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Jane Austen

February 2025

  • Keeley Hawes as Cassandra Austen in BBC One’s Miss Austen.

    TV review
    Miss Austen review – Keeley Hawes is magnificent in this absolute treat of a period drama

    Arguably the greatest act of literary vandalism in history becomes masterly TV, as we see Cassandra Austen destroy thousands of her sister Jane’s letters following her death – out of love

January 2025

  • Sending the nation aflutter … Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice, 1995.

    Once more unto the breeches: the 20 best Jane Austen TV dramas – ranked!

  • A signpost on the new Overton Jane Austen Trails network.

    ‘Forgotten’ sites linked to Jane Austen feature in new Hampshire trails

  • Joel Snape surrounded by books

    The one change that worked
    I was lost in the cesspit of social media. Then Jane Austen showed me the way out

  • From left, Brie Larson in Elektra, Harriet Walter in Brian and Maggie, Malachi Kirby in A Thousand Blows, Louise Bourgeois’s spider, and one of Leigh Bowery’s costumes.

    2025 culture preview
    From Edvard Munch to Central Cee: Observer critics choose their cultural highlights for 2025

December 2024

  • Pride and Prejudice (Mini Series) Year: 1995 UK Director: Simon Langton Alison Steadman. Image shot 1995. Exact date unknown.<br>2F3NX6R Pride and Prejudice (Mini Series) Year: 1995 UK Director: Simon Langton Alison Steadman. Image shot 1995. Exact date unknown.

    The Observer view on Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary: Once more unto the breeches

  • Emma at Abbey theatre, Dublin.

    Emma review – a Regency comedy as light as a pillow fight

November 2024

  • woman reading a book in an armchair

    ‘It will renew your faith in humanity’: books to bring comfort in dark times

    The best literary comfort reads rebuild our strength so we can face reality, argues novelist Francesca Segal. She picks her ultimate reading list – with help from Nick Hornby, Sathnam Sanghera and Naomi Alderman

October 2024

  • Fan favourite … Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice

    The secret to Pride and Prejudice’s enduring appeal? Lizzy Bennet has game

  • A portrait of a woman looking up.

    Observer New Review Q&A
    Alison Steadman on the final Gavin & Stacey: ‘People say to me in the street: “Can’t wait for Christmas Day!”’

  • .<br>Pictured: Museum officer Rebecca Wood holds one of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice first editions. A rare collection of first editions of all six of Jane Austen’s novels today go on display together for the first time at the house where she wrote them. In a unique exhibition, six of the celebrated author's original printed works - some of which boast intimate family connections - will be gathered together in the same place. They will be on display at Jane Austen's House in Chawton, Hants - including a copy of Sense and Sensibility in the original publisher's binding. Jane's brother Frank’s personal copy of Emma and her brother Edward’s copy of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion will be on display, as well as first editions of Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park. SEE OUR COPY FOR DETAILS. © Andrew Croft/Solent News &amp; Photo Agency UK +44 (0) 2380 458800

    First editions of all Jane Austen’s novels to go on display at author’s house

  • An engraving of a scene from Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho.

    The queen of suspense: how Ann Radcliffe inspired Dickens and Austen – then got written out of the canon

June 2024

  • Smiling men address the two women, looking up to them

    Sense and Sensibility review – lack of decorum drains tension from Austen adaptation

  • Adrian Lukis in Being Mr Wickham.

    Being Mr Wickham review – Jane Austen’s cad meanders into old age

May 2024

  • The front facade of the Dolphin hotel in Southampton with actors in historic costume in front

    Jane Austen fans despair at student digs plan for hotel where she danced

    Devotees of author from Britain and the US lobby Southampton council to reject proposals for historic Dolphin building

April 2024

  • Museum officer Rebecca Wood holding open the manuscript by Frank Austen, with handwritten pages of text visible within

    Jane Austen museum appeals to public for help deciphering brother’s memoir

    Curators launch campaign after acquiring 78-page document that could hold new information about author

March 2024

  • Lucy Mangan

    Digested week
    Digested week: Can the monarchy survive the Kate photo fiasco? It probably can

    Lucy Mangan
    Could this national madness have been Meghan’s revenge? Plus, questions about chafing and a vet bills shock
  • Colin Firth emerges from the lake in the 1995 film Pride and Prejudice

    Colin Firth’s wet shirt from Pride and Prejudice sells for £20,000

    Clothing worn by actor in 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen novel goes for double expected amount at auction
  • Winchester Cathedral's Jane Austen statue to mark the 250th anniversary of the author's birth.

    Winchester plan for £100,000 Jane Austen statue triggers ‘Disneyfication’ fears

    People at public meeting raise concerns that sculpture in cathedral grounds will attract tourists taking selfies

February 2024

  • Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth froma scene in the film, she in dress and bonnet, he in a loose-fitting white shirt with no jacket or tie

    Mr Darcy’s wet shirt, as worn by Colin Firth, goes up for auction

    Costume from scene that became celebrated TV moment for sale as one of 60 items worn by famous names
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