Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters

Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters is the family biography of the novelist, written by her great nephews William and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh. Published in 1913, it draws on letters, family papers, and memories handed down through the Austen household to trace her quiet life in Hampshire and Bath. The book follows her from childhood through the writing of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Persuasion, quoting freely from her sharp and affectionate correspondence. Because it rests on sources the family controlled, it long stood as the standard account of her days and still shapes how readers picture her. This free PDF and EPUB offers the complete life of one of the greatest of English novelists.