This is all the more impressive because she only wrote six full-length novels. In order of publication, these were: Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.

But Jane Austen was writing 200 years ago. Why are her books still relevant, and why should you read her today?

Historian Alice Loxton has five reasons why Jane Austen still matters…

SO, WHY IS JANE AUSTEN IMPORTANT?

Click on a topic below to find out more…

She created great characters

She’s very funny

She was an important social commentator…

…and an early feminist

She was a literary genius, and pioneered new writing techniques 

She was ambitious, determined and inspirational

Her works have stood the test of time..."