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Jane Austen was born in Steventon rectory on 16 December 1775. Her family later moved to Bath and then to Chawton in Hampshire. She began writing Pride and Prejudice when she was twenty-two years old. It was originally called First Impressions. It was initially rejected by publishers and only published in 1813 after much revision. All four of her novels published in her lifetime were published anonymously. Jane Austen died on 18 July 1817. Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published posthumously.
Another question I've been regularly asked over the past year is what models I had in mind when writing Curious Incident. Was it To Kill a Mockingbird? Was it Catcher in the Rye? In fact, the book most often in my mind was Pride and Prejudice -- Mark Haddon Like Irvine Welsh, I am a great admirer of Jane Austen -- Alexander McCall Smith The wit of Jane Austen has for partner the perfection of her taste * Virginia Woolf * The best-loved book by our best-loved novelist * Independent * Packed with wit. -- Helen Dunmore * Daily Express *
