Jane Austen

The Biography

Elizabeth Jenkins

$32.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Hardie Grant Books
11 November 2025

Biography; Biography: arts & entertainment; Autobiography: historical, political & military; Biography: literary; Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800; Gender studies: women

From the small town of Chawton, Hampshire, one of the world’s most important authors was born…Jane Austen holds a firm place in the English literary cannon, and is adored world-wide for her wit, social observation and insight into the lives of women. But behind the books is a life largely unknown, with an idyllic childhood, a busy social life and an affectionate family circle.

Elizabeth Jenkin’s account of Austen’s story illustrates not only the character and opinions of an unusually perceptive and gifted woman, but also the world of the county gentry of Georgian England.

Richly drawn and in picturesque detail, Jenkins pulls together fact and fiction to show how Jane Austen’s life, lived with quiet passion, inspired some of the most beloved novels to date.

By: Elizabeth Jenkins
Imprint: Hardie Grant Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 26mm
ISBN: 9781835982761
ISBN 10: 183598276X
Pages: 368
Publication Date: 11 November 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Elizabeth Jenkins (1905-2010) wrote her first novel in 1928, from her home in Bloomsbury. Over the next 75 years she wrote a dozen novels, including The Tortoise and the Hare, and a dozen biographies, including those of Elizabeth I and Jane Austen. She was involved in the establishment of the Jane Austen Society in 1940 and even bought Austen's home in Chawton where she wrote Emma and other novels, and which would later become the site of Jane Austen's House Museum.