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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.
Jane Austen is my favourite author -- E.M. Forster The technique of [Jane Austen's novels] is beyond praise.... Her mastery of the art she chose, or that chose her, is complete -- Elizabeth Bowen The wit of Jane Austen has for partner the perfection of her taste -- Virginia Woolf Like Irvine Welsh, I am a great admirer of Jane Austen -- Alexander McCall Smith For those of us who suspect all the mysteries of life are contained in the microcosm of the family, that personal relationships prefigure all else, the work of Jane Austen is the Rosetta Stone of literature -- Anna Quindlen
