I'm a Jane Austen fan and BBC series Miss Austen taught me these facts about her

Miss Austen official trailer

WARNING: This article contains potential spoilers from Miss Austen

As an avid Jane Austen fan from the age of 16, I thought I knew all there was to know about the famed writer, but after watching BBC and PBS Masterpiece’s Miss Austen, there’s so much more to her than I thought.

Although the four-part series has been adapted from Gill Hornby’s 2020 novel Miss Austen and is flourished with creative licence, it’s rooted in facts: namely her sister Cassandra Austen (played by Keeley Hawes) burnt letters penned by Jane after her death.

Cassandra was entrusted as the executor of Jane’s literary estate, and while we may never know why she destroyed Jane’s extensive correspondence, Miss Austen does try to give viewers answers to this act of historical vandalism.

Moreover, the drama offers some insight into her family dynamics - most interestingly, Jane only had one sister and seven brothers.

This in itself was surprising when compared to Pride and Prejudice’s heroine Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters, whose rich and full relationships were so fully realised.

The main cast of BBC's Miss Austen (Image: BBC)

Another intriguing fact was Jane wasn’t the only Austen with literary ambitions either, her brother James Austen wrote poetry and was the first in the family to be published.

Due to her status as a woman, Jane originally had to publish anonymously as ladies occupied the roles of wife and mother during the Regency Era

Like all writers, Jane took inspiration from life and it’s clear her bond with her sister Cassandra appears to have found its way into the pages of Pride and Prejudice as reflected in the bond between Lizzy and Jane.

Despite all her heroines getting happy endings, Jane didn’t get one herself and Miss Austen suggests the writer’s real love was her literary passions and she had little time for much else.

It’s an intimate look not only at writer Jane but also at her overlooked sister of whom little is known.

Miss Austen has echoes of Jane Austen's novels (Image: BBC)

Overall, Miss Austen is a gorgeous and gripping series with more grit to it compared to Jane Austen’s more genteel tales in countryside settings.

But there are poignant echoes of Austen’s novels to be found in the drama as well as some delightful Easter eggs for Janeites: from a histrionic, hypochondriac wife to a pompous clergyman, to rejected proposals and lingering loves and scheming matchmaking.

The intertwining between the past and present in Andrea Gibb’s script flows beautifully, while the casting of Synnøve Karlsen as a young Cassandra Austen is spot-on - actress Hawes and the rising star previously played mother and daughter in The Midwich Cuckoos.

Miss Austen has the wit, heart and romance of a Jane Austen novel and is sure to be an instant classic.

Miss Austen airs on BBC One tonight at 9.05pm and is available as a boxset on BBC iPlayer now