Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775–1817) was a romantic novelist whose most famous works include Sense and Sensibility (1811); Pride and Prejudice (1813); Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). However, Jane was not revered as an author during her lifetime, and all of her novels were published anonymously. And while Jane’s literary heroines enjoyed romantic wedded bliss, Austen herself remained unmarried all her life. Jane died in Winchester on 18 July 1817 after becoming ill with what is today thought to have been Addison's disease – a rare disorder of the adrenal glands that causes fatigue, muscle weakness and dizziness. Despite her poor health, Jane started work on a new novel, The Brothers, which would be published after her death as Sanditon