Elizabeth JenkinsJane Austen A Biography Jane Austen’s novels aroused admiration from the beginning,but at first the circle of admirers, though it included distinguished people,was a small one; but increased steadily; today, admiration is at flood tide.Considering those infallible tests of popularity — film and television — theremust be an answer as to why her work has this public success, but the answer isdifficult to find. Her six novels are, each of them, concerned with three orfour families, living in a country neighborhood; in each of the books, one ofthe important characters (in five of the six it is the heroine) makes a veryserious error of judgment which in the end she honestly admits, and is restoredto a life of happiness. In the course of each story, the other characters interact,and maintain an essential connection with the plot; the construction of thenovel is as masterly as the characterization. All this is obvious to any devoted reader of the novels, butI, for one, did not realize, until I made a thorough study of Jane Austen’sletters (chiefly to her sister Cassandra, with whom she was on terms ofcomplete intimacy) how much these form an illuminating background to thenovelist. They reveal how much love and support she gave to, andreceived from, her family: her sister, above all, but also (highly important toher) her five brothers: James, who succeeded their father as Rector ofSteventon; Edward, who was adopted by rich relatives, who conferred on himestates and a fortune, and whose name, Knight, he afterwards took; Henry, thebanker and man of the world, and Francis and Charles, both on active service inthe Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The marriages of four of these brothersproduced, among them, a tribe of nephews and nieces, in all of whom their AuntJane took a lively, affectionate interest. Her favorite nephew, James EdwardAusten, (afterwards owing to family arrangements, Austen Leigh) published thefirst work about her, written by somebody who had actually known her. He wasgreatly helped by the memories of his numerous cousins, one of who says: ‘Youloved her because she seemed to love you.’ This is a little unexpected as arecollection of someone known to the world for irony and lively wit! James Edward tells us that she had no separate writing roomin the cottage at Chawton (where she lived with her mother and Cassandra from1809 until her death in 1817), where the novels, Sense and Sensibility,Northanger Abbey and Pride and Prejudice were revised, and Mansfield Park, Emmaand Persuasion composed from the beginning. He relates that her work was donein the family living room, at a little desk, on small sheets of paper, whichshe slipped under a blotter at the approach of an unexpected visitor. JamesEdward says that no doubt he or his sisters or cousins ‘frequently disturbedthe mystic process without any idea of the mischief we were doing.’ Walter Scott, the most famous novelist of Jane Austen’s day,said of her writing, ‘That young lady has a talent for describing the feelingsand involvements of ordinary life, the most wonderful I ever met with’, he wenton, ‘she makes ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting from thetruth of the character and the sentiment.’ In our own time Somerset Maugham hassaid, ‘She was not interested in the uncommon, but in the common. She made ituncommon by the keenness of her observation.’ He added the praise the mostvaluable a novelist can receive, ‘She is wonderfully readable.’ James Edward’s term ‘mystic process’ is in tune withVirginia Woolf’s comment, ‘Jane Austen is mistress of much more emotion thanappears on the surface, she stimulates us to supply what is not there.’ Thehome-life of Chawton Cottage was enlivened by the young members of the familybut it did not depend on them; it provided interesting cares of house-keepingand gardening; for leisure it had books, music, table-games and fineneedlework.Jane Austen herself loved dancing; there were occasionalballs in the neighborhood and dinner parties, after which one of the companysat down at the pianoforte, and the rest danced. Light-footed and active, sheenjoyed country walks. Since she said in a letter to Cassandra, she must ownthat she thought Elizabeth Bennet, of Pride and Prejudice ‘as delightful acreature as ever appeared in print’, it is surely allowable to see inElizabeth, hurrying to visit her sister who has been taken ill in a neighboringhouse, some reflection of Jane Austen ‘crossing field after field at a quickpace, jumping over stiles and springing over puddles’. It is a picture thatreminds one not only of Jane Austen herself, but also of that line of the poetBlake: ‘Live delights in life.’ Notes by Elizabeth Jenkins ELIZABETH JENKINS, the novelist and writer, has maintained acontinuing affection for Jane Austen and her work. Miss Jenkins was a foundermember, with Dorothy Darnell, her sisters and others, of the Jane AustenSociety, which in its turn led to the Jane Austen Memorial Trust and itspurchase of Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, Hampshire. The house was bought forthe Trust by a retired local solicitor, Edward Carpenter. Teresa Gallagher Teresa Gallagher has performed in many leading roles in bothplays and musicals across Great Britain, London’s West End, and Off Broadway.In addition, she is a well-known voice to listeners of BBC Radio Drama. Herwork on film includes The Misadventures of Margaret and Mike Leigh’sTopsy-Turvy.