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– ‘Mysterious Miss’ –
The daughter of a clergyman, Austen herself remained unmarried despite a proposal, and spent most of her life with very little money.
“She always had to hide it, to give the appearance of wealth that she didn’t have,” said Catherine Rihoit, a French author writing a biography of Austen.
Austen sought to earn money by getting her work published. The manuscript of “Sense and Sensibility” was finally accepted in 1811, after several attempts.
“Sadly, the success and the money only began coming in when she died,” Rihoit told AFP.
Austen is buried in the cathedral in Winchester, the Hampshire town where she died and where Sutherland and Louise West are staging their exhibition, “The Mysterious Miss Austen”.
Surprisingly little is known about the author, after her sister Cassandra destroyed almost all her letters.
There are even doubts about how she looked, and the exhibition brings together six portraits for the first time.
Among recent visitors to the exhibit was 70-year-old Bridget, who said she has read all of Austen’s books five or six times since being introduced to them at the age of 12.
“You think it’s all romantic love stories, but it isn’t. She was very acerbic, witty. The language is brilliant,” she told AFP.
And Austen’s appeal goes well beyond England.
“She speaks to people in far-flung countries, to other cultures. It’s really very clever, ” said Rihoit.
