The real Jane Austen

Who was the real Jane Austen? A retiring spinster content with quiet village life? Or a strong-minded woman who chose to remain unmarried and to fashion herself as a professional writer?

Since her death, people have got Jane Austen wrong. Based on her book, The Real Jane Austen: a Life in Small Things, bestselling biographer and internationally renowned Jane Austen scholar, Paula Byrne, will uncover a very different Jane Austen to the Jane of popular imagination.

Paula Byrne is a British author and biographer, known for her works on figures like Jane Austen, Mary Robinson, and Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy. She is also the founder of ReLit, a charity focused on the mental health benefits of reading.

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