightly now as she did.

Janine Barchas, author of The Lost Books of Jane Austen