quilting heritage JANE AUSTEN AT HOME

Literary icon and fine needlewoman

The English novelist, Jane Austen (1775–1817), is a global literary icon. Notable for her wit and humour, the observations in her novels give a fascinating insight into the lives of the middle and upper classes of nineteenth-century Britain, an environment she knew well. Publishing anonymously, she had little recognition in her own lifetime. However, two centuries on, her novels are classics, popular with readers around the world – they have been translated into over 40 languages – as well as with viewers of the numerous film and television adaptations of her work.

Jane Austen at home

Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at the village rectory in Steventon, Hampshire, where her father was the local clergyman. The second daughter and seventh child of eight, she grew up in