Jane Austen's Birthday

Best books, quotes and ways to celebrate the beloved author

The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleaser in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.
- Northanger Abby

December 16 marks 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen. Although the author was relatively unknown during her lifetime, she has become one of the most celebrated novelists of all time, beloved by legion fans who call themselves Janeites. The term was coined by author George Saintsbury in 1894 and borrowed by Rudyard Kipling for his short story The Janeites—found in this collection—about British soldiers finding solace in Austen's works during WWI.

Since their initial publication in the early 1800s, Austen's six novels have only grown in popularity. After going briefly out of print during the years after the author's untimely death in 1817 at age 41, her copyrights were purchased by publisher Richard Bentley and reissued as part of his Standard Novels series. Her books, global bestsellers, have been published in dozens of languages. While exact figures are elusive, it is estimated that over 30 million copies of Austen's books have been sold. Austen's bibliography includes:

• Sense and Sensibility (1811)—Published anonymously ("By a Lady") this story of two devoted sisters looking for love and happiness was so successful that her subsequent books, though still published anonymously, were billed as written "By the author of Sense and Sensibility."
• Pride and Prejudice (1813)—Strong-willed and fiercely loyal, Elizabeth Bennet is the fiery heroine of our dreams, winning Mr. Darcy's ardent admiration practically against his will. The original enemies-to-lovers romance!
• Mansfield Park (1814)—Taken from the poverty of her parents' home in Portsmouth, Fanny Price is brought up with her rich cousins, including Edmund, her sole ally.
• Emma (1816)—Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others.
• Northanger Abbey (1818)—While staying in Bath with a family friend, the innocent Catherine Morland falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate. This novel, published posthumously, has been referred to as Austen's "Gothic parody."
• Persuasion (1818)—Austen's last completed novel, published after her death, tells the story of "spinster" Anne Elliot finding a second chance at love when she is reunited with her former suitor, Frederick Wentworth.
• Sanditon (1925)—Unfinished at the time of her death, this novel explores England's "polite society" and the deception, snobbery, and unexpected romances that Charlotte Heywood experiences when visiting a fashionable seaside resort.

Austen's books have inspired myriad screen adaptations, but the recently invigorated Austen mania can perhaps be attributed to Colin Firth's deliciously cantankerous performance as Darcy in the BBC's 1995 miniseries adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Several other popular Austen vehicles followed in close succession, including, in 1995, Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet and Clueless, a modern retelling of Emma and in 1996, Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow. In 2005, Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen starred in another beloved adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

How to celebrate

I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!
- Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen Society U.K. and the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA), are the most prominent organizations founded in honor of Austen and her work. Her devoted fans have already begun the celebration of her milestone birthday with attendance at September's annual Jane Austen Festival held annually in Bath, England.

This month, many Janeites are undoubtedly  flocking to the Hampshire home where Austen lived while publishing her books. The house is now a museum filled with Austen treasures and the site of many upcoming celebrations of her life and work.

If an excursion to England isn't part of your plans, here are some of the other ways you could celebrate:

• Look for Austen-related events in your area, such as this exhibit being held at the Grolier Club in New York, from Dec. 4 through Feb. 14. Look up local Austen groups at the JASNA and Jane Austen Society
• Read (or reread) Austen's books.
• Explore the many Austen spinoffs, retellings, and tributes available (see our recommendations below).
• Watch an Austen related adaptation such as The Jane Austen Book Club, based on Joy Fowler's 2004 novel.
• Host a Jane Austen book club meeting perhaps even dressing the part in empire-line dresses with Spencer jackets or, for the men, waistcoats, cravats, and top hats.

A few essential Austen facts

I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.
- Persuasion

Little is known about Austen's life. Of the approximately 3,000 letters Austen likely wrote in the course of her lifetime, only about 160 survived. It is believed that Jane's sister Cassandra destroyed the bulk of the letters she received from Jane, perhaps in an effort to protect her sister's reputation.

• The seventh of eight children, Austen's close relationship with her older sister Cassandra mirrored those in several of her novels. Their bond was so intense that their mother famously said Jane would share Cassandra's fate if she were to be executed.
• After a health scare in which she caught typhus at school and nearly died, Jane was largely educated at home, taking full advantage of her father's extensive library to supplement her learning.
• From at least the time she was aged eleven, Jane wrote poems and stories to amuse herself and her family. Her feminist tendencies were evident early on in her writing, which, according to biographer Janet Todd, were "stories full of anarchic fantasies of female power, licence, illicit behaviour, and general high spirits."
• When she was twenty, Austen briefly had a suitor, a neighbor named Tom Lefroy. In a letter to Cassandra, she wrote: "I am almost afraid to tell you how my Irish friend and I behaved. Imagine to yourself everything most profligate and shocking in the way of dancing and sitting down together." Sadly, the match was not favorable and the Lefroy family intervened to end the relationship.
• Austen was revolutionary, publishing her witty, feminist novels decades earlier than many other writers with whom she is frequently compared, like the Brontë sisters. In reality, she was likely an inspiration, rather than a rival, for the generations of writers, both male and female, who came later.

Retellings, updates and more

Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.
- Emma

Austen's stories lend themselves well to no end of updates and retellings. Her incisive observations of societal mores and interpersonal complexities perfectly capture the time she lived in, yet clearly resonate with readers from any era and a wide variety of genres. Here are just a handful of fresh (lesser-known) takes on Austen classics. 

• The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow—What does it look like when the marginalized middle daughter of the Bennet family emerges from the shadows and transforms into a desired woman with choices of her own?
• The Elopement by Gill Hornby— This historical novel explores the life and romance of Austen's real-life niece, Mary Dorothea Knatchbull.
• Sense and Second-Degree Murder by Tirzah Price—When aspiring scientist Elinor discovers her beloved father slumped over his desk, she knows his death means dire straits for the Dashwood women in the second Jane Austen Murder Mystery.
• Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin—In this modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice, Ayesha Shamsi balances the expectations of her boisterous Muslim family with her dreams of being a poet.
• Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev—When Chef Ashna Raje joins the cast of Cooking with the Stars, she doesn't expect to be paired with the one celebrity who happens to be her first love.
• Heartstone by Elle Katharine White—They say a Rider in possession of a good blade must be in want of a monster to slay . . . Pride and Prejudice with Dragons? Count us in!
• Kamila Knows Best by Farah Heron—Bollywood star Kamila Hussain is so busy with her friends' love lives, she's hardly given any thought to her own.
• Pride by Ibi Zoboi—Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. This smart, funny retelling balances cultural identity against the heady magic of first love.
• Where the Rhythm Takes You by Sarah Dass—Seventeen-year-old Reyna is trying to figure out what her future holds in this modern take on Persuasion set at her family's seaside resort in Tobago.

Austen gift sets, specialty items, and more

It isn't what we say or think that defines us, but what we do. 
- Sense and Sinsibility

Are you a Janeite? Treat yourself to something special in honor of the esteemed author. Along with everything featured above, here are a few more of the special items we have to offer:

• The Jane Austen Gift Set—This Puffin in Bloom 3-Book Collection includes Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility
• Pride and Puzzlement—This 1000-piece puzzle features Austen's most beloved characters and couples
• Gin Austen—Enjoy recipes for 50 cocktails celebrating the novels of Jane Austen
• Lizzy Loves Darcy—A matchmaking game to play at your Jane Austen book club.
• A Jane Austen Tarot Deck—This gorgeous set of 53 tarot cards features hand-drawn characters and objects from the author's enduring novels.

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon