Jane Austen 1775—1817

Jane Austen was an English novelist and whose social commentary and masterful use of both free indirect speech and irony eventually made her one of the most influential and honoured novelists in English literature. Her novels were all written and set around the Regency Era. Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, one of two daughters and six brothers of the Reverend George Austen and his wife Cassandra. Two of her brothers, James and Henry, followed in their father’s path and joined the Anglican clergy, while two other brothers Francis and Charles both pursuedn naval careers. A fifth brother, George, had a disability, and did not live with the family. Austen’s sister, like her mother, was named Cassandra. Austen never married and died at age 41. (source: Wikipedia)